buzzardnotes

Yesterday marked the end of an era in the Johnson household. For 22 plus years, BC had been an integral part of my life…through thick and thin. Yesterday, she crossed the threshold into the Great Beyond.

For sometime, she’s been slowing down, sleeping 23 hours a day (not unusual for an old cat) getting pickier with her choice of food, showing signs of dementia, losing weight (from a max of 11 pounds down to 4.6) and, basically shutting down. Her vet had been hydrating her once a week for a while, but BC got to the point that she was done with that. She let me know in no uncertain terms that she wanted no more “help.”  In just two days’ time, I knew what had to be done. It was time to let her go.

In her memory, I would like to share some favorite pictures of her while thinking about what a good, ornery, independent, finicky companion she was.

Computer cat

She loved being outside with flowers

After we moved to Minden, she took to drinking out of a glass or a Dixie cup…whatever the case.

Did you put booze in here?

Enjoying the spring sun

Tripping out on some early spring catnip.

After the catnip

Inspecting a new toy that her mother received…spewing crows. She wanted to drink from it but didn’t care for the intermittent water.

Every pet owner knows that this time will come sooner or later and it’s no fun to make a decision so the pet won’t suffer. BC was a strong willed cat with ideas of her own and I think she sort of made her own decision as to when this would happen and was able to let me know what to do.

I am grateful to have had her in my life. She gave unconditional love (in her own way) and didn’t ask for much in return (except to be fed several times a day and get skritched a lot).

Rest in peace, little girl.

Thanks to Dick Schmidt for some of the photos.  He had a knack for getting her to pose for him.

This issue of Buzzard Notes has a few tears mixed in with it because my good buddy, Gale Ritter, passed away this past May. Her family and many friends held a great celebration of life for Gale this past Saturday, June 25, 2016.  Profound words are difficult to voice right now, but I hope to somehow convey how much this celebration meant to me and how it helped me to begin to heal.

Gale and I met some 54 years ago at Chapman College where we were PE majors. We formed a fast friendship that continued for all these many years. Gale was an avid RVer and became a camp host at several national parks and I got to visit her at three of them. We had many adventures together in college and at these parks. I visited her at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge this past March that I recounted in an previous Buzzard Notes. (Don’t forget to click on the photo if you wish to enlarge it)

This is my favorite photo of the two of us and was taken at Pahranagat last March. Gale always loved a campfire and always built a good one.

So it is that I flew to Columbia Falls, MT to join the celebration and finally get to meet Gale’s girls and her extended family. Gale talked about all of us so much that we sort of already knew each other. I had never been to Montana and now I would really like to go back now because it’s so beautiful and the people are so sweet.

These are some of the trees that line the road in front of the Ritter Homestead.

I loved being at the homestead. Gale’s daughters, Cindy and Teri, made me feel so welcome as did all of the folks I met. It was like being in another large family. The celebration was very well planned (but informal, my kind of affair) with canopies (in case of rain), lots of food, many memories and lots of hugs and love. It was a true neighborhood/friends gathering as many of the folks brought food. I tried to sample each of the dishes…and then a caterer supplied barbecued pork, coleslaw and beans! Oh my! Many of us ate too much, but it was soooooo good!

I would like to share some of the gathering pictures as all of them contributed to a grand celebration. Gale would have loved it!

Teri is telling Hank to get back with the other dogs to get back with the other dogs. Then, the other dogs are asking, why can’t we be out with Hank (because he was big enough to jump the fence.)

Checking out a family album.

Photos throughout Gale’s life

Gale was in Vietnam as a member of the Red Cross in the late 60s. She never talked about it much and consequently, I didn’t know she had received a medal for her service in ‘Nam.

The committee to get the kegs going properly.

The committee was successful!

Some of the crowd.

This party crasher just showed up and didn’t belong to anyone in the crowd. He tried to get tidbits from folks but it didn’t work.

Teri and Cindy began the story telling of memories of Gale and invited other to share some of their stories. It was good to laugh at some of Gale’s fast car stories. She did love fast rides. She also loved horses and there were some good horse stories…some of those were fast rides, too.

Jeff, one of Gale’s sons-in-law, wrote some poems for Gale.

Can you hear me now? Yes, I’m bringing home the beer!

Cindy, me, Teri and Gale’s brother, Rich

The extended family and Hank.

I am appropriating some of the Gale-isms that were sort of Gale’s philosophy because I really think they say a lot to all of us. (Thanks to Jeff for having these in Gale’s obituary)

*Always Live, Love, and Laugh

            (Also referred to as “L” to the 3^rd power – L³ )

*The faster you go, the less you feel the bumps

            (This still applies even if you’re not driving down dirt roads)

*Take time to appreciate your surroundings no matter where you’re at

            (The where isn’t as important as what you get out of it)

*Be sure to follow the 7 Ps of Life

            (Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance)

*Fly the American Flag proudly

            (And always thank a Vet for their service)

*Remember to blow with the whim

            (Enjoy the unexpected and discover the extraordinary)

I miss Gale and all that she had to offer life. I will miss having adventures with Gale but am very grateful for the ones I had.

I want to thank the Ritter family for having me at Gale’s celebration. Being there helped me find some closure to Gale’s passing and also aided me to think and act on L³ and appreciate my surroundings. I hope the celebration did so for her family also.

