Late Wednesday Evening: Henderson Nevada (aka “home”)
This weekend there is a railroad history conference in
Carson City, so early tomorrow, I will first go to my weekly Rotary meeting,
then stop by work, then drive north… north from Boulder City pausing to leave
the dogs at the kennel, then, through Beatty, through Goldfield, through
Tonopah, through Hawthorn and along the west shore of Walker Lake… on to the
Mason Valley and the town of Yerrington (the conference is dedicated to Mr
Yerrington and his many 19th century Nevada business ventures.)
Then though the Dead Camel Mountains to Ft Churchill, then through
Dayton and Mound House to Carson… Google
says it is a drive of some 455 miles, and should take about 7 ½ hours… That assumes about 62 miles per hour… I will
likely drive faster… but it also assumes no stops… and I will likely stop… to
look at a Best Tractor that has recently appeared in Goldfield, maybe at the
ruins of the salt mine at Rhodes Marsh…
Beyond the conference, Carson City is also the home of the
headquarters of Nevada Museums… I shall stop by the office and say hi… and turn
in some papers. For least one afternoon
the conference will be held at the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Carson City…
the sister museum to mine in Boulder City.
Of course there will be conversations with friends, over meals,
and likely over drinks… that after all
is why we meet and hold conferences.
So now as I head for bed, the car is packed... the suitcase is packed… the garden is
watered, the dishes and laundry is done… I have done what is needed to be done,
and should be able to leave without concern.
Now, 6:05 am Thursday… the dogs are fed… there are a few
things put in the jeep… then in a few minutes off.. the sunrise, at 5:15 am was
particularly spectacular and colorful… all is ready…
Home has a strong pull… There are responsibilities… they exert a pull that can making leaving
hard… Today I first head east instead of
north… to a Rotary meeting, then stopping at work… then back west and north… I
am on the road by 8:50… dropping the
dogs off at the kennel and back on the road by 9:10… Traffic was light across
Las Vegad and by the time I reached
India Springs I was averaging 62 miles per hour… so on time per the Google plan…
Leaving Las Vegas on Hwy 95, I am free of town and into the
desert quickly… The road through the center of the state is largely unpopulated… and those places along the way small… Beatty has just over 1.000 souls… Goldfield,
the largest city in Nevada in 1908 is now home to less than 300 people… Tono,ah
has a bit less than 3,000, while Hawthorn, an hour north has just over 3,000, the
largest population until I reach Dayton, less than 30 miles out of Carson, with
not quite 9,000 people…
I pause in Beatty at the gas station and candy store… It’s a
modern incarnation of the Stucklies that used to be found on I-10… home to date
milkshakes… Then in Goldfield looking
for some old iron (and not finding it), taking a few photos… Then on to Tonopah…
Between Goldfield and Tonopah there are wild burros to be seen along the road… Tonopah
has gas and is roughly half way so I stop… This road is remote and planning gas
stops important… Beyond, in Mina traffic
is stopped… dead stopped… there has been an accident.
Once we start moving, traffic is thick, all of one hour’s
worth of cars and trucks and motor homes bunched, all restrained by the slowest
of the turtle people. Passing when able…
threading through… the drive becomes exciting… a chess game… knowing the road
helps… Set up for the opportunity… bring
the revs up… check for oncoming traffic… pass… pass one car, or pass three… on
to the next blockage…
I clear the blockage just before Shurtz… on the Rez… the Nevada Shoshone Reservation… Then east through Yerrington and the Mason
Valley… then over the Dead Camel Mts
with a pause at Churchill to check out our traditional group campground… its
flooded… I watch a cow swim across the campground…
Then on to Carson and the conference… and friends and
conversations…
We have presentations on railroad history… I discover that I
am expected to speak on railroad paint… I discover this at 7:34 am… and am
expected to speak at about 8:00 pm… a prepare a presentation while eating lunch…
friends make jokes… but I am ready… We explore my sister museum at Carson… I approve their deposits… We discuss transferring
rolling stock… all is good…
That evening I speak about research on paint on depots and
different company traditions… Andrew hands out paint cards… We do well…
The next day we explore Virginia City and several mills and
mines… It is a about mining and milling
and advances in milling and how that affected the Comstock… Then more presentations that evening that
evening …
This morning I join others at breakfast… There is snow in
store for the Sierra near Tahoe… today’s hike is canceled… so, I head south heading for home… leaving at
10:00… or so… taking the dirt road from Dayton to Churchill along the nearly
flooded Carson River… there are quail and rabbits in abondunce… then back on
the paved road beyond…I pause in Hawthorne to look at a possible railroad
building, again in Tonopah for gas… then the hard run south…
It’s windy… way too windy… I drive through a dust devil… it
nearly throws me off the road… Cross
winds increase in velocity and severity… I slow… It is dusty and visibility is
drastically reduced… there are dust storms…
Now late… now home… I have watered the plants… Gael is
coming over… all is good.
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