5-22-16

Just off Interstate 80 west of Reno, Nevada, looking west toward California. The California-Nevada state line crosses the slope in the background, running more or less horizontally just beyond the trees at the base. The railroad, part of the Union Pacific system, is the original east-west transcontinental route. Verdi was originally a tank stop for refilling the steam locomotives, but has morphed into a bedroom for Reno. Altho named for the Italian opera composer, it's locally pronounced "verr-dye" (!), with a long "i". The Truckee rises from the overflow of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada and flows thru Reno on its way to landlocked Pyramid Lake. Hence we're looking upstream here.