Photo by RDS

The first Carson Valley Day was June 11, 1910, 106 years to the day of today’s CV Parade. Formed to show off Carson Valley’s agricultural prowess and the new town of Minden, the event saw more than twice as many visitors in one as the entire county had residents. Most everyone in the Valley had a hand in organizing the even, feeding visitors and entertaining them. Special trains brought an estimated 3,000 visitors to Minden. (The Record-Courier, Friday, June 10, 2016)

The celebration has expanded to several days, but it continues some fun, small town traditions. Just a few of the activities that happened today after the parade were: Kids’ Balloon Toss, Kids’ Greased Pole contest, Horseshoe Tournament, Watermelon Eating Contest, Arm Wrestling, Life Music, Tricycle Races and carnival rides.  Sunday will feature a Craft Show, Food Vendors, a Rubber Duck Derby, a Volleyball Tournament and more live music. Fun to do and watch. (Don’t forget to click on the image if you wish to enlarge it to see more detail)

The Official CV Days Pin

Jerri and I like to go to the parade to see all the entries, holler at parade participants we know, enjoy the camaraderie of surrounding people and the parade entrants, gather in the candy that is tossed/handed out during the parade (for Jerri’s grandkids, of course) and just flat out enjoy the fun. So here is an account of the parade that lasted about an hour and a half. (in contrast to the October 31 Nevada Day Parade that has every politician as well as everybody and his uncle in it and last about 3-4 hours depending on which election is happening that year).  I should also add that the Carson Valley Parade is not the Rose Parade. Floats are usually decorated flatbed trailers and are pulled by pickups, trucks or tractors.   Usually there are no marching bands because school is out for the summer. But today, the Douglas High School Tiger Band marched. They sounded pretty good for having no seniors. Well, I’ll just show you what came down the street.

The parade began with a color guard. Jerri was very disappointed that we, and a couple of old geezers, were the only ones who stood as the flag passed. An interesting commentary about our majority of “patriotic” inhabitants. I forgot to get the camera out until the tractors came by. Douglas County has an antique engine and tractor show each year and owners love to show off their machines.

I love this picture of the grandpa with his grandson (or perhaps great-grandson?)

This couple is staying cool with their snazzy red and white umbrella.

This tractor was even pulling a stagecoach!

The theme was a Pirate’s Life this year and we saw many pirate hats, swords, eye patches and other swashbuckling accessories.

Jerri’s granddaughter Megan walked the route with her gymnastics group, Tumbleweeds. Their float won the youth division trophy.

All sorts of transportation are used during the parade.

Here is a kid going against the grain on his motorized skateboard. He operates it with a remote control.

Another type of transport is the little cars the Shriners use to entertain the audience. This guy was just about to go into a very tight doughnut. He looked like he was having a blast.

Of course there have to be some equestrians. The Sheriff’s Mounted Posse had already gone by and these riders were representing an endurance ride. Note the pirate hats on the lead horses.

Northern Nevadans support the UN Reno Wolfpack wholeheartedly and wear shirts, hats, jackets and even decorate their vehicles with the logos to show their pride.

Many local folks love to restore classic cars and trucks. There is even a group called the Firematics that restores fire engines.

A huge semi truck was towing a guy in a totally crazy sawed off Cadillac with amps in lieu of a hood and a keyboard where the dash should be. The car elevates and turns around in circles while he is playing the keyboard.

People love this totally bizarre dude!

A last chance type of transport is this entry of the Main Street, Gardnerville Coffin Races.

People really turn out to watch these tricked out coffins hurry to the FINISH line.

On Saturday, June 18, The Great Race will begin in San Rafael, CA and will traverse the Sierras in time for a lunch stop in Gardnerville the next day.  More than 60 pre-WWII cars will be racing all the way to Moline, IL for a grand prize of $250,000! So it’s a big honor to be selected as a stopping point for this race.

Do any of you remember the Desert Bag that people hung on the side of the car or the bumper?

I don’t think these cars will actually be in the race but they will certainly be in the classic car show in Gardnerville that day.

I’m not advocating the candidates touted on this vehicle, but it reminded me of a truck in the Disney movie, “Cars.” Check out the phone number on the door. Who remembers a number having only three digits?

Northern Nevada had many Basque sheepherders taking care of their herds (flocks?) and they lived in wagons similar to this. Mottsville was a little town with several big ranches a bit west of Minden/Gardnerville area. I don’t know if they are still used.

The Sierra Stompers are always a hit in the Carson Valley Days Parade. They bring their big tired ATVs (or whatever the proper term is for them) and perform some great simulations of going over difficult terrain.

Nonchalant dudes in the back of the vehicle to the left.

This looks like a multi-vehicle pile up but they are demonstrating their driving skills for the parade judges sitting under the canopy on the right. The nonchalant dudes still don’t care what’s happening around them.

Take me home, Dad. I’m dog tired!

Jerri and I really enjoy this parade. There is nothing fancy or very sophisticated about it, but it is so typical of northern Nevada.  some folks would say it’s hokey but it’s good fun and depicts who we are and what we do.  Kinda down home, I guess. I hope you noticed the sky and the mountains in the background in some of the pictures. It was such a beautiful morning and by later afternoon, it had clouded up and we had a bit of rain and thunder and lightening. There is never a dull moment here in the Carson Valley.

With the promise of fun and frolic, Diana and I headed over the Sierras to our beloved gathering of Orange High longtime friends at Pajaro Dunes on the Monterey Bay. On the way, we stopped at San Jose Airport to pick up Elizabeth and Dot who flew in from points afar.

Eizabeth arriving in San Jose

Dot has an eye for the camera

We lucked out with traffic and didn’t really slow down until we merged onto Highway 1. We finally arrived at Pelican 10 at Pajaro and it was just like old times. Feelings of comfort, security and friendship abounded. It wasn’t long before the food was unpacked and the wine was opened.   Lynda had brought the scrapbook with pictures from our many years of getting together. (As always, to enlarge the photos, click on the photos)

Sherry is here checking out the latest additions being as how she missed our last gathering. All of us check it out, as the captions on many of the photos are priceless. We always get a good chuckle in reading them, even if we’ve seen them before.

