Post by Lisa Petrison on Jul 24, 2011 9:06:22 GMT -5
MIXED
I’ve driven I-80 several times, spent about two weeks in the Reno/Tahoe area, and lived for several months total in southern Nevada near Las Vegas. Except where noted, I’ve been RV or tent camping here.
I’m including the Tahoe-Truckee region here (rather than in California).
LAS VEGAS AREA: GOOD (4)
I’ve visited Las Vegas frequently on day trips, camped there on occasion, and (in June 2011) spent a week in the Hampton Inn in the Summerlin area.
In general, Las Vegas feels better to me than the vast majority of big cities. The Summerlin section, on the northwest side, feels much better to me than the rest of the city. It is at a higher elevation than the rest of the city, is next to the huge Red Rock recreational area, and has fairly new construction. It also is a nice Yuppie area, with a good selection of restaurants and coffee shops, a Whole Foods, an REI, and a comfortable Panera.
The rest of the city feels less good to me, but is generally tolerable. I don’t know what the strip is like though (I’ve not been there since 1989!).
Occasionally in the colder half of the year, especially at night or when the barometer is dropping fast, I have detected the worst toxin for me in Las Vegas. It’s rarely been very heavy though.
The Red Rock recreational area just west of the city always has felt great to me. There is a BLM campground on Hwy 159, just 10 minutes from the Summerlin part of the city. It is a pretty campground, but there is no water, dump station or electricity. I never found a good place in the city to get water, unfortunately. This campground was closed during Summer 2011, and I don’t like the people who run it. But the air quality is so good here, and it’s so convenient, that I’m sure I will use it again.
There’s an RV park I stayed at once on Blue Diamond Road, on the southeast side of the city. It was pleasant but expensive.
Northwest of the city is Mt. Charleston, a ski area. It is at about 8000 feet and felt great to me in February 2010.
HENDERSON AREA: GOOD (4)
In March 2010, I drove through Henderson, visited Hoover Dam and stayed overnight at a campground on Lake Mead. This area felt a little better to me than the city of Las Vegas, but not great.
PAHRUMP: GOOD (4)
This is a gambling town about an hour from Las Vegas. The air is not pristine in terms of pollution, but it usually has felt really good to me. I have been here many times, and spent January/February 2011 based here.
There are a number of RV parks in Pahrump, but no real tent campgrounds. Unfortunately there are no cafes in Pahrump, but there are a few okay restaurants (I like the German one). My favorite thing to do in this town is to have lunch at the Pahrump Valley Winery.
RENO AREA: GOOD (4)
I spent a week in the Reno area in October 2009, mostly at an RV park at one of the casinos. Despite the fact that it was raining most of the time, it felt pretty much okay to me -- better than most cities of its size.
I didn’t run into any of the worst toxin for me there. Erik tells me that it’s mostly a problem on certain days in winter (November-February), and occasionally in very specific parts of the city during the rest of the year.
Also on that trip, I camped at Pyramid Lake for a couple of nights. It felt great to me.
I drove quickly through Yerington, which is a farming community that was a CFS epidemic site in the mid 1980s. I didn’t feel worse while there, but I did note people doing some kind of strange activity using chemicals on one of the fields just outside of town.
TAHOE-TRUCKEE AREA: AWFUL (1)
I spent a week visiting Erik in August 2008, then spent another four days here in June 2009.
During my first visit, Erik directed my movements so that I didn’t get hit too much with anything bad. I felt mostly great on that trip -- it was a revelation that I could feel that well.
I did feel more irritable than usual though. This especially was the case when I went out on my own without informing Erik, after which I got really angry with him for no particular reason.
On my second visit, I stayed at a campground at the Sierra Hot Springs, in Sierraville. I spent time in Truckee, visited Tahoe City, put on my swimsuit to wade into the lake, and hiked in the woods overlooking the lake.
For the first three days of my visit, I felt great. There was one spot on the hot springs grounds where I felt some of a particular toxin, but I didn’t seem to be affected by it. The air quality in Truckee seemed scattershot. I could sit in one place and have it feel great for a while, but then it would suddenly feel much less good. Moving even a few dozen yards could make a big difference. But again, regardless, I was feeling okay.
On the third night, the barometer dropped sharply at about 1 a.m. I woke up feeling strange at exactly that moment and wanted to leave, but decided to wait until daybreak. I fled the entire area, driving through Nevada to Idaho.
During the subsequent week, I was more severely ill (with all the symptoms described as being characteristic of the Tahoe cohort in “Osler’s Web”) than ever before in my life. It took me several weeks more to feel like I’d recovered to even close to the point that I was before that experience.
Whether going into Lake Tahoe had an effect on me, I don’t know. The fact that my car and my camping supplies continued to make me sick for months afterwards makes me think that the exposure was from the air though.
My conclusion about Truckee-Tahoe is that the air there is extremely good, except for small patches of a particularly bad toxin that drift around. Unfortunately, and especially at certain times, those patches can get extremely strong, in my observation.
I would be extremely reluctant to go back to this area. Life is too short.
I-80: EXCELLENT (5)
I-80 goes through such towns as Elko, Battle Mountain, Winnemucca, Lovelock and Fernley. All of these felt terrific to me. There’s not much to do in any of these towns, however. Even restaurants, RV parks and campgrounds seemed in short supply.
