Snake Valley Festival

Last weekend we had a very busy weekend at the Snake Valley Festival, held the third weekend of June in Baker, Nevada. It was three busy days of events. Here were some of the highlights.

The Snake Valley Slither 5k/10k trail run and walk has begun! But a couple slitherers in the middle of the starting line are getting a slow start--you might recognize one of them!

Post-race Orange Julius--yum!

Desert Boy approaching the finish line with family and friends.

Desert Girl running the little kids' race.

Playing on the water feature, that was brought in to celebrate the birthdays of two special boys.

The parachute--a special treat for the kids to play.

The water fight lasted all day for some of the kids.

Desert Boy doing a magic trick for the pageant and talent show. It earned him the title of Mr. Junior Snake Valley!

Desert Girl enjoying some ice cream at Friday night's ice cream social.

Kids' music workshop with Trotta and Ronstadt with Dalton.

Horses in the parade.

Loved this sign!

Aw, sweet music! The Ely Cheatgrass Brass Band played in both the parade and later in the afternoon during the free entertainment section.

The kids joined the kid float in the parade.

The Snake Valley Festival was great fun and will be held next year on the third weekend in June. Come join us!

Our Little Solar System

I'm a big fan of road art, and I had an idea in the early summer of a fun road art project. But it was hard to get the time, energy, and materials needed to implement it. I gave myself a deadline: it needed to be up before the Great Basin National Park Astronomy Festival on September 5-7. And fortunately it's up! Here's the newest road art on the park road.

The solar system has arrived! We begin with the sun (which later blew over so is now oriented slightly differently.)


Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. My helpers were enthusiastic for the inner planets.


Venus, our nearby neighbor. Wow, it looks small!

Go, Earth!

Oops, Mars is a little blurry. Must be a telescope error.

Intermission to drill holes in the boards!

What's after Mars? Well, we did put up Jupiter, but then we came back and put up five dwarf planets, including Ceres, which is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.



Then comes Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system!

Saturn, Desert Girl's favorite planet. Our Saturn keeps losing its ring, though.

It's a long way to the next planet, Uranus (which should be bluish, but I had lost energy by this time, so if anyone wants to paint it blue, go for it!).

And what's the last planet in our solar system?

Neptune! (which should also be bluish)

But wait, what about Pluto? Most of us were taught that we have nine planets in our solar system. Those days are gone. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union came up with a definition of planets, and Pluto just didn't meet it. So now it's a dwarf planet.

 

Little Pluto, a cold rocky planet far, far away.

The good thing about Pluto becoming a dwarf planet is that we also got a few more dwarf planets, with more probably to be discovered.

Meet dwarf planet Haumea (which is slightly oversized in the model, but we had run out of little, tiny balls).

And here's Makemake (which we have a lot of fun pronouncing).


Finally there's Eris, the largest of the dwarf planets. (And maybe the hardest to find in our little solar system, since we had to switch to a different fence.)

To space these planets, I found Dr. Jerry Galloway's website that had both a 100 foot backyard model and also a four-mile model. I made adjustments to make it about two miles long. It was a nine-planet based system, so then I looked for information about the dwarf planets and fitted them in. They might not be exact, but neither are their orbits. Several of the planets and dwarf planets change order depending on where they are in their orbit (for example, Neptune and Pluto).

Here are the distances if you're interested, along with diameter sizes scaled for a four-mile long course (I chose to make my planet diameters not to scale, as I wanted them to be visible while driving 60 mph along the road, but wanted to give you an idea in case you want to make your own solar system model):

Astronomical body	distance	diameter (inches)
Sun	0	60
Mercury	105 feet	0.2
Venus	185 feet	0.5
Earth	271 feet	0.6
Mars	413 feet	0.3
Ceres*	~600 feet	<.1
Jupiter	¼ mile	6.2
Saturn	½ mile	5.2
Uranus	1 mile	2.2
Neptune	1 ½ mile	2.2
Pluto*	2 mile	0.1
Haumea*	2.1 mile	<.1
Makemake*	2.2 mile	<.1
Eris*	2.5 mile	0.1
*dwarf planet

Running or biking on the park road will now have some new landmarks--can you make it to Jupiter in ten minutes? How about Uranus?

I consider the road art as community art, so anyone who would like to improve on the art (for example, making better planets or a ring that will stay on Saturn) or add to it (e.g., asteroid belt, other celestial objects) is welcome!

A Quick Visit to the County Fair

 This year we just had a quick visit to the county fair. With busy schedules and school, we didn't manage to enter anything, but we did want to go and check out a few things, like the animals.

We also wanted to support the cousins and friends who were showing animals. They have worked very hard over many months getting their animals ready for the fair. I'm glad my nephew found a bit of humor in showing his steer!


Of course it was fun to do some people-watching!

This steer was behaving quite well here. I love my niece's expression!