Dot and I prepared our first dinner (as per tradition…then, theoretically we don’t have to cook anymore. But Dot always does because she’s got lots of ideas of how to put together meals…as do the other ladies. I just sit back and help with cleanup). We toasted those who were not able to join us this year as we missed them all. We hope they will be able to join us next year.

There was a lot of serious talking that first evening; jobs, illnesses/death of friends, politics, getting older (notice, it’s not old just older), traveling, and a plethora of other topics. Some continued throughout our time together.

Trish hit us with a bombshell early on with the fact that she, Steve and their partners are going to sell Pelican 10. They hope to accomplish this sale by the end of the year. Of course this made us sad that this was our farewell gathering there but we immediately began discussing where to go next year. It will happen and it looks like we might meet at Dot’s place in Murrieta. We just don’t know when yet.

Diana also shared with us that she and her business partner will be closing their antique shop this year.   It isn’t as much fun as it has been in the past and she would like some more spare time to do Diana things.

We all had anticipated fair weather at the beach but the mornings dawned with fog and then there was wind. The weather and tides at the wrong times hampered our traditional long walks on the beach, much to our chagrin. However, a few of us ventured out during our first morning for a relatively short walk.  Thank you, Lynda, for sharing some of your photos.

Dot & Lynda

Cora & Sherry

Dot loves the seagulls

I wonder what that seagull had in mind when he was walking on the beach.

We indulged in some regular activities such as checking emails, trying to verify or look up answers to questions we had raised and looking at magazines. Last year we learned Dropwords, a game that Lynda introduced to us. This year, she hooked us on Classic Words Scrabble. We were all playing it at one time or another. These doggone games are addicting!

Relaxing in Pelican 10

Then there was the traditional lunch at The Whole Enchilada. The owner always comes to our table to check out the beautiful ladies, flirts with us a bit, and then goes away. He always returns with a Lotto ticket and tells us we need to split the winnings with him. True to form, we didn’t win,…again. Bummer. We all could have used a boost to the income. We always take a ton of pictures there, enjoying the camaraderie.

Posing at The Whole Enchilada

Checking photos

Elizabeth & Trish

Buds since Kindergarten

Sherry & Cora

Just across the street from the Enchilada is part of the marina for Moss Landing. We checked it out and there were three otters floating on their backs, taking a nap. They were/are so cute!

A small raft of otters sleeping in the marina

It’s been our custom for the past few years to have a craft or two, perhaps to stir our creativity. Mine is almost null and void, but I did enjoy the adult coloring books and making a drawing on a wine glass. (I won’t show you mine, but it wasn’t terrible).

Lynda’s coloring project was exemplary!

I really liked Diana’s and Lynda’s wine glass drawings.

This was Lynda’s sample for us and she did a beautiful mug with flying seagulls. I failed to get a picture of that one.

I’ve always admired the group’s ability to make a decision and then several will step up to make it happen.  (Sometimes it takes us a while to arrive at the decision and sometimes it’s a decision made by indecision). An example was that we decided to have French toast for breakfast. It wasn’t more than 10 minutes that we had a gourmet meal in front of us. Congrats to the cooks!

Preparing the fine repast

Congrats to the cooks! I would recommend you all to Emeril!

Another tradition is to have a taste or two of Bailey’s Irish Crème after dinner (or whenever). I had picked up a bottle of Costco’s version of Bailey’s and we ran a blind taste test. Interestingly, all except one chose the Costco version as the one we liked best.

We took our annual field trip to Carmel by the Sea this year. It seemed to take forever to find a parking spot, but Lynda managed to find one for or two cars to park together. We walked a bit, visited a few shops, made a few purchases, looked in some galleries (that was after lunch) and had lunch in a Hobbit house lookalike place called the Tuck Box.

The Tuck Box serves good food (we know all the good places) and is known for their tea and scones. I also recommend the coconut cream pie. YUM!

Thanks, Sherry, for the salute with the teacup. I note in this picture that Trish is talking with her hands again. She’s good at that and doesn’t knock things on the floor as I would with the hand motions.  🙂

All too soon our time together wound down. Then it was time to settle up what is owed to whom. Lynda and Dot have a spreadsheet where data is entered to figure out what is owed and to whom. It surely does beat the old system of trying to figure it out by hand. There was a glitch or two this time, but it was eventually worked out to everyone’s satisfaction.

Sherry is squaring things up with Dot

I don’t know that our theme was traditions this year but we certainly did do them all. We just fell into them naturally and felt comfortable with them. We will continue them, I’m sure, in future years, just in different locales.

US!

I also want to thank Trish for hosting us year after year. Pelican 10 has seemed a bit like a home away from home because we’ve been there so many times and we now it so well.

Thank you, Trish!!!

Looking at the Pelican Point complex from the south

Pelican 10 is on the second floor

Saying farewell

Last Christmas, Jerri gave Dalan 12 things they would do together throughout 2016. One of those things was to hike C Hill together. They decided to do that on May 10 and I was invited along. Such fun it was on a gorgeous day!

Here is a little explanation about C Hill for those of you who don’t know about it. C-Hill is a popular summit just northwest of downtown Carson City. It is so named for the “C” representing Carson City located on its east-facing slope. After 911, a group of folks built a giant all-weather flag above the C. People love it and it looks really cool above the C.  The route we took was about a mile long and had a gain of a bit of 1000.’ The summit of C Hill is 5775.’ It was pretty steep at some points and Jerri and I were panting. Dalan just trucked along like he was a gazelle. That’s what happens when you’re 13 and in terrific shape! (Don’t forget to click on the photos to enlarge them)

A photo as we began our hike. The “C” can barely be seen at the top, center of the hill. Note how blue the sky was that day.

This photo shows our goal as we neared it.

We saw several varieties of wild flowers and passed by some beds of white lupine that were so sweet that the odor was almost sickening.

