Liz and Mike loose in an RV: September 2013

Reno was a laid-back time for us. Kind of a shame, there was all kinds of stuff going on, balloon races and air races included, not to mention the gambling (no problem there, slot machines are boring). On the other hand, the timeshare was completely luxurious, with cable TV even. Amazing what you feel deprived of now and then. One thing we did was hit the Harrah Automotive Museum - twice. had to, my camera batteries died during the first run-through. Besides, it was cheap. I spent hours talking with a few of the volunteers and dying of envy. To hear one of them say " Last time we were at Pebble Beach, I ended up driving the Mercedes Gullwing." I mean, well. Enough of that, here's some of the drool-worthy collection.

Big Daddy Roth's Beatnik Bandit

1927 Lincoln Limo

I forget, actually I forget a lot of them.

1899 Locomobile

My favorite the Curved Dash Olds, this one a 1902.

I just realized, I have a thing for single cylinder, pocketa-pocketa centenarians.

This one is strange. A Gnome aircraft engine in a car.
The crankshaft sits still and the cylinders spin, complete with on-off throttle.

White (brand and color) steamer

Mercer Raceabout

Stutz Bearcat. Rival to the Mercer and by all accounts the more reliable car.

The RV's grandaddy

Gearheads take note! Model A with a Miller OHV head and dual updraft carbs.

Early License Plates tell how many vehicles were licensed in a state. 316 is how many were in Nevada.

1937 Airmobile

Riding in class

Rolls-Royce. All copper body. Needs constant polishing.

So does the engine.

1925 Julian

1936 Mercedes SSK

The Tucker

1954 Buick Skylark in classic period garage.

World Land Speed (in class) record setting BSA Gold Star

Electric land speed record setter

Don Prudhomme's original funny car.
So popular they had to add the class in drag racing.

Liz wandered around with the camera for a while, shooting the stuff I hadn't even noticed.

Oakland Pontiac was a Mfg before GM takeover.

Grapes of Wrath

Margery Krevsky authored "Sirens of Chrome" about Auto Show Runway Models

Cary Grant in BMW Isetta

Runway Model Outfits

What remains of Bill Harrah's Car Collection is today the American Automobile Museum. Harrah was a man of contradictions, a reformed alcoholic and gambler who owned casinos. A civic leader but shy public speaker. He did not endow his car collection so much of it was auctioned off. Today what autos remain in collection are adopted by people who commit to detailing their car 4 times per year.

Liz here on Virginia City, Nevada

We left the Thunderbird Resort, timeshare in Sparks, east of Reno on Sept 11 and headed to Virginia City with no expectations. In Sparks I enjoyed the swimming pool, shopping and bike paths. We missed old western towns in Wyoming and even Virginia City, Montana so we figured we were due for a tourist trap. I did not feel deprived by missing the air races and ballooning in Reno because we've been on the go all summer.

I accept that Mike needs TV sports on weekend in the fall. I once saw a video entitled "How the Healthy Family Handles Stress". Conclusion is that men watch TV to handle stress and consequently feel a lot of useless guilt. While women cook. So the kids love mom because while dad vegges on the couch mom is making meals or baking. So while Mike watches football or golf I bike to grocery store and prepare meals. We attended 3 timeshare parties and besides Big Bang Theory we watched 2 dvds, Moneyball (very smart) and Walk Hard, a spoof on pop musician's addiction stories. With timeshare reserved in Las Vegas on Sept 19, we headed south down the Eastside of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

Winding road to Virginia City with trailer in tow means that we will not return to Reno for Air Race.

Mike target shooting in the Virginia City Shooting Gallery

Fortune Teller in Shooting Gallery

Shooting gallery

1876 Knickerbocker Fire Truck. Virginia City burned down several times. Great Fire Department Museum.

Classic Prospector

St. Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church rebuilt for $65k. Spared no expense after it burned down in 1875.

St. Mary's Altar

When miners fell down deep mine shafts their bodies could not be retrieved. All they got was a tombstone.

130 degrees! Temperature in the Comstock Lode Silver Mine. $4 per day - pay (which explains why entertainment in Virginia City was so good. Including Opera House. Miners worked shirtless in 10 minute segments.
95 pounds of ice per day per miner. When President Grant visited the mine in gratitude for their financing the civil war, he said he'd now been to Hell and back.

Today heat in the valleys brings California tourists up to cool Virginia City in the fall. This fall weekend is great timing for visiting Virginia City. Annual hillclimb weekend from Silver City to Virginia City sponsored by the Ferrari Club and the Shelby Club and a Steampunk weekend with a parade!

Virginia City gunfighters pose with a young visitor

Virginia City is a destination for Red Hat Ladies

Steampunk Parade begins. Steampunk is a style merging Victorian era steam engines with weaponry.

Sacramento Steampunk Club

Finale to Parade is a custom machine right out to Jules Vern's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Inside Nautilove

Steampunkers after the parade.

Real Silver in this gown.

Notice the ceiling is silver too.

4th Ward School is now a museum.
A graduate of this school went on to win a Nobel Prize in Science for formula for speed of light.

Liz and bike in front of nice lady's Ferrari. She was from Melbourne and living in San Francisco but here waiting for her husband. He was on the tour safety crew. Fatal accident occurred last year.

The value of silver from Virginia City and the Comstock Lode totaled over $1 billion in today's dollars. The Comstock financed the Civil War starting in 1864 when the North was broke. Lincoln added Nevada to the Union, splitting Nevada apart from Utah in order to get the votes needed to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. Virginia City paid for hospitals for the wounded. Virginia City's wealth financed San Francisco's infrastructure and growth. George Hearst made a Comstock fortune and was father of publisher William Randolph Hearst.

Virginia City, Nv. was name of town in Bonanza TV series. That was fiction. No ranching here. Mining made the town.

Ulysses S. Grant is in center of photo. His wife is seen in profile. Since she is cross-eyed she never looks into a camera. Comstock discoverers and partners are Mackay, Flood, O'Brien and Fair.