Carl's Blog

Breakfast

If you read yesterday’s post, I teased you with blue eggs for breakfast. I honestly didn’t know that chickens laid anything other than white and brown eggs. Nice to learn something new.

The yolks are brighter, deeper yellow than the regular white eggs. I’m thinking the better color is from the food the chickens are feed. There is something to be said about free ranging chickens vs those that are not.

Natural heated spring soak

After breakfast I headed over to the hot springs to soak in this natural spa. The water was very hot, 106 degrees Fahrenheit. I soaked for about 15 minutes, about all I could take then relaxed in a chair before going back in for another 15 minutes.

As I was leaving, a group was getting started in the big pool on aquatic aerobics. They looked like they were having fun. I will be returning over the next few mornings to enjoy a morning soak. Don’t worry, no more pictures of my feet.

To a museum

It’s time to get some history on, so off to the Nevada Museum in Carson City. The building was originally one of the federal government’s mints for gold and silver coins.

There is also a section on the history of the mining in the mountains near by. The reason Carson City became a federal printing press for USA coins was because the silver and gold was being pulled out of the mountains. We will get more mineshaft pictures when we visit Virginia City later in this post.

The first image is of a Virgin Valley Black Fire Opal, the second picture is of a shaft minecart being pulled up from the base of a vertical shaft, and the final picture is down a mining shaft.

And I hear you saying, what about the guns, and war equipment, every museum has to have this stuff, right? Well here you go… Enjoy guns and more guns.

If you want to learn more about dueling and why to men, will mostly men, would stand only a few feet from each other and shoot at each other, check out this podcast, BE WARNED!!! the hosts have potty mouths and you will have to deal with some adult language, the information about dueling is worth your ears burning a bit. We Are Not So Different

To Virginia City

The drive to Virginia City from Carson City is a very short drive, only 16 miles. These are mountain miles so it takes about 30 to 40 minutes.

The majority of the buildings are along this 2 way street with a speed limit of 20 mph.

I drove down the road with recording video. It would really be nice if they didn’t allow parking on the street so you could see the buildings better. Almost all of them are from 1876 after the rebuild of the city following the fire of 1875.

You can learn more about the city and the fire here at the official Virginia City Website.

One of the saloons, Ponderosa Saloon, was a bank in its former life. Inside you will vault #1 from the bank. At some point they decided to link up the underground vault to a mine shaft that is about 300 feet behind the building. You will have to visit to get the whole story, I’m just here to show you pictures.

After the tour of the mine, it was time for a train ride. The ride is very short, but you get a view some of the remains of the above ground evidence of the mining below ground.

After the train tour, I went on a final walk through the town, back toward where I parked my car.

Now back to my room, eat dinner, type of this blog and recharge for tomorrows tour around Lake Tahoe.