The view from just above the “C” was a super panorama of Carson City and its valley.

Looking north, northwest. The white buildings in a row at the base of the mountain/hill in the center are the Carson Tahoe Hospital.

Looking northeast. You can see Hwy. 50 going east toward Dayton.

Looking east. You can still see Hwy. 50. The big white building in sort of center is the old Ormsby House (a hotel and casino) Between the Ormsby and 2 red -roofed buildings is the capitol. It’s pretty much hidden by trees.

Looking south east toward the south end of Carson City. Prison Hill is the hill between us and the mountains in back of it.

We finally arrived at the flag and took this silly picture. You can see the flag in back of us.

Then we turned around and took some more silly pictures. Between my hat brim and left thumb, you can barely see the cupola of the capitol building. It’s a silver round thing.

These are the painted rocks that form the “C.” You can get a perspective of the steep incline when you look at the buildings below. The building with a parking lot is a good sized church.

We’re starting back down the trail. Slide Mountain is the snow covered peak in the background. Its elevation is 9698.” That is short by Colorado standards but not bad for a Sierra “foothill.” 🙂

Jerri didn’t sit in anything. That pink thing on the back of her gym shirt says “Strong Bodies, Happy Minds, Healthy Lives.”   I think that’s an apt motto for a person going to the gym on a regular basis.

The lizard below is the only critter we saw (besides birds). He was a large one, maybe 12” long. His tail might have had a mishap as it looked like it was growing back and didn’t have the design that his body did. I’m thinking he might have been a type of alligator lizard.

It was a great day and a fun time that made me grateful that (A) Jerri and Dalan wanted me along and (B) I can still do it.  Yea!!!

We had a good storm last Friday that dumped not only rain here in Carson Valley but up to 12” of new snow in the high country. This was very welcome and, again, no one complained.  We love weather that brings us moisture.

The next day, Jerri and I went to Virginia City (about 30 miles northeast of here), to do some business for the Friends of the Nevada State Museum. It is a gain of about 2000’ in altitude and is sometimes very cold there. We hit a gorgeous, sunny day with some lingering clouds drifting overhead. For those of you not familiar with VC: It is the principle site of the Comstock Mining District in the latter half of the 1800s. Millions of dollars were made here mining silver and gold. It is one reason why Nevada is called the Silver State.  (Don’t forget double click on the photo to enlarge it)

A view of VC from the cemetery. What looks like piles of dirt are tailings (debris from mines) Photo by RD Schmidt, 2013

Upon completing the business, we zipped over to Red’s, our favorite VC ice cream store, and treated ourselves to some very tasty cones.

Wild horses are quite numerous in the VC area and we decided to take the truck route (a bit longer and gentler slope) home in hopes we could see some. Nary a horse did we see, BUT we were treated to spectacular display of high desert flowers. Jerri has been in northern Nevada for almost 29 years and has never seen them so numerous and colorful. We stopped several times to feast our eyes in an up close and personal nature.

The bright yellow of the arrow-leafed balsam-root caught our eyes first. They are so perky as if they are reaching toward the sun with all their might.

Growing in the Virginia Mountains

I like the tiny flower of the red-stemmed filaree. But these little posies are really a weed. We used make play scissors out of their spikes. When the spikes dry out, they turn like corkscrews, thus driving the seeds into the ground. Spikes haven’t developed yet on this plant.

The spreading phlox looks as though it’s growing out of some rocks.

Coleville’s lupine has a sweet smell and makes a pretty spot on the hill.

Note the silvery aspect on the leaves. This is looking southwest and the bit of snow you can see is on the Sierras.

The only white daisy-type flower I found. A tiny phlox plant is in the low center

We always called this flower Indian Paintbrush. It must not be PC now to do that and my book put out by the California Academy of Sciences calls it Giant Red Paintbrush or it could be Applegate’s Paintbrush. I’m not sure. At any rate, these plants really stand out in the brush.

At first, I thought this lizard was a baby chuckawala but I don’t think they live in our area. For lack of a better term, he’s just a fat, black lizard checking out his world.

I thought this was a yellow salsify. But another look said no. It might be a hoary buckwheat. Anyway, it’s pretty.

There was much evidence of the wild horses all over the area on which I walked. Hoofprints, horse apples, and, sadly, even a skeleton. I only show this because, even in death, the horse provided life to other creatures, and maybe even gave a bit of nutrient to the flowers that were growing through and around it.

There are abandoned buildings and mining equipment all over the Virginia Mountains. These are all just off the side of the highway.

A headframe was used to lift ore out of the mine

Old buildings and water tanks

Just a short distance from these abandoned buildings and equipment was this pretty tree/shrub. You can see modern houses and vehicles in the background.

Just about a mile and a half west of my home is a good stand of desert peach. It’s in bloom quite a bit in our valley. One doesn’t want to run into it because it has a nice set of long stickers! Boo!!!

The little bit of snow you see in the background is on the Sierras.

I really enjoy being able to get out and see these different plants and come to realize that each has its own area in which to live. There is just so much to see and learn about. Keeps me busy!

I should probably put a caveat on this epistle.  Jerri and I went together and found this floral display but I didn’t think to take my camera.  So I went back the next day and redid our trip.  Also, I am fairly sure of the names of the plants but could be wrong.  I used The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws.  How could I go wrong with a name like Muir?

This is the account of my first adventure to the southeastern portion of Nevada. I joined my good college buddy, Gale, who is camp host this winter at the Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge campground that is alongside US 93 highway.   It’s about an hour and a half northeast of Las Vegas and 3 miles south of Alamo, NV.

