Tim Blair

"Houston, we have comments. I repeat -- we have comments. Houston, do you read?"

I'm glad you're having such a great time! Sounds like you're dropping in on every blogger in the United States. Except me... next time you come to L.A., LET ME KNOW!

Hey tim i drove past John Eales shaking hands of people entering a Liberal Party function for michael johnson (http://randomprose.journalspace.com/?entryid=179)

if he is going along to liberal functions, is he likely to be running anytime soon? (sorry i don't know much about how these internal things work..)

"The Rockies are a symbol of the hatred and fury of this filthy religion..."

Tim, when you turn the steering wheel, you need to make sure that you are not using your brakes. If you use the brakes while turning the wheel, you keep going straight.

BTW, too bad you couldn't take the southern route through New Mexico and Arizona. It's beautiful and there's a smaller chance of running into snow.

Hey, the Mormons would gladly move to Australia and build you some mountains and a Great Salt Lake. Then you could practice your snow driving.

Oy gevalt, snow. I'd kinda forgotten what that crap looked like. It's fine on Christmas cards but the real deal is very unpleasant. The tropics are much more like it. It's a frigid 73F where I am right now (midnight). OK, so it's humid as hell, but WTF, that's better than freezing one's nads off.

Go South, Young Man! Or North, from your habitual abode.

Ah, David, you are my kind of a guy. I, like, totally dig tropics! San Fran is not bad (no snow), but I would not mind a bit of that Global Warming that we are continually being promised.

So, Tim, are you dropping on Bill Quick next?

Yes, what's next after Reno? If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair . . . No, not necessary. I meant if you'd like free lodging in a room decorated by a teen-age girl, e-mail me -- joanne (at) joannejacobs.com. Beer is included. (The teen-age girl is not.)

Snow.
There is so much of it here, and it's been snowing daily for a week now.

and cold, -25c this morning.
It's supposed to be around +2c this time of year.
What is all this talk of global warming?

Oh well, early snowmobile season.

Tim, get back up in the mountains and rent some snowmobiles. It's a blast, not something the average Australian can experience.

Thanks.

Tim,
Not only should you not eat the yellow snow, but you should be aware of another sidewalk nasty in the US.
When the spring thaw arrives, all the accumulated and frozen winter dogshit comes into its own..........watch your step, mate !

You know, if you can make it down to North Texas probably in about a week or two, you can experience the first ice storm of the season in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. You think driving in snow is fun? Try driving on a 20-foot wide hockey rink next to a bunch of tractor trailers -- This is more thrills and chills (especially the latter part, if you're ejected into the freezing rain) than you can shake (or spin) a 1991 Cadillac at...

Re the beauty of the Rockies: "I told ya so."

Are you going to stop by Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada's? It's the spot of a small but interesting bit of American history. Hard to imagine what those folks went through as you drive by on the freshly plowed interstate.

It's cloudy and fiftyish in South Texas today. No Rockies, but no snow either!!

they closed the mustang ranch, i think? why stick around...head for PARAGUAY! take a left. lotsa laughs here.

I second Polly's suggestion. Take US50 up out of Carson. Then take a lap around Tahoe-- watch out for (or mow down as Frank J would say) the hippies. Catch every view. Continue on 50 west through Donner Pass. Imagine yourself in the 1840's with no road, no food (well, almost no food).

Head for Sacramento, then Tracy. Pick up I-580 and plummet into the Bay Area. I was stationed there (Alameda NAS, which is now closed) in the 80s. Had a good time. Check out Marin County and Reyes Point. The politics are odd, but it's all beautiful. Sears Point (now AKA Infineon) Raceway is near there, too. Might be something going on.

Too bad you missed New Mexico, like the person said above. Could've given you a tour of some VERY interesting places.

Reese

Donner Lake , Summit, and Pass, are on Interstate 80. No sane person(even an Aussie) would drive over US 50 in the weather we are having. Take it from a California native.
Speaking of sane, why are you coming this far North in the Winter? Don't they have ducks in Australia for you to emulate?
South for the Winter - Your breaking basic natural laws the way your doing it.

"Sorry," he says as he breaks out his atlas. Yes 50 goes Southish to Placervillie befor Sacramento. And 80 goes from Sacramento to the Bay Bridge, not via Tracy.

I woulda gotten the dude lost in New Mexico.

It was like, twenty years ago[excuse].

But what about lunch?

I was at Donner Pass in the summer once. They have a tree there that's cut off at the level of the snow cover the year the Donners were there. (Or maybe it's a different tree cut to the same height. Or a pole. Something like that.) You find it hard to imagine snow that high.

Lake Tahoe was beautiful. I have photos of the impossibly green forest beside the impossibly blue lake in Emerald Bay. I'm surprised afresh every time I look at them. Don't know what it's like in the winter.

