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Before we leave Pahrump to return home we want to let you know a little about the area.
When we first arrived here, July 2nd, it was the heat wave from hell the first week. We survived and actually have acclimated! Pahrump is 60 miles west of Las Vegas over the Spring Mountains. About 45 miles east of Death Valley, and about 100 miles from Area 51. Also only 70 miles from the controversial Yucca Mountain. The mountains to the west of town are the Nopah Mountains which you drive thru on your way to Death Valley. From Vegas you drive the Blue Diamond highway west, and climb up to 5,400 ft and go over the Spring Mountain range. Once over the summit it is a long valley ahead of you to Pahrump. The town is at an elevation of 2,725'. The name Pahrump comes from the Southern Paiutes. Pah meaning water, Rimpi meaning rock. Pah Rimpi became Pahrump, the Paiute description for springs or flowing water emerging from rock. There are springs here and at the turn of the century they grew cotton in the valley. The valley is 26 miles long and about 12 miles wide. Population 32,000, no movie theater, several large casinos, gambling is available just about everywhere. Brothels are not allowed within the city limits, here or in Vegas. So they are all on the outskirts of town. Mesquite grows prolifically here. Free movies were shown every Friday night in the park. That was great fun! No bugs, breezy, and very pleasant. We are staying about 9 miles from "downtown." There is no downtown....there are 2 traffic lights. The first light is bordered by the Nugget Casino, Terrible's Casino, Walgreen's, and the Bank of America on the 4 corners! Quite a representation of our culture...eh? That is the main intersection. Lots of fast food places. No Denny's or anything like it. Restaurants stay open until 8 pm. If you get there at 7:45...forget it! The Casinos have on-going buffets which are not bad. Art Bell lives here. Lesli and I drove out to his compound. You have never seen so many antennae in any one place! He is quite a character. There is also a sizable retirement community here. Very diverse...lots of bikers, tattoo parlors, Boys & Girls Club, Masons, Rotary, 1 Science of the Mind church and 1 metaphysical church...and of course 5 Baptist churches, Pentecostal, Catholic, Episcopal...etc. The Science of the Mind church has a labyrinth, which I walked. A teepee sits next to it. Very peaceful place. There is a Pahrump Valley Museum. It's not very big inside but has a lot of old historical stuff from the area that people have donated. Old buildings have been preserved and taken to the grounds. Lots of old farm machinery and tools. A representation of the old town is being created. They're the ones who told us how to find Art Bell's house, and all about Heidi Fleiss wanting to open a brothel for women! Honeysuckle is highly recommended by local nurseries as a great plant for your yard. Grows easily and likes the desert!
The night sky...oh the night sky...starry, starry nights. The Milky Way begins on the northeast horizon and dances across the sky to the southwest. You can see the "clouds" of stars. We sit on the front porch at night in awe. Speaking of the night sky...oh my god, the lunar eclipse on August 28th! We knew from AOL Sky Watch the time it was to begin. We decided we may never have this chance of clarity again. We stayed up until 2:30ish AM to see the beginning of the earth moving between the moon and the sun. The sky was clear as a bell, the moon was a bright white and then it began...we sat on the south side of the cottage with no obstruction of the sky. No ground loom, just black mountains in the far distance. Because of the brightness of the moon, there were no stars. As the moon began to darken and turn red the stars began to come out. Once the eclipse was complete you could see a billion stars! We watched the darkened moon until about 4 am and decided we didn't need to see the return after all. The night was cool, a slight breeze, and the heavens above. I will remember it the rest of my life.
This property is slightly above the town, so you can see the lights in the far distance 9 miles away. It is silent 'cept an occasional dog barking in the distance. They say there are coyote, oh how I would love to hear them....but we haven't. Lots of ravens! We have seen road runners, quail, and jackrabbits with big ears! The sunrises and sunsets are spectacular. The mountains show them off so well. The mountains are rock, rocks of all colors, no vegetation, and they loom so beautifully. The light bouncing off the many colored rocks changes the colors. It's never the same. Mt. Charleston is due east of our front porch. It is 11,000'. Clouds formed over it and we could watch the storms up there. Beautiful lightning but no thunder. You can see that in ancient times there was tremendous earthquake activity because you can see where the rock mountains were once horizontal and are now vertical! When you drive to Shoshone on your way to the entrance to Death Valley you see the most amazing mountains with abrupt stops and then soft gradations of land down to wide open spaces. Once this was all swamp, trees, wetlands and dinosaurs, mastodons, and wonderful ancient creatures. It's easy to see what it must have been. Your mind's eye can imagine it with the help of the land. We have experienced 2 major dust storms that covered the valley. Dust devils are constant. Have tried to capture one on camera but they don't last long enough. Dust devils are sand tornadoes. The wind sucks the desert dust up in a twister and runs across the sand for a short distance. They're really neat to see! There is something in the area referred to as "poof" dirt. Let me tell you that sand/dust is amazing. When you drive off the gravel road onto the dirt it looks like normal dirt...but no! All of a sudden you can't see out the windshield, there is dust covering the car in a flash and it's an inch thick! Yes, I speak from experience! Few houses have "lawns." How refreshing! Most yards are landscaped in desert rock, cactus of all kinds, mesquite, and cowboy/western motif! Very low maintenance! No wasted water here! Or chemicals to leach into the groundwater.