The journey began in Minden on a cool morning that became colder as I drove south on US 95. I stopped for a short break in Tonopah, where silver was discovered in 1900 and mines remained in operation for about 50 years. There is a little mining happening these days, but the town carries on with tourism and being a midpoint stop between Reno and Las Vegas. I like Tonopah for its old buildings and supposedly haunted Mizpah Hotel. The elevation is 6,047 feet and it was darned cold when I stopped there. It was trying to snow, sleet, rain and whatever it could do weather-wise, so I zipped into the Mizpah Hotel to use the facilities and have a snack for lunch. Didn’t see any ghosts or spirits. Darn!

You will have to double click on many of these pictures to get more detail or read text.

One can see remnants of mines, head frames and other items all over Tonopah. You can even visit a mine museum with large equipment all over said museum. I didn’t go because it’s outside and I was cold in the wind.

I turned east at Tonopah and the farther east I went, the worse the weather turned. I finally got into snow and sleet, but it didn’t last long. I turned south on to Hwy 375, which is significant because it goes by Area 51, the U.S. Air Base that the government has denied exists for years. It’s also an area where aliens and UFOs are said to frequent and some people claim to have been abducted by ET aliens here.

Evidence of this (or perhaps a jibe at those folks) is a highway sign.

(For those of you who don’t know, Open Range means there are no fences and drivers must be careful not to run into a cow wandering on the road.) You can see how far the road stretches into the horizon. It just seemed to keep on going. Such are Nevada roads between the many mountains ranges. Another FYI is that Nevada has more than 230 named mountains ranges within the state’s boundaries making it the most mountainous state in the USA. (NV Historical Society Quarterly, 2015) I know, I know. Too much info.

I arrived at Pahranagat (Pah-ran’ a-gat) mid-afternoon and was greeted by this sign.

The seven diamonds are a tribute to the seven local Southern Paiute (Nuwuvi)tribes or bands in the local area.

Large thermal springs provide water for lakes and wetlands, making Pahranagat a precious habitat for migrating birds, deer, coyotes and other critters.   Water is stored in Upper Pahranagat Lake (where the campsites are) and released as needed to nurture habitats in the central and southern portions of the refuge.

Upper Lake at the Pahranagat NWR

Pahranagat has significant importance to the Paiute (Nuwuvi) people and has been historically utilized by native people for thousands of years. Gale took me to a restricted area (for regular tourists, but she has permission) see some petroglyphs.

Nuwuvi petroglyph

I climbed up a pretty steep slope to get close and personal to these etchings and they were very impressive. I didn’t realize how high I had climbed until I turned around to look to wave at Gale.

It was kind of scary particularly when she hollered to me that the nearest hospital is 90 miles away! Oops. Needless to say, I was very careful.

She then took me on a nice drive back into the mountains just east of Pahranagat to see what we could see on what was primarily BLM land. Mostly we saw a few cattle, some ravens, small birds and the weirdest thing was a pink skeleton of a cow or horse or some large animal. People do the darndest things. The bones were painted with a fluorescent pink paint and they were scattered among other sun-bleached bones.   Actually, there were several skeletons…some pink and some white.   Gale thought that someone had been butchering and just dumped the bones in the mountains, not far from the highway.

No pink elephants here!

Gale’s campsite has only sewer and electric hookups. So she has to haul water in about once a week from the Visitor’s Center, about 3 miles away. She is so efficient in hooking up a water trailer to her government issued truck, getting the water, hauling it to her camp site and then pumping it into her fifth wheel potable water holding tank. I was very impressed.

Uploading H2O

We had a campfire that night even though it was cool…as you can tell by our jackets. It was fun sitting out there; telling stories, and watching the stars come out.

Of course, Gale’s dog, Sissy, was right there with us. She was hoping someone would throw her Frisbee, another toy, scritch her head or perhaps give her a bite of something even though we weren’t eating anything. The white spot on her nose is gravel from playing fetch.

The next day, we headed up to Cathedral Gorge State Park, about an hour north of Pahranagat. This area was once home to the Fremont, Anasazi and Southern Paiutes and now is an area for visitors to camp at and enjoy. It became one of Nevada’s first four state parks in 1935. The original picnic areas were built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930s and are still in use today. I always like to learn about CCC projects because my dad was in the CCC and I think it’s interesting to learn about the various projects they did.

The spires and cliffs are the result of geologic processes occurring over millions of years; volcanic activity, fractures in bedrock, flooding and erosion. Silt, clay, and volcanic ash combined to make Bentonite clay and eroded to make the formations we saw in the Gorge.

The erosions caused some caves to be made and we could walk in them. Walk we did and they were really impressive. We could see the sky out of some of the caves and I think the walls were more than 30 feet tall

Gale and I had no information on the Gorge, so we tried to figure out how the walls for formed and eroded and came pretty close to the real causes.

I imagine the first explorers to see this gorge were duly impressed.

From Cathedral Gorge, we drove to the old mining town of Pioche developed in the 1860s by a Frenchman F.L.A. Pioche. Supposedly, it was the “baddest” town in the West. Perhaps it was. I have read several sources that claim 72 people died from “lead poisoning”(gun shots) before the first person died of natural causes.   We visited the Pioche Boot Hill that has recently been cleared of weeds and such by local citizens. I think I would tend to believe the accounts after reading a few of the wooden headstones.  A Pioche web site said “Murderer’s Row of more than 100 killers was fenced off from graves of the more respectable occupants of the cemetery.”

A portion of Boot Hill

One of the things that intrigued me was the ore bucket tramline that appeared to go from one side of a mountain down to the valley below to what looked like a smelter or some type of ore processor. I had to “borrow” this shot from the web site because mine didn’t show what this one does. This tram went over the “Murderer’s Row” graves.

I’d like to go back to Pioche some day to spend more time and see the old buildings that still cling to the mountainside.

