Today it was all down hill, road wise that is, we left the forests behind and just out of Redding hit the loooonnnnggg straight roads that just kept going and going and going. Rosie welcomed the respite and was amazed at this big country. The enormity and immensity of the area was spellbinding, once again a photo cannot capture the vista, it condenses it and makes it ordinary. The land is dry again, yellow low scrub interspersed with areas of low rock, there is no animals, no livestock present, no crops…..so much land and nothing being done with it? Or has the land broken everyone who has tried to tame it….
Our first stop along these flat plains was in Susanville, just a quick brunch and refuel stop. The diner was classic, as they all are, this one though had the original newspaper’s in a frame for the days Elvis and Marilyn Munroe died. They both made the headlines that day and old papers look awesome! Should have kept a Michael Jackson….waffles, bacon, egg, maple syrup, and coffee for $3.99….gotta be wrong.
We crossed over into the State of Nevada without much fanfare, just a small sign on the side of the road, the only difference? The surface of the roads seemed better maintained….must be more money in this state….this photo below is a turnoff to Reno.
We were headed for the wee Gold Rush town of Virginia City, it wasn’t on our route but I am glad we stopped there, we had a ball, it is a kitschy cowboy town (albeit a genuine one) and it was packed on a Saturday! Every Harley Rider from Reno was there on a day trip, the horse hitching posts are gone and the iron horse now reigns supreme. Virginia City is a silver town, the mother load was discovered in 1859 it still stands as one of the worlds major strikes, much of San Francisco was built from the wealth from this city. At its peak 30,000 people lived there and it was a rough and raucous place. The streets are wooden boardwalk and cowboys in spurs still wander through…see for
yourself in this picture.
There were 117 saloons in its heyday….half a dozen of them still stand in the town, one is called the Bucket of Blood, it was the roughest bawdiest of all the saloons and every morning when the floors were mopped the bucket would be full of bloody water from the previous night fights…hence the name. That place was pumping! It was packed full of people in country and western gear, a band was just starting and everyone was stomping their feet, the first song they played….you are not going to believe it…was….dum da da dum da da dum da da dum Bon aaan zaaa. True, the crowd went wild, it certainly put a smile on Rosie’s face.
We wandered the streets and looked in a few more saloons and shops and decided to take the 20min tractor tour ride hosted by the driver Bill, for $5.00 you couldn’t go wrong.
Plus with it being so hot and still a nice open breezy ride was appreciated. The stories of the town were awesome, what a wild place to live, Their were over 90 mines in the town back in the day, the main Comstock mine was 3,200 feet deep, the temperatures got as high as 140F down there and men worked in 10 min shifts for 12 hours at a time. They were a hardy bunch back then and earned $4.00 a day, the other mines were only paying $1.00. In 1875, 90% of the town burnt to the ground after a lamp was knocked over during a drunken fight….it didn’t matter, there was so much money about they rebuilt the town within the month! Whether it was folklore, legend or fact, a good yarn was being told and you can still see the hardships that were faced in this hot, barren wasteland even today. Was a great place to spend the afternoon!
Back on the road we stopped for petrol, the petrol station was part of the Topaz Lodge and Casino complex that sat on the banks of Lake Topaz. The Operator decided to pull up stops and settle in here for the night. Was a great choice, huge rooms with a huge view well within budget for under $100 a night (including breakfast).