The mountains allow you to easily watch the days get shorter! Watching the sun set over the mountains in one area, and now the sun is so much farther south. You can really see and appreciate the changing of the seasons. My brother said when September comes the weather changes. It was 65 at 6:30 this morning! Fabulous. Only 98 today. It was 104/106 in the day last week!
Politics...like everywhere there is change. Nevada is mostly Republican. Clark County/Las Vegas is mostly Democrat. However,the tide is turning and the Democrats are gaining. There is also a large population of "non-partisan" voters. Believe it or not...Pahrump has become a regular stop for the candidates running for President. Dodd was here; Hillary was here. Richardson is supposed to be here today. Pahrump is considered to be a key in winning the state of Nevada. Go figure?
It's been quite an experience being here. Living with rock mountains, sand, cactus, is so very different. All the farm animals that "Charlie" has, have been a treat. Did you know roosters crow anytime? They gather at least a dozen eggs every day. There are currently 5 baby chicks. The house piglet, "Gumball" is now in the barnyard. Pigs, piglets, geese, chickens, cows, a horse, 6 dogs of all sizes, 1 cat-"Tiger"...that's about it! We will be sad to leave but the road is calling us! Lots of must see before we arrive home.
When we first arrived here, July 2nd, it was the heat wave from hell the first week. We survived and actually have acclimated! Pahrump is 60 miles west of Las Vegas over the Spring Mountains. About 45 miles east of Death Valley, and about 100 miles from Area 51. Also only 70 miles from the controversial Yucca Mountain. The mountains to the west of town are the Nopah Mountains which you drive thru on your way to Death Valley. From Vegas you drive the Blue Diamond highway west, and climb up to 5,400 ft and go over the Spring Mountain range. Once over the summit it is a long valley ahead of you to Pahrump. The town is at an elevation of 2,725'. The name Pahrump comes from the Southern Paiutes. Pah meaning water, Rimpi meaning rock. Pah Rimpi became Pahrump, the Paiute description for springs or flowing water emerging from rock. There are springs here and at the turn of the century they grew cotton in the valley. The valley is 26 miles long and about 12 miles wide. Population 32,000, no movie theater, several large casinos, gambling is available just about everywhere. Brothels are not allowed within the city limits, here or in Vegas. So they are all on the outskirts of town. Mesquite grows prolifically here. Free movies were shown every Friday night in the park. That was great fun! No bugs, breezy, and very pleasant. We are staying about 9 miles from "downtown." There is no downtown....there are 2 traffic lights. The first light is bordered by the Nugget Casino, Terrible's Casino, Walgreen's, and the Bank of America on the 4 corners! Quite a representation of our culture...eh? That is the main intersection. Lots of fast food places. No Denny's or anything like it. Restaurants stay open until 8 pm. If you get there at 7:45...forget it! The Casinos have on-going buffets which are not bad. Art Bell lives here. Lesli and I drove out to his compound. You have never seen so many antennae in any one place! He is quite a character. There is also a sizable retirement community here. Very diverse...lots of bikers, tattoo parlors, Boys & Girls Club, Masons, Rotary, 1 Science of the Mind church and 1 metaphysical church...and of course 5 Baptist churches, Pentecostal, Catholic, Episcopal...etc. The Science of the Mind church has a labyrinth, which I walked. A teepee sits next to it. Very peaceful place. There is a Pahrump Valley Museum. It's not very big inside but has a lot of old historical stuff from the area that people have donated. Old buildings have been preserved and taken to the grounds. Lots of old farm machinery and tools. A representation of the old town is being created. They're the ones who told us how to find Art Bell's house, and all about Heidi Fleiss wanting to open a brothel for women! Honeysuckle is highly recommended by local nurseries as a great plant for your yard. Grows easily and likes the desert!
