Pogonip

On this last trip to Nevada we all learned a new word, Pogonip. Pogonip is a Shoshone word for a dense fog where ice crystals form in from the humidity in the air and coat everything in sight. It makes for some cold, sunless days, but, most importantly, it makes for some beautiful landscapes. Pogonip... it's also a fun word to say.  Fernley, where the Johnson side lives, is in a valley called the Carson Sink and the fog will settle over them and last for days, weeks... sometimes a month!

Just above the fog - a few minutes later

we descended right down into the fog

Nevada is a special place to us... it is where Justin spent most of his life, where we lived for over 2 years, where my second baby was born and where much of our family is still.  People tend to think Vegas when they think Nevada... but that is such a tiny, light polluted portion of a beautiful state.  We have driven across Nevada SO many times that even I know it well, and Justin could probably do it with his eyes closed.
 

My favorite part of the drive is when we pass by Walker Lake...

The mountains surround this lake which will someday

be just a dry lake bed as it gets smaller every year.

If you are lucky enough to travel across Nevada with Justin you will get to listen for 6 or so hours while he reminisces, "I used to ride my bike all over the desert, Matt and I used to climb those rocks, I fell off my bike and got a conncusion on this street - total stranger brought me home, my buddy so and so lived over here, this is where I went to elementary, this is where my mom left Matt and I at the grocery store because we didn't listen... boy, she was mad when we came home happy as larks thinking the walk home was an adventure... and on and on and on.  Sometimes, I can cut him off and finish the story for him, but I really love those old stories.

Ah.... Nevada!