Virginia City, Nevada

 We decided to spend a morning in Virginia City, Nevada to see the sights during our vacation to western Nevada. We had originally planned to go in the afternoon to catch the Nevada Day Parade, an evening train, and some trick-or-treating, but the forecasted bad weather had us change our plans. It turned out nice to beat the crowds, as I'm sure Virginia City can get very crowded. It's mainly a one-street town (although a few side streets exist). It's got a historic look, with a wood-sidewalk downtown and lots of storefronts that look quaint until you see the kitsch they're selling inside. As you might guess, it wasn't my favorite place.

Nevertheless, Virginia City did hold some bright spots for me. One was the Comstock Fire Museum. They had some beautiful old hose carts that were pulled by horses. They also had a lot of really old displays. I thought some of the old uniforms looked like superhero uniforms.

I also learned something about fire extinguishers. The first ones were glass balls filled with salt water. A person could throw the ball at the base of the fire, the glass would break, and hopefully the water would put out the fire. (The salt kept the water from freezing in the winter.)

Another fantastic spot was St. Mary in the Mountains Church. It was originally built about 1870, burned down in 1875, and was rebuilt in 1876 even bigger and grander than before. The mines put in money for the rebuilding, as the priest had offered to dynamite the new church to serve as a firebreak in the terrible fire of 1875 (that ultimately burned over 2,000 buildings). In the end, they didn't blow up the church, but it burned anyway when embers fell on the roof.

The interior is magnificent, with high ceilings and lots of great details in the wood.

The parish church was built to accommodate 3,000 families. Now only about 30 attend. Virginia City is past its hey-dey as a mining town. Its Wild West look keep people coming to visit.

Another place we found interesting was the Mackay Mansion, where we went for a guided tour. The Mackays were very interesting people.

I think the kids' favorite part was helping feed the chickens in the backyard after the tour.

We wanted to go on a train ride, but because it was Nevada Day they had changed the schedule. Maybe some other time.

There are other things to see in Virginia City, but we decided we'd rather go back to Carson City, where we met a friend and went trick-or-treating at the Governor's Mansion.

It was a fun experience to get handfuls of candy from the Governor of Nevada!

A professional photographer was taking photos of everyone who came for the trick-or-treating. Here's the photo from the Flickr page. She got a good one of the kids and me and our friend and Governor Sandoval.

The Children's Museum of Northern Nevada

When we got to Carson City during our fall break vacation, we checked into our hotel, got our bikes, and went for a little bike ride. We enjoyed the Fire Museum (open whenever anyone shows up) and a visit to the state capitol and legislative building. Then the kids put on their costumes and we headed to the Children's Museum of Northern Nevada for some trick-or-treating on Oct 30. 

When we went in and paid our $5 per kid, we found out the flyer we had seen had the wrong time on it, so we were the first ones there by an hour. Fortunately, the nice lady let us in and we had the museum to ourselves for about 20 minutes. Then people started coming in real steady.

Desert Boy played a song on the piano. Hurray, a little piano practice!

The museum is essentially a huge play area in an old gym, with little dividers on the side to separate a play area, a puppet theater area, a doctor's office, and more.

Desert Girl went and sat behind the Governor's desk.

They had done a nice job.

Desert Boy found himself enjoying being a train engineer.

Later he went and climbed the climbing treadmill. It went too slow with just his weight, so he needed a little extra weight to make it become a challenge.

Desert Girl gave it a go too. I was a bit worried that all her dangling stuff might get caught in it, but fortunately that didn't happen.

Desert Girl did a bunch of Halloween craft projects, while Desert Boy joined a group of kids that went all over the building. Then it was time to trick-or-treat up on the stage, where some businesses provided the treats.

The kids really enjoyed it, and it was a good opportunity to check out the museum.

Nevada Museum of Art

 Our second museum of our fall break trip was the Nevada Museum of Art. I really wanted to see their exhibit about Nevada becoming the 36th State and the display of the Emancipation Proclamation. The museum also carries my book and wanted twelve more copies, which I was happy to deliver.