The night sky...oh the night sky...starry, starry nights. The Milky Way begins on the northeast horizon and dances across the sky to the southwest. You can see the "clouds" of stars. We sit on the front porch at night in awe. Speaking of the night sky...oh my god, the lunar eclipse on August 28th! We knew from AOL Sky Watch the time it was to begin. We decided we may never have this chance of clarity again. We stayed up until 2:30ish AM to see the beginning of the earth moving between the moon and the sun. The sky was clear as a bell, the moon was a bright white and then it began...we sat on the south side of the cottage with no obstruction of the sky. No ground loom, just black mountains in the far distance. Because of the brightness of the moon, there were no stars. As the moon began to darken and turn red the stars began to come out. Once the eclipse was complete you could see a billion stars! We watched the darkened moon until about 4 am and decided we didn't need to see the return after all. The night was cool, a slight breeze, and the heavens above. I will remember it the rest of my life.
This property is slightly above the town, so you can see the lights in the far distance 9 miles away. It is silent 'cept an occasional dog barking in the distance. They say there are coyote, oh how I would love to hear them....but we haven't. Lots of ravens! We have seen road runners, quail, and jackrabbits with big ears! The sunrises and sunsets are spectacular. The mountains show them off so well. The mountains are rock, rocks of all colors, no vegetation, and they loom so beautifully. The light bouncing off the many colored rocks changes the colors. It's never the same. Mt. Charleston is due east of our front porch. It is 11,000'. Clouds formed over it and we could watch the storms up there. Beautiful lightning but no thunder. You can see that in ancient times there was tremendous earthquake activity because you can see where the rock mountains were once horizontal and are now vertical! When you drive to Shoshone on your way to the entrance to Death Valley you see the most amazing mountains with abrupt stops and then soft gradations of land down to wide open spaces. Once this was all swamp, trees, wetlands and dinosaurs, mastodons, and wonderful ancient creatures. It's easy to see what it must have been. Your mind's eye can imagine it with the help of the land. We have experienced 2 major dust storms that covered the valley. Dust devils are constant. Have tried to capture one on camera but they don't last long enough. Dust devils are sand tornadoes. The wind sucks the desert dust up in a twister and runs across the sand for a short distance. They're really neat to see! There is something in the area referred to as "poof" dirt. Let me tell you that sand/dust is amazing. When you drive off the gravel road onto the dirt it looks like normal dirt...but no! All of a sudden you can't see out the windshield, there is dust covering the car in a flash and it's an inch thick! Yes, I speak from experience! Few houses have "lawns." How refreshing! Most yards are landscaped in desert rock, cactus of all kinds, mesquite, and cowboy/western motif! Very low maintenance! No wasted water here! Or chemicals to leach into the groundwater.
The mountains allow you to easily watch the days get shorter! Watching the sun set over the mountains in one area, and now the sun is so much farther south. You can really see and appreciate the changing of the seasons. My brother said when September comes the weather changes. It was 65 at 6:30 this morning! Fabulous. Only 98 today. It was 104/106 in the day last week!
Politics...like everywhere there is change. Nevada is mostly Republican. Clark County/Las Vegas is mostly Democrat. However,the tide is turning and the Democrats are gaining. There is also a large population of "non-partisan" voters. Believe it or not...Pahrump has become a regular stop for the candidates running for President. Dodd was here; Hillary was here. Richardson is supposed to be here today. Pahrump is considered to be a key in winning the state of Nevada. Go figure?
It's been quite an experience being here. Living with rock mountains, sand, cactus, is so very different. All the farm animals that "Charlie" has, have been a treat. Did you know roosters crow anytime? They gather at least a dozen eggs every day. There are currently 5 baby chicks. The house piglet, "Gumball" is now in the barnyard. Pigs, piglets, geese, chickens, cows, a horse, 6 dogs of all sizes, 1 cat-"Tiger"...that's about it! We will be sad to leave but the road is calling us! Lots of must see before we arrive home.
2 comments:
I can tell this is Gabrielle's post, the beautiful attention to detail, the impact of the environment on the person, the history of the place as something alive and all around you. Great way to make us see what you see.
Wonderful, wonderful writing. Keep doing what you're doing, say what you mean to say, it comes across very clear.
Did you live there once? I did for a year, .....almost hurts to remember, I lived in NJ then moved to Pahrump to be close to wifes family, work got super slow and I got layed off twice, I still have a 5 bed 3 bath brand new house with a fire place out there I am renting......Wish I were Rich so I could live there in the fall and winter and here in the spring and summer......Ohh well, great writing, perfect description, I miss is so much, I also missed my NJ family.....Sorry for butting in.
John
jmraffaele@gmail.com
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