Tuesday Morning

Well Monday found us with a better nights sleep although I was awake at 5 AM local time. We are starting to get acclimated and I managed to stay awake until 10'ish last night after the NFL game before succumbing to sleep. The chilly morning found us again late in the evening as the temps dropped down once again to the 40's but was rather pleasant during the day with mostly sunshine and a breeze. We could still smell the smoke but not nearly as strong as the past few days. We cancelled our Napa Valley hotel reservations as well as the Yosemite plans for now due to the wild fires in that area and decided to go further south to the Monterey/Carmel area instead. I've not been down there so that will be a first for me. There are redwoods in that area as well as the beautiful rugged coast line.

After our usual morning routines of a few quiet moment and then a lite breakfast of oatmeal loaded with pecans and raisins we got ready to head out for another adventure towards Virginia Cityand Carson City, Nevada. Well I must say I wondered how anyone could survive the elements in that part of the country as it's dry, wind swept and basically barren with little vegetation and mostly stunted pines and cedar trees and mountains with heights up to eleven thousand feet or more. Virginia City was pretty rustic much like the 1860's except for the new part of the down that was rebuilt after the fire in 1875. We stood at the bar in the Crystal Club that General U.S.Grant, Mark Twain, Thomas Eddison and other millionares and dignitaries used in their private exclusive club reserved only for the wealthy. We watched a re-enactment gunfight with all of the cowboys dressed in period garb which was entertaining with real pistols firing blanks. The sidewalk is still made from wood planks and the eateries inside are much like from days of old. We visited several of the stores, museums and buildings and found everyone who lives there permanently loves the isolation and the history of the town.I think 825 residents live there and according to one resident each of them have nothing in common.

There is still lots of mining taking place outside the town and in the surrounding areas where gold and silver is still being discovered. I learned their drinking water is piped over from the Tahoe area which is quite a distance over and through the mountains. We had a grand time in this old wild west town which made several people extremely rich from the mining of silver and gold and the one man on his death was estimated at 70 million and into days market that would be roughly 2 billion. When you look outside the town buildings you see nothing but high mountains barren with just a lot of what will become tumble weeds when the winds blow this winter. Carson City while not as high in elevation and the capital of the state is completely different and more modern. The old west doesn't exist there except for the topography. We saw lots of unbelievably large homes and estates surrounded by a landscape in the middle of what appeared a desert. There was very little green grass or anything green throughout the mountains.

We headed back to the Tahoe area and drove around a portion of the lake with the sun shining on the water. What a beautiful site. I can't describe the ruggedness of the area which is mostly pristine yet in all of its beauty. We made a Starbucks stop despite the temperature quickly dropping down into the 40's and we finally saw some much needed rain in the area. We hope some of this rain reached the wild fires just south and east of us. The woods and forests are just a tinderbox waiting to explode with fire that is driven by these winds. Rain is in the forecast for today Tuesday with temps dropping down below freezing which should help to keep this area free of fire.

We had eaten a large lunch in Virginia City and some of us just had a supper of some salad while we watched the NFL. Well we saw some rugged country that made great fortunes for some and while it was interesting to visit that part of our land

definitely wouldn't be my place of choice to live, LATER