Don't have a copy yet? It makes a wonderful gift! Find out all the places to buy it on
my author and photographer website.

Outside the museum we found this steampunk submarine, which had been made for Burning Man (I might have to go one of these years!). We were allowed to go in it and climb up to the top. The submarine can actually be driven down the street.

We got our tickets and a special ticket to see the Emancipation Proclamation at noon. That gave us over an hour to look around the other exhibits. Some were really, really strange. I had a lot of fun watching the kids reactions to the different art. I have to admit, they seemed more open to some of it than I did. It made me realize that it's probably a good idea to take kids to art museums when they're young, when they don't have so many preconceived notions.

We went up on the roof for a little while. We didn't see much art up there...

…but we did find nice views of Reno and some changing colors.

Photos weren't allowed in the special exhibit, but it was great. I'm really glad we went to see it. We also saw the papers that declared Nevada a state, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, watched a film about why and how the state was made (to help win votes for the Union), and the 175-page telegraph that made it all official (and was relayed from Carson City to Salt Lake City to Chicago to Philadelphia to Washington D.C.--that's a lot of morse code!). I was also fascinated to see what county representatives signed the first documents. Very few of the current 14 counties were represented, as most everyone in the state at that time was near Virginia City for mining.

Afterwards it was time to eat! I was in the mood for an all-you-can-eat buffet and thought one of the nearby casinos might offer something. But after driving around the area a couple times on one-way streets that didn't pass the parking garage entrance, I gave up and we headed south on Virginia Street. Then all of a sudden I saw an Indian restaurant--with a lunch buffet! I turned immediately and we went in. I was ready for some more cultural exploration.

Desert Girl wasn't sold on Indian food, but Desert Boy liked it quite a bit.

And I was in heaven! It was so fun trying a variety of foods. (I get a taste of Indian food occasionally from Tasty Bites (on sale now at Costco-a six-pack for $6.99) and Jaali Bean (from Abe's Market)). But this was freshly made Indian food with real naan and delicious masala and other dishes I can't even remember. Next time in Reno, I'll definitely be going back!

That completed our Reno adventure. Then we headed south (on Highway 395, as our GPS didn't have the fairly new I-580 programmed into it) to Carson City for even more adventures.

W.M. Keck Museum--Fun with Minerals, Fossils, and a Tea Service

 During our fall break with its focus on culture, I told the kids we were going to concentrate on museums instead of hiking. Believe it or not, they were happy about that. Our first museum of the trip was the W.M. Keck Museum in the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering. We had looked at their website before we went to get the address, and went there. But that ended up being the general address for the University of Nevada-Reno. After wandering in circles for awhile we got directions, left the parking garage, and drove to the other end of campus, where we fortunately found a parking spot and then did the short walk to the museum.

We had the museum all to ourselves, which after our experience at Sand Mountain, was quite welcome.

On the first floor we saw hundreds of different minerals. We oohed and ahhed as we went past.

Then we headed downstairs, where we saw real gold--both on rocks and on the Mackay tea service. The kids were more interested in it than I thought they would be.

Next we headed upstairs, to see some fossils.

I was also quite interested in the carbide lamp collection, as that became the primary lighting source for miners in 1896 (before that they used candle lanterns). Cavers used carbide lamps for decades. I even used one when I started caving, but after having super hot water run down my face because I didn't have it adjusted quite right, I decided to stick with electric. Nowadays most cavers use electric lights, which over the years have become smaller and brighter.

As we were leaving the museum, a staff person stopped us and let the kids pick out a rock. They were both delighted! We used the restroom and I admired the beautiful radiator. A heating duct next to it blew hot air.

Then we took a little detour into the library and found this electric vehicle that had been built for Burning Man. The sign welcomed folks to give it a ride.

It only took about half an hour to see everything at kid speed (we didn't read much), but we all had a good time. Then we got back to the van before the parking meter ran out (we didn't have many coins with us). I was so impressed that I had actually parallel parked. That's not a skill I need out on the ranch!

