Into the Nevada Dessert

Today was our last day in Reno.  We've been here for over a week,  so I'm definitely ready to go back to the East Coast.  It's been mentally exhausting meeting so many people!  I managed to make a lot of really good contacts, especially on the education side, so I'm excited to see what happens after the conference.   Speaking of education... it looks like I may get a chance to head up to Boston next weekend to judge the energy track of the Elevator Pitch Competition at MIT.   I love Boston, so I'll gladly spend a Saturday up there for "work" scoping out new ideas for university challenges. 

We took a field trip out to two other geothermal sites this afternoon located about 60 miles from Reno.  I posted some new pictures at the end of the geothermal album.  When we drove closer to the site we were overwhelmed by the smell of... onions!  The most common industrial use for geothermal energy is food dehydration, and we happened to find an onion dehydration site.  (I can only imagine what it must be like to come home from work every day... ) 

Unless you're a geologist, there's really not much to get excited about at a geothermal plant. However, getting away from the city was awesome!  We had fantastic weather again today - warm and dry with big clear blue skies and hardly any wind.   The dryness is a welcome change from the DC humidity and driving through the dessert reminds me how much I love the mountains... it's a good thing we're leaving tomorrow or I might never make it back!