Cool matching boots and 4-H tie!

Desert Boy and Desert Girl weren't too patient with watching animals, so we wandered around the fairgrounds. This is a small fair (after all, we are in the desert, so the amount of arable land is quite limited). We found a fun activity at the Farm Bureau booth, playing games and then decorating a bag and hat:

Then it was time for Desert Boy to take on the climbing wall challenge. When he saw that, he decided that was the one thing at the fair he really, really wanted to do. (Although it took some consideration, as he wanted to volunteer to get dunked in the dunk tank.)

Desert Girl's big wishes for the fair were to see her friend Kate (which she did!) and to give Smokey Bear a hug. Well, when she saw Smokey Bear she got a little shy, but she did manage a high five.

Unfortunately I didn't manage a photo of Desert Girl's entire outfit for the day: her butterfly shirt, jeans, cowgirl boots, and a rhinestone-studded tutu, just because. That girl likes to accessorize!

It seemed like a lot of people were wandering around at the fair. We enjoyed looking at the exhibits and got some ideas for next year. Hopefully we'll be able to be a little more involved.

A Memorable Fourth of July

 We enjoyed good food, company, and entertainment for the Fourth of July. Nevertheless, it didn't end up quite as planned, making for a more memorable experience.

 Desert Boy likes to sit with other people--sometimes his parents aren't just cool enough!

 I wish I knew what Desert Girl was saying to this little boy! She looks a little opinionated!

 The orchestra took the stage and waited 'til the appointed time to start. Meanwhile, distant rumblings of thunder could be heard and flashes of lightning could be seen. We've had a stretch of about 45 days without any measurable precipitation. What were the chances that we would finally get rain on Fourth of July? By the feel in the air, I figured we might get ten minutes into the performance.

 I was wrong, we got about 20-25 minutes into the performance before the lightning got uncomfortably close. Big, fat rain drops started falling out of the sky. It was time to go inside.

Some people went to their vehicles, while many went into the dining room.

 Desert Girl had been saying she liked thunder and lightning, but when she was in the real deal, it was a little scary. Her friends didn't seem to mind, though.

Although the rest of the program was abandoned, we did get to do God Bless America with glow sticks inside with the lights off. It was cool.

On the way home we enjoyed views of more lightning strikes and the red glow of a forest fire up on the mountain that's burning in a wilderness area (which is often quite a good place for fires, as there aren't any structures around, and the forest needs fires to rejuvenate).

How was your Fourth of July? Did you get to see fireworks? Our firework show was postponed due to the rain. Of course the lightning made for a very dramatic light display!

Snake Valley Festival

We're gearing up to attend the Snake Valley Festival this weekend. If you're in the area, you really should come, this festival exemplifies small town life. Plus, the proceeds go to a good cause, to help prevent the scarce groundwater from being sucked down to southern Nevada to water golf courses.

I dug out some photos from years past--they really show how much the kids have changed! The ice cream social kicks off the festival. What a great way to start the weekend on Friday evening! This year there will be some special musical talent, which I'm really looking forward to.

Then we'll change our venue, visit the wine tasting and get ready for the first ever Mr./Ms. Snake Valley Pageant. This pageant has several age categories and judges contestants on attire (formal and/or outdoor) and a one-minute talent that is not singing, dancing, or playing a musical instrument. I can't wait to see what everyone will do. The kids and I are going to participate and have been practicing our talents. We'll also be ready to dance to music by a live band.

On Saturday morning our plan is to check out the yard sale and then head to the community breakfast. It is delicious! Then we should have time to look at some of the booths. We might not have time to see them all, because the kids want to be in the parade, so we'll go line up.

 These same bikes will be in the parade, but with different riders! We've fastened a container on the front so Desert Girl can throw--or catch--candy.


The parade is always awesome, with some unexpected entries.

 Then it's time to check out the rest of the booths and the silent auction and for the kids to play games. Or just look super cute, like Desert Girl above. This year there will also be a solar telescope to check out.

After yummy lunch, it's time for entertainment. This year I've pulled out my trumpet and will play a couple songs.

 I don't think I will look as dreamy as Dan!

After the silent auction closes, it's time for the huge water fight in the playground.

Then we have a brief respite before heading out for the delicious BBQ dinner, auction, and announcement of the road art contest winners.

 Jace--wish you could be with us this year!

 Yum!

We usually go to bed exhausted Saturday after the auction, but for those with energy, there's the Great Basin National Park astronomy program.

Sunday morning we wake up early for the 5k/10k Snake Valley Slither trail run/walk. Last year I managed the 10k, but this year it will just be the 5k for me. Afterwards is a bake sale so you can take home some memories of the great weekend.

The Snake Valley Festival is held the third weekend of June in Baker, Nevada, so if you can't make it this year, mark your calendars for next year.