Speaking of clinging. Pahranagat is home to the Western pipistrelle bat, the smallest bat in the USA. They weigh between 0.1 -0.2 ounces and their wingspan is between 7-9 inches. One was roosting in the eave of the main door to the Pahranagat Visitor Center and looked like a tiny brown blob in the corner. They like to eat swarming insects, such as mosquitoes. So we like them to be out and about and we don’t have to be concerned about them biting us (which bats don’t normally do anyway).

This picture was taken from an informational post at the center.

The Visitors Center is very well done and so informational. I particularly liked how the Paiute culture is interwoven with the wildlife story of Pahranagat. Generations of Nuwuvi valued the desert and water resources and maintained strong tied to the living landscape of which people, wildlife and plants are all an integral part.

Locals call the little guy the Pahranagat Man

An Upper Lake picture on display at the Visitor Center

Observation from a local Paiute

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” Chief Seattle, 1855… and the white man called the First Americans primitive.

I’m including this picture because behind those mountains lies Area 51. At night, we could hear quite a few jets flying over and sometimes sonic booms. I was glad Gale warned me about that because I probably would have thought the world was coming to an end.

Gale took me to another refuge called the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge. It was created to protect the Moapa dace, a tiny endangered fish. For thousands of years, the Nuwuvi lived and thrived in the area along with the Moapa dace. There are warm springs in the area (averaging about 88 degrees) and those springs became a resort for folks from Las Vegas. They had rv parks, chlorinated pools and snack bars. Additionally, they planted thousands of palm trees, which suck up 500 gallons of water each day! By 1977 only a few hundred dace remained. The Feds bought several hundred acres in 1979 and began the restoration. Work continues at the refuge and will for many more years.

Million year old water is emerging from the springs here.

You definitely have to double click on this to see the text

Interestingly, the resort people didn’t dispose of their trash in a proper manner because “It’s just desert. Just dump it over there.” They did dump their trash in a small canyon out of sight from the tourists and did so for many years. One can see this site and see the layers of tin cans, soda bottles, and early pop top beer cans. Because of the extreme summer heat, some of the glass bottles have melted into strange looking Salvador Dali-like shapes.

This can’t be removed until the antiquities people come to check it out to see if the dump has historical significance

Some desert flowers were in bloom but my pictures did not turn out at all.  But many Joshua trees grow in the Pahranagat area and many were in bloom.  I like their weird shapes with their arms reaching to the sky.  Technically, they are not trees, but that’s their name, so we’ll go with that.

Mormon Pioneers named the Joshua Tree

Not all Joshua trees bloom each year. It depends upon the rainfall and just right temperatures.

Sadly, my time with Gale ended too soon and I had to go to Las Vegas to join family to watch my great nephew, Dalan, compete at the state gymnastics championship meet. I hadn’t been to Vegas for many years and this was surely an eye opener. We stayed at the Rio, a resort off the Strip. I soon learned that this is not really a place for me. Too many people, too noisy, and just too much, period. We were out at the pool area (4 different ones, I think), just chatting when we all heard a loud thump. An inebriated guy was walking in a wet area, slipped and fell onto the back of his head. My nephew-in-law, Jason, being a paramedic/EMT, jumped up to help the guy. He stayed with him until the LV paramedics arrived as the guy was bleeding and not up to speed in knowing what was going on. Jason was our hero for the day.

That evening, Dalan competed and we were all very proud of him when he qualified to compete in the Western Regionals to be held in Santa Clara, CA at the end of March.

You go, Dalan! We are so very proud of you!!!

New Mexico’s Great Seal in the middle of the Zia symbol

Jerri and I were certainly enchanted by northern New Mexico…a land of handsome people, savory food, stunning hues and dazzling, yet harmonious vistas. Our sixth Sister Trip was a great success and so much fun!

We flew into Albuquerque and drove immediately to Little Anita’s in Old Town where we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch. I covet New Mexican chile and those exquisite sopapillas. Oh my goodness! I was in chile ecstasy! Jerri even liked the tasty tang of the chile.

A dish of chile rellenos with the sopapillas on the side. I also love stuffed sopapillas

After lunch, we took a very scenic back road to Santa Fe where, the next day, we were scheduled to take a small plane tour over Mesa Verde and then land at Aztec Ruins. That flight was cancelled due to bad weather, but our pilot was able to take us on a wonderful fall foliage, geography and topography tour. The colors were mostly in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and then we flew over, around and through passes of the Jemez (Hay-mez) Range.    It just so happened that day was the best day in about a week to see the colors. We must have taken hundreds of fall color pictures on this trip.  (Don’t forget to double click on the photos to enlarge them)

Aspen colors in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains

An ancient pueblo outline

Quarry where dino bones have been found

Raised faults

Rio Chama in the Chama River Canyon Wilderness

A little town on the Rio Grande

This is the little Cessna that took us on our flight adventure.

I found it interesting that Santa Fe’s original name was La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi. It is at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and is the oldest continually lived in capital in the US, having been declared a capital in 1610 by the Spanish.

We visited some of the interesting churches in Santa Fe. The first was San Miguel Church, the oldest church structure in the USA, ca. 1610. You can still see some of the straw that was used in the adobe (although, I suspect the some of the adobe has been restored over the years) It seems sort of timeless, doesn’t it?

My favorite church is the Loretto Chapel, home of the “Miraculous Staircase.”

The story is that builders of the chapel forgot to construct a staircase to the choir loft. While they were trying to decide what to do about the problem, an anonymous carpenter arrived to fashion spiral steps with two 360-degree turns with no visible means of support. He used only wooden pegs in his work. Legend suggests that St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, inspired the work.  Whatever the truth is, Loretto Chapel is beautiful.

The next church is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. The parish was founded in 1610, but the present church was built in 1869. I didn’t get the timing just right, but, to me, the church appears to be glowing when the sun is getting low in the sky.

