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Trevor.Dennis wrote
I was sure I'd driven through the Mojave on one of my trips, but looking at its location, it doesn't quite match any of my routes.
Mojave covers a wide swath. You no doubt touched parts of it.
And the Sonora desert is just below it.
America is an amazing country for sure. Not as green and wet as NZ, but still very beautiful, and incredibly diverse.
You won't see much green & wet in deserts but the pacific northwest is home to the biggest temperate rain forest on the planet.
Pacific temperate rainforests (WWF ecoregion) - Wikipedia
And last year my relatives in New Jersey endured 64 inches of wet stuff, breaking records that date back to 1895
When it rains, it pours.
I imagine the California water situation is going to be ongoing indefinitely. 55 gallons would sound a lot if you had to drink it, but when it comes to showers, and washing your clothes and flushing your toilet, and all the other things we use water for, it's going to be quite a problem. We are consented to 15 cubic metres a day, which is just short of 4000 gallons, but it just comes out of the ground with no checks, so I have no idea what we actually use.
We had to have a new well drilled in 2013. The well draws water from 15 metres into the aquifer but the drill hit water at two metres. They ran this pump for a good hour to clear the mud etc. from the drilling operation. That's Mr John Butt, who has drilled most of the wells in Marlborough.
Bored Panda has a series of pictures showing the effects of the Polar Vortex, and some of them are extreme.
50 Photos That Show Just How Insanely Cold It Is In America Right Now | Bored Panda
I keep thinking about Noel's move from Florida to Minnesota. The timing was terrible.
As if the cold was not bad enough, there's some sort of Invasion of the Body Snatchers thing going on.
Downtown Chicago courtesy of: Amazing images of Chicago and Lake Michigan Polar Vortex from above - Chicago Tribune
That's Lake Michigan to the right.
Trevor.Dennis wrote
And came across this bit of video.
Trever, that’s very cool! 
Last week we were in single digits and schools were closed for ice and snow. Today it was 60°F and all I needed was a sweater. The rest of the week looks the about same.
And the groundhog didn’t see his shadow, so we are in for an early spring, if you believe in rodents and their ability to predict the weather.
I firmly believe in rodents but not in their predictions .
If anyone is interested in owning their own little piece of Mojave, we're selling my mother's desert property -- a small house on 2.5 acre parcel, approx 20 miles from Big Bear Lake. Lots of western themed out-buildings for storage, a working water well and solar panels connected to the grid. Priced to sell.
This photo of the property was taken a few days ago but the snow level has dropped significantly since them. I expect the ground to be covered in snow by morning.
Contact me if you want more details.
Trevor.Dennis wrote
Gene, so were you in the CIA at the time? I don't really want to know if it means you have to kill me anyone else reading this thread, but I think (from the books I read) that Edwards is an Air Force base.
Edwards is a regular military installation, one that I stopped at during my time in the military. No CIA dark glasses needed. Chuck's great grandparents lived on the Muroc dry lake bed, now a runway for many of the test craft.
Now, further east in the Mojave is a highly classified remote detachment of Edwards AFB called "Area 51" That's the one no one gets into without clearance and is conspiracy fodder for the internet and late night radio. That's Groom Lake in the picture. It's well secured with sensors and patrols. "Off Limits" means "Off Limits."
They do have a "lethal force" force policy for those dopey enough to try getting in, but likely they will get handed over to the local sheriff.
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