We arrived in Reno and needed a few days to take care of normal-life things like laundry, bills and nails. On Sunday Carol, Jim’s sister, arrived and the next day the three of us headed out to continuing our trip. Carol will be with us for about 10 days and she returns to Pennsylvania and we fly to Alaska.
We started our adventure stopping in Virginia City, Nevada.
What a quaint little place, complete with old general store, gun fight and train ride. We heard all about the history of Virginia City including some really interesting facts like $44 million in gold and silver has been taken from the mines in Virginia City which equates to $23 trillion (with a T) in today’s dollars. The railroad was once a major part of the wealth in Virginia City, but as the mining operations slowed so did the need for the railroad and in 1950 it was retired. It’s now only used as a tourist ride to Gold City a few miles away and back. While on the ride, we heard about several of the mines like the mine that had 140 degree temperatures in the shaft so the miners had to chew ice and take breaks in an ice room every fifteen minutes. But to help attract miners willing to put up with the heat, they paid them $4 a day in contrast to the $.80 per day the other mines paid.
Waiting to board the train
There was also the remnants of a shaft that made lots of money but never found the first fleck of gold or silver. It did, however, have something to do with selling shares of stock. Some of these people probably own some shares of the Brooklyn Bridge too!
Old mines along the train route
We also took a trolley tour through the town where we heard about the fire of 1873 which totally destroyed the city but there was so much wealth in the town, it was rebuilt with no problems. Virginia City is where George Hearst made his millions that allowed his son to buy his first newspaper. Actually, Virginia City is said to have helped San Francisco rebuild after the fire and the earthquake. (Rumor has it they want their money back).
This school house is a far cry from others built in the same timeframe elsewhere. It even had indoor plumbing. 
After exploring all morning, we found a wonderful little restaurant for lunch called the Cider Factory complete with small garden tables where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch.
We moved on to our destination in Lake Tahoe.
Main street in South Lake Tahoe
What a contrast from the quaint little town we just left to the bustling tourist town of South Lake Tahoe complete with high rise hotels, tourists by the droves, and shops and restaurants at every turn. I didn’t realize this before we got here, but South Lake Tahoe sits on the border between Nevada and California so the big Casinos are built on the Nevada side and the non-casinos are built on the California side. I wonder if the State taxes are handled the same way?
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