We next visited the Palace of the Governors that is considered to be one of the oldest public service buildings in the United States. It is a long, low building with 4-foot-thick walls and was the seat of government under Spanish, Pueblo Indian, Mexican and U.S. territorial rule until 1909, when it became the state history museum. Today, the front area along the walls is lined with Native American artisans selling the wares they have made. It was interesting to walk along and see the elegant, wonderful pieces of jewelry and other art pieces and then hear people discussing prices. Sometimes, some haggling was heard.

For some reason, I didn’t get a picture of the Palace, so I borrowed one from the internet.

The Plaza is right across the street and was a great place to eat our lunch. There were several musicians, more art and some food vendors to entertain us while we munched on lunch. We did tour the Palace and adjoining New Mexico History Museum and really enjoyed it.

This chain link armor does not look very comfortable, especially during the summer months in New Mexico.

The soldier’s uniform of the late 1700’s was a bit more practical.

We joked that if our rental car broke down, we’d come back and get this old pickup.

Santa Fe has so many things to see that we had to skip some of the famous places. But we did not skip the New Mexico State Capitol. It’s an interesting building shaped like its state emblem, the Zia sun symbol. We learned that $6.2 million worth of art are housed in the capitol. We were fascinated with a lot of it. We wandered into the governor’s office and chatted with the receptionist, viewed some prize-winning art and met a wonderful lady named Josie from the Santo Domingo tribe (the proper term might be band or family). She had on display jewelry that she had made. We didn’t ask how she got to be there, but I bet there is not another governor’s office that has a Josie. Jerri and I each bought some pieces from her and she was kind enough to let Jerri take her picture.

Josie and my new ring

One of our stops after Santa Fe was El Santuario de Chimayo in the tiny town of the same name.

Legend maintains that the earth surrounding a cross (that was found in the area in 1810) has healing power. Many pilgrims come to touch the dirt in a pit inside the chapel to be healed and the chapel is now lined with many crutches, braces and pictures of those who have been healed. Jerri had a badly sprained foot and we took some dirt home for her and also some for an ailing friend. We pray this helps both folks.

Another stop was the Bandelier National Monument. What a cool place this is. It is in the Frijoles Canyon and is a place where Ancestral Pueblo people lived in as many as 3,000 sites (not all at the same time). The largest populations lived there during the 1200s and some villages included as many as 40 rooms. Some of the people lived in circular pueblos with kivas in the center part. Some parts of the circuar pueblo were at least three stories tall.

The large, circular pueblo ruins

The part that Jerri and I were fascinated with was the cave houses. Jerri is climbing a ladder to one of the caves. Some of the caves had two or three rooms. I surely do hope they had some type of bear robe or perhaps rabbit skins to lie on. A stone floor would be pretty hard after a while.

Some more caves where people lived

The Long House ruins

The Long House is an 800-foot stretch of adjoining, multi-storied stone homes with hand-carved caves as back rooms. You can see pole holes for the viga (large wood timbers)) in the cliff where they put in some support structure.  These structures could have been up to 3 or maybe 4 stories tall.

Diorama picture of how caves were dug in back of the houses. It kind of reminds me of a critter’s den in how it’s shaped. The stone was tuff, which is relatively soft but still would have been difficult to sculpt caves using stone tools.

We had been lamenting that we hadn’t seen any critters bigger than locusts, stink bugs or caterpillars when we espied an Abert’s Squirrel. They are cute little devils but too quick for the camera. I tried to download a picture from the ‘net, but couldn’t get a good one. So here is the next best thing.

A squirrely picture of an Abert’s squirrel

Taos was our next destination. What a jewel it is. The mountains are resplendent and somewhat mystical with all their colors showing off to humankind. We loved it!

Of course we visited the Taos Pueblo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America. (New Mexico is full of these “oldest,” “most” or “longest.”) Visiting the pueblo is like stepping back in time. People still live in the pueblos that were built more than a 1000 years ago. The folks who live there today choose to live like their ancestors…without electricity or plumbing. They still get their water from the Red Willow Creek that runs through the center of the pueblo. The only concession they have made is that they now have doors to enter and exit the buildings instead of ladders to climb up to the top of the building. They also have some windows. A young man named Kevin took us on a historical tour of the pueblo and explained how they lived before the Spanish arrived, what they have gone through for the last 500 years and how things are today. It was a most interesting tour and Jerri and I learned a lot.

The large Taos Pueblo

This outdoor oven is called an horno (pronounced “orno”) where people still bake their bread, cookies and cakes.

The red and multicolored things hanging down are called ristras. The red one is made up on red chiles while the other one is basically ornamental with multi-colored corn ears. The pueblo people used the corn mostly while the chiles were grown in the southern part of the state.

This creek is where the Taos pueblo people get their drinking water. Apparently, they don’t get sick because they have a built in immunity to the cooties in the water.

The Rio Grande flows past Taos about 10 miles west of the town. It wasn’t grande when we were there, but, still, it flows through that area in a very deep gorge. A bridge was built in 1965 to transverse the gorge, is 1272 feet long and spans the gorge some 650 feet above the Rio Grande. It took quite a bit of gumption for me to walk out on it, but if Jerri could do it, I had to also. Here is proof we did it.

650 feet above the Rio Grande!

The Rio doesn’t look so grande from here.

There is a rest stop on one side of the gorge where we ate lunch that day. I took this picture as we went back across the bridge, passing many vendors and street performers, all trying to get a buck from passing motorists. It was quite a sight.

We decided to go on some back roads from Taos to Las Vegas, New Mexico. It’s quite different than Nevada’s Vegas. It was a mercantile center along the Santa Fe Trail during the 1800s before the Santa Fe Railroad arrived. Apparently, there are still visible wagon wheel ruts in certain areas but we never did find them. Still, it’s still a nice little town.