I’ve driven I-80 several times, spent about two weeks in the Reno/Tahoe area, and lived for several months total in southern Nevada near Las Vegas. Except where noted, I’ve been RV or tent camping here.
I’m including the Tahoe-Truckee region here (rather than in California).
LAS VEGAS AREA: GOOD (4)
I’ve visited Las Vegas frequently on day trips, camped there on occasion, and (in June 2011) spent a week in the Hampton Inn in the Summerlin area.
In general, Las Vegas feels better to me than the vast majority of big cities. The Summerlin section, on the northwest side, feels much better to me than the rest of the city. It is at a higher elevation than the rest of the city, is next to the huge Red Rock recreational area, and has fairly new construction. It also is a nice Yuppie area, with a good selection of restaurants and coffee shops, a Whole Foods, an REI, and a comfortable Panera.
The rest of the city feels less good to me, but is generally tolerable. I don’t know what the strip is like though (I’ve not been there since 1989!).
Occasionally in the colder half of the year, especially at night or when the barometer is dropping fast, I have detected the worst toxin for me in Las Vegas. It’s rarely been very heavy though.
The Red Rock recreational area just west of the city always has felt great to me. There is a BLM campground on Hwy 159, just 10 minutes from the Summerlin part of the city. It is a pretty campground, but there is no water, dump station or electricity. I never found a good place in the city to get water, unfortunately. This campground was closed during Summer 2011, and I don’t like the people who run it. But the air quality is so good here, and it’s so convenient, that I’m sure I will use it again.
There’s an RV park I stayed at once on Blue Diamond Road, on the southeast side of the city. It was pleasant but expensive.
Northwest of the city is Mt. Charleston, a ski area. It is at about 8000 feet and felt great to me in February 2010.
HENDERSON AREA: GOOD (4)
In March 2010, I drove through Henderson, visited Hoover Dam and stayed overnight at a campground on Lake Mead. This area felt a little better to me than the city of Las Vegas, but not great.
PAHRUMP: GOOD (4)
This is a gambling town about an hour from Las Vegas. The air is not pristine in terms of pollution, but it usually has felt really good to me. I have been here many times, and spent January/February 2011 based here.
There are a number of RV parks in Pahrump, but no real tent campgrounds. Unfortunately there are no cafes in Pahrump, but there are a few okay restaurants (I like the German one). My favorite thing to do in this town is to have lunch at the Pahrump Valley Winery.
RENO AREA: GOOD (4)
I spent a week in the Reno area in October 2009, mostly at an RV park at one of the casinos. Despite the fact that it was raining most of the time, it felt pretty much okay to me -- better than most cities of its size.
I didn’t run into any of the worst toxin for me there. Erik tells me that it’s mostly a problem on certain days in winter (November-February), and occasionally in very specific parts of the city during the rest of the year.
Also on that trip, I camped at Pyramid Lake for a couple of nights. It felt great to me.
I drove quickly through Yerington, which is a farming community that was a CFS epidemic site in the mid 1980s. I didn’t feel worse while there, but I did note people doing some kind of strange activity using chemicals on one of the fields just outside of town.
TAHOE-TRUCKEE AREA: AWFUL (1)
I spent a week visiting Erik in August 2008, then spent another four days here in June 2009.
During my first visit, Erik directed my movements so that I didn’t get hit too much with anything bad. I felt mostly great on that trip -- it was a revelation that I could feel that well.
I did feel more irritable than usual though. This especially was the case when I went out on my own without informing Erik, after which I got really angry with him for no particular reason.
On my second visit, I stayed at a campground at the Sierra Hot Springs, in Sierraville. I spent time in Truckee, visited Tahoe City, put on my swimsuit to wade into the lake, and hiked in the woods overlooking the lake.
For the first three days of my visit, I felt great. There was one spot on the hot springs grounds where I felt some of a particular toxin, but I didn’t seem to be affected by it. The air quality in Truckee seemed scattershot. I could sit in one place and have it feel great for a while, but then it would suddenly feel much less good. Moving even a few dozen yards could make a big difference. But again, regardless, I was feeling okay.
On the third night, the barometer dropped sharply at about 1 a.m. I woke up feeling strange at exactly that moment and wanted to leave, but decided to wait until daybreak. I fled the entire area, driving through Nevada to Idaho.
During the subsequent week, I was more severely ill (with all the symptoms described as being characteristic of the Tahoe cohort in “Osler’s Web”) than ever before in my life. It took me several weeks more to feel like I’d recovered to even close to the point that I was before that experience.
Whether going into Lake Tahoe had an effect on me, I don’t know. The fact that my car and my camping supplies continued to make me sick for months afterwards makes me think that the exposure was from the air though.
My conclusion about Truckee-Tahoe is that the air there is extremely good, except for small patches of a particularly bad toxin that drift around. Unfortunately, and especially at certain times, those patches can get extremely strong, in my observation.
I would be extremely reluctant to go back to this area. Life is too short.
I-80: EXCELLENT (5)
I-80 goes through such towns as Elko, Battle Mountain, Winnemucca, Lovelock and Fernley. All of these felt terrific to me. There’s not much to do in any of these towns, however. Even restaurants, RV parks and campgrounds seemed in short supply.