The following images I captured over the course of my trip to Utah the past six days which saw me helping my friend Dave in his Rocks & Relics booth at Gem Faire in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area. This just past day started in the middle of last night when we hit the road after a short night's rest in Lehi, UT. Following a 14-hour drive home I attended a two-hour math class tonight at Cuesta College. As one might imagine I am a bit out of sorts but incredibly grateful to be home and that all went well for me throughout both on the road and on the home front. Actually, I feel rather euphoric tonight I am so happy to be home after a rather grueling work trip. The images below were taken over the course of the entire trip and are shown in the order in which they were taken.
This legendary tourist trap in Baker, CA, is more Hellenistic Mexican than genuine Greek.
Kim of Utah - I experienced a Kim Konvergence once again at this show.
Smokey sunset as seen from the valet parking area of the downtown Salt Lake City Hilton Hotel at which we lodged.
The source of all this smoke were all the forest fires in neighboring Idaho. This smoke has plagued the region for many days recently.
As we dined on the streetside at Cucina Toscana one evening an SUV pulled up adjacent to the restaurant having just caught fire within the engine compartment. Restaurant patrons and staff quickly stabilized the matter including your's truly. Shortly thereafter, SLC Engine #2 arrived having been called by the hysterical driver of the auto. Damage was minor but the vehicle had to be towed.
Pocket-sized chihuahua functioning as a "babe-magnet" for this happily married UVU science professor.
Sunrise this morning as seen from along side Interstate-15 approaching Cedar City, UT.
The latest view of one of the heliostat receiving towers being built in Primm Valley. For more info on this check HERE.
Dust storm kicking up in the dry lake bed below Calico Ghost Town outside Barstow, CA.
Today, Day Three of my journey to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to help my friend Dave do a Gem Faire event we traveled from Grants, New Mexico, to Tulsa, OK, traversing the entire East-West width of the Texas Panhandle. Below are some of the things I saw.
Monumental cross near Groom, TX, adjacent to I-40.
Downtown Shamrock, TX, on the US Route 83 drag of town.
Eastward view of I-40 from the US Route 83 overpass in Shamrock, TX, showing clouds that shortly thereafter formed into severe thunderstorms, some of which became tornado-warned. A short before we were here some tornado chasers were in town.
Large calcite boulder weathering alongside US Route 83 in Shamrock, TX.
Windmills in Western Oklahoma just over the state line from Texas.
All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).
Driving on I-15 in recent days to and fro between Paso Robles, CA, and Sandy, UT, it was hard not to notice how far along the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility at Primm Valley has gotten with its three dramatic-looking heliostat receiving towers thrusting up above the floor of the Mojave Desert just southwest of Las Vegas, NV. These solar power towers just inside the California state line look more like NASA rocket pads than heliostat receiving towers. Surrounding all three of these towers is a growing field of heliostat panels aimed at these towers. We have heard a lot about "alternative energy sources" in the public discourse in recent years and this is a wonderful example of such being built right before our eyes.
Note: At bottom is a National Geographic short video about this project that I have added on August 30, 2013.
UPATE as of February 14, 2014, from the The Weather Channel HERE.
One of three heliostat receiving towers under construction in the Primm Valley area.
UPDATE: Here are two more images I captured of this facility today, September 24, 2012, as I drove past it nearly six months after I captured the image above.
All three heliostat receiving towers shown here.
All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).
Mercedes-Benz symbol orchard in the Sacramento Delta area. Image captured yesterday en route home from Willits, CA. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).