J. Mayeau---Silly, in Australia you head north in the winter, toward the equator. Tim's just doing what comes naturally.

Drive up to Tahoe in the afternoon, then back down to Reno at night after the lights are on. Transcendant.

"they closed the mustang ranch, i think?"

Ken Layne Ranch put 'em out of business I hear...;)

Tim,

your blog is getting completely irrelevant...

'Irrelevant'?

Tim, there's one thing to remember if you want to drive safely in the snow. Do it in an Audi quattro.
Very effective Snow Panic fader.

Yes, the Web diary of Tim Blair is becoming "irrelevant" because lately it features news of - Tim Blair.

Ssh! It's all part of our Secret Plan™ to get rid of "readers" like Skinny Hippo.

I almost forgot a major tourist attraction in the Reno area. Be sure to go to Sparks, Nevada to see "The Guns of Elvis." There is a truck stop in Sparks (at least there was 10 years ago) that had a display of various Elvis stuff, including some guns. Magical!

Skinny Hippo sounds like a me-me. If it isn't about you chances are it isn't important, right Hippo?
Thats cool! Really ! It is important to be the center of one's universe. The part about Knowing your place in the grand scheme of things is where you need work.

I wish I were taking that trip. I ain't afraid a no snow.

Pooh, Dave, AH, papertiger, onya for tolerating a slightly dissenting opinion, not endorsed by the Tim Blair Personality Cult(tm)...
Sorry for offending Saint Tim, but he's been scribbling some disinterested, perfunctory entries for the last few weeks.
I hope he's having a good time though.

Skinny Hippo,

Surely you mean uninterested rather than disinterested.

Skinny Hippo, dissent is fine. Just questioning what you mean by 'irrelevant'.

'Relevant' to me has overtones of lefty academics - you know, everything has to be 'relevant', discuss the 'relevance' etc etc.

I spent far too much time in arts lectures.

Hi Bob H,

you're absolutely right, no dissent here.
It's quite a bad mistake.
Thanks,
SH

Thats the spirit Hip . You see it is an adventure in the land of Cowboys Tim is on.On his own personal journey. Nice of him to share a bit of his travel log.

Tim you could spice it up by giving your Log a Star Trek feel.

ie: Tim's Log; Stardate 31303
Having spent time studying the Reno region of the planet Nevada, I proceded on toward Starfleet Command in San Francisco along the Donner corridor. The natives have been friendly if a bit put off by my superior technical skills...

Ya like that

make sure you try the Donner Party Buffet too...

Leave no child behind - literally. Vote Donner Party '04!

And remember that the Donner Party Cookbook makes a great gift for the folks back home!

Donner - it's what's for dinner(TM)

A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Donner is a meal! (TM)

Donner - the other white meat(TM)

This is the most riveting account of life on the front line of the war on terror since Salam Pax. Who'd have thought the internet would become so useful in such a short time? Technology's amazing! The way it brings people together, like it does here on the blogmore!

Here's a Love song for Skinny Hippo, because my universe is in orbit around your's.

Iowahawk your posts are eating away at the Donner Parties core constituency. Chewing up their voting bloc.

Miranda, here in America we don't call it The War On Terror. We use it's acronym instead -

T.W.A.T.

See it saves space and is easier on the fingers to type!

Oops! That should have been

T.W.O.T. instead of T.W.A.T.

My bad.

How do members of the donner Party bring up their children?
By sticking fingers down their throats.

Lay off the Donner Party. We only ate the ones that needed eaten.

I have an idea for a new Reality Teevee™ show... Teaser: "The tribe has eaten!"

TWOT you say? Thanks for the tip. BTW i of course meant 'blogmire' in my earlier post, not blogmore. Hope that clears things up for you. What's the latest in Iraq? Any more 'transfer tubes' or 'human remains pouches' yet? How's that Osama doing? Probably taking tea in Islamabad with that well known democrat , General Musharraf.

T.W.I.T. or T.W.O.T. What a difference a letter makes! Can't help you with Osama's whereabouts, but lets make a pact. If you find him or I find him lets agree to split the $25 million 50/50, Deal?

What's the latest in Iraq?
Ask someone who lives there.

The War Against Terror? Hate to waste a good acronym.

Don't be confused by the headline of the article at http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/11/1068329521086.html

If Mike Moore had been with the Donner Party, they'd still be there- probably would have opened a diner and a processing plant for the export market.

By God Habib. You are offensive! Well done. Now if you would just get your name on the poll, I will vote for you.

You're three months too late, Mr. B. Since you seem to be a car guy, you should have been there during Hot August Nights.

Stardate 3103- onward to San Francisco, a backwards planet, where men breed with men, and women are taboo

Australians always go north for the winter. Tim keeps forgetting he's not in oz anymore.