We visited a nature center a couple miles outside of town, but again, saw only what seemed like a million locusts, some strange looking bugs and some kites called Northern harriers.

Waiting for the critters to show up, but they didn’t because it was Columbus Day and the center was closed. Who knew?

One of the alien bugs we saw

We were walking along a nice little trail when we heard a strange sound and couldn’t identify where it was coming from. Finally, one of us happened to look up and saw a flock of sandhill cranes flying over us. This was fun for us as we’ve only seen one in our neck of the woods in the Carson Valley.   I know you can’t see the details in this picture, but I couldn’t crop it any more than I did. They were communicating with some funny sounding croaking noises. “Hey, Fred, make a left turn at the next mesa.” “George, if you want to give directions, you come up to the front of the vee.”

Sandhill cranes on the move with their migration

We had seen signs for the “Mother Road,” AKA Route 66 and had been singing terrible renditions of the song when we decided to go to Tucumcari. I liked the sound of the name and wanted to see the place. We headed out across the prairie and in so doing saw more than 150 pronghorns. I quit counting at that point. They were in groups of 3 or 4 on up to 30 or more. So pretty dotting the landscape. They were always off in the distance, so we never got a picture of them. Bummer.

An old Route 66 sign in front of an abandoned motel.

Wow! Tucumcari is a living example of what happens to a town when the Interstate bypasses it. There are many abandoned buildings along the main streets and it just appears to be totally dry and dusty. It just seems to be a dying town. BUT, there is hope. There is the Mesalands Community College in town that is helping the economy and Tucumcari boasts a new high school. Perhaps education will help these folks to turn around the town. I hope so.

We did visit the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and enjoyed their well done displays. It’s relatively small, but I think it rivals the Dinosaur Journey in Fruita, CO. It was national Fossil Day, so admission was free. You can imagine the jokes we made about that.

This is a background painting for their Divonian Sea exhibit.

The large animal here is Struthiomimus, a type of meat-eating dinosaur. Its relatives evolved into modern birds. Its winged prey is Nyctosaurus, a distant relative of birds.

There were lots of things to touch and have fun with, so fun we had. This was the local transportation before Route 66 came through in 1920.

We left Tucumcari and drove to Albuquerque, our last stop before going home. That drive was pretty fast as New Mexico’s interstate speed limit is 75.

That afternoon, we visited the Petroglyph National Monument. What an interesting place!. There are about 20,000 documented images in three different areas of an escarpment created by a series of volcanic eruptions. The images were created between 400 and 700 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Pueblo people and other native groups traveling through the area.  Some images might be 2,000 to 3,000 years old.

We watched a film introducing the area and showing us what to look for…although they are pretty obvious because there are so many. Of course, Jerri had to use the facilities and was walking to the pit toilet when she almost stepped on a rattlesnake. We have no record of this because she couldn’t get her camera out of her backpack before he slithered away. Should we trust her? I think so. She was too excited to have been making up this little meeting. She said he was about 3 feet long with maybe 2 to 3 inches of rattles.

We chose to go to the Piedras Marcadas Canyon (canyon of marked rocks) because it had the most petroglyphs and was the least visited.   Here are some of the images we saw.

Sadly, some folks thought the petroglyphs were best used for target practice, thus defacing some of them. Those pock marks you see are bullet marks. I am surprised that there is not more defacing and vandalism because the particular canyon we were at in not more than 100 yards from a housing development. Good for the people of New Mexico!

We took tons of pictures as the images were literally right next to each other. We could have seen more but the heat got to me and I had to rest a bit before we walked back to the car. I know better than to not stay hydrated but didn’t follow the rules.  What a doofus.

The next day was an exciting adventure. We rode the tram up to Sandia Peak and then hiked around the mountain top. Oh my goodness, what a view!!! You can see more than 15,000 square miles of area from the peak. We know we saw Mt. Thompson and that is at least 80 miles away from the peak. The tram docks at 10,378 feet and we hiked higher than that to get to what is called the Kiwanis Cabin.

The Sandia tram

But first, we walked around a bit and discovered a ski lift going down the other side of the mountain. Again, we took a jillion pictures of the aspens and other trees.

The view on the east side of the mountain was spectacular and looked down on the Turquoise Trail that Jerri and I had taken to Santa Fe a few days before.

The hike to the Kiwanis Cabin was about a 3 mile round trip but not too strenuous. We did pretty well on it.

The Albuquerque Kiwanis Club built the first cabin in the early 1920s. It burned a couple of times and was finally reconstructed by the CCC camp at Sandia Park in the 1930s. We liked this cabin because our dad was in the CCC and our uncle is a long time member of a Kiwanis group in Aurora, CO.

The CCC plaque

Cora on the edge…sort of

We saw this little squirrel with his pine cone while we were eating our lunch near the cabin. He was a cutie.

Jerri is such a show off! 🙂

We didn’t really think about the altitude until we got back to the tram and saw several people having breathing issues. Jerri helped a gal while we were waiting for our tram. She ended up needing oxygen on the way down. There was a teenager on our return tram who needed oxygen on the way up and never got off the tram until we docked at the lower level. I guess living at the altitude we do and also working out helped us in our activities on this trip.

The shadow of our tram going down hill.

We went on a ghost tour that night but didn’t see any ghouls, spirits or spiders.

The only alien I saw was the amber ale I drank at dinner.

Our last day was spent driving out I-25 to see the Pecos National Historical Park. It preserves the ruins of one of the largest ancient pueblos as well as two mission churches built by Franciscans in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The park brochure says this area is a cultural crossroads because for over 10,000 years this landscape has been the backdrop to a continuously unfolding story of human culture: Pueblo and Plains Indians, Spanish conquerors and missionaries, Mexican and Anglo armies and settlers traveling the Santa Fe Trail.

You can see how the pueblo would have looked about 1