A Visit to Sand Mountain, Nevada

 Over Desert Boy's fall break we headed west across the very wide state of Nevada to go to Carson City, the state capital, to celebrate the 150th birthday of the state. On the way there we stopped at Sand Mountain, east of Fallon. About four years ago we stopped there and let the kids play in the sand and thought it would be a fun place to return to. I even planned to camp there. But when we got to the turnoff, we could see that things had changed. A sea of RVs was parked at the base of the sand dunes.

 Even though it was Wednesday, hundreds of people in RVs with trailers and off-highway vehicles were spread out. It turns out that Tuesday and Wednesday are free days. Otherwise it's $40 for a week or $90 for the season. The pricing structure was obviously not for the casual nature observer wanting to take a jaunt up to the top of the dunes. It appeared that there weren't any specific time frames for vehicles at the dunes (unlike Coral Pink Sand Dunes, where hikers didn't have to worry about getting run over until 10 in the morning).

I was a bit floored when I saw the Papa Murphy's pizza vendor. I guess we didn't need to bring that top ramen!

The kids really wanted to play in the sand, so we carefully made our way out towards the dunes, where I stood guard while the kids played. When we saw vehicles coming our way, we scurried out of the way. It wasn't exactly relaxing.

Despite all the vehicles on Wednesday, when we drove by again on Sunday morning, there were probably double the amount, plus a constant stream leaving the dunes. Over half had California license plates.

I had quickly decided not to camp at the dunes, as the noise level was quite high, and there clearly wasn't a tent section. We went back down the road and checked out the nearby Pony Express Station, where we saw the dunes with some awesome light.

Desert Girl really loved playing in the sand.

The Pony Express Station was neat, but not a place I'd like to stay at. Driving across the state at 70 mph is long these days, I can't imagine how hard it would have been back in 1860. And the signs by the Pony Express Station said it didn't have a roof and the water tasted terrible. Not exactly a rousing endorsement.

We ended our evening at Sand Mountain with a really pretty sunset. I thought the OHVs would get off the dune, but they just continued roaring up and down the dunes. albeit with their lights on.

If you like OHVs, this is definitely the place for you. If not, it's very pretty from a distance.

Oak Creek Canyon

 East of Delta, Utah is Oak City, Utah (check out the link for an interesting tidbit about the country's atomic history), and east of it is a beautiful canyon called Oak Creek Canyon. I never paid much attention to it until it burned in a huge wildfire a couple years back. When we had some extra time one Saturday, we decided to go drive up the canyon and see what was there. We were impressed.

Even though it was obvious that the fire had burned really hot, taking out whole hillsides of trees, the vegetation was coming back well. The oak trees were already several feet tall, and colorful maples dotted some of the areas. A big section of ponderosa pines had been protected from the fire. Those that did burn may produce the next crop of ponderosa pines, as they require fire in order for their seeds to regenerate.

We eventually turned around and came back to the lower campground. We found an old picnic structure.

Behind it was an impressive amphitheater. I let the kids play in the leaves and use their imagination while I wandered around taking photos.

I'm not sure who uses this amphitheater, but I'd sure like to be there for some performance.

The leaves were spectacular.

I was a bit surprised to see signs announcing bears in the area. I guess the acorns help provide enough food for them.

The campground host has a cabin. It looks like a great place to spend the summer. We will definitely be adding this canyon to our summer camping list.

The canyon is located in the Fishlake National Forest. Activities include camping;  fishing (for introduced trout); rock climbing; hiking Fool Creek Peak, the highest peak in the Canyon Range; wood-gathering; hiking Devil's Den memorial trail; and checking out the fire rehabilitation.  When you drive the road, there are places where they tell you not to stop for the next mile because of flood damage, and when you see how they had to bulldoze through all the debris to reopen the road, you don't slow down too much, even on a sunny day!

It's so fun discovering places that aren't too far from home and yet are so interesting.