I drive in the west a lot. I often think about the people living in these remote areas. Where do they work, what do they do, what do they enjoy doing for recreation especially the kids? I guess fishing hunting camping 4 wheeling xc skiing, of course downhill skiing if you live near a ski area. I’ve always lived in a city but I like the outdoors, the open spaces and beauty of the non urban areas. The thing I like about the west is you can live in some cities and be in wilderness in 20-30 minutes. Actually I think Reno would be one of those cities. Years ago I had an opportunity to buy property in Incline Village but it didn’t make sense at the time so I passed. Huge mistake in retrospect ha ha.

It’s a generalisation but I’ve found many kids who live in small towns want to move to a big city and many people who grow up and live in big cities want to move to quieter less populated areas when they are older. Then again we have friends who own a generational family farm and they love it. It’s a lot of work but I can see the appeal of it.

I hate that I never bought property in Tahoe, Reno even. Damn hindsight.

My father was a mineralogist who worked a lot and then wanted peace from everything, so we lived all over Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, always a few miles from the mine site. I was the last kid off the bus after a two-hour ride.

We weren't allowed to camp—coyotes—but I hiked around the sagebrush a lot. And read. I read a lot. Every 4-6 weeks, we would go to Reno, Boise, or Salt Lake City and get a bunch of books from a used bookstore. Later, I started collecting records and cassette tapes. Paris life is really different, to say the least, but my parents still live in the middle-of-nowhere Idaho. They don't camp or fish or anything. It baffles me.

yes towards Saint-Denis -- but it was all pretty much open country when i did that pat; it was before the Stade de France...

Your reference to the Beauty series struck a chord...i didnt read it that young, but i recall moving into an apartment in New York in the 90s and finding a copy of one of the books left in the closet ...was there a book about Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty? ....it wasnt my first exposure -- i had begun playing before that -- but it did turn my mind in some new directions....

People’s lives are so interesting. I can relate to your dads working a lot and then wanting peace. I’ve spent time in all those states and all those cities. I grew up in a big city and raised my kids in same. When I was young I thought the city was the greatest thing and thought living in the country would be totally boring. Now it’s the opposite. I got into outdoor stuff as an adult. Skiing , hiking, some climbing and biking. Now my kids are all into that stuff. I wish I could’ve raised them in the west but
I’m very happy where they ended up a that my grandkids are going be raised in an outdoor lifestyle and I don’t mean playing in the alley or streets ha ha. It’s too bad your parents don’t take advantage of the outdoor opportunities where they live but as long as they are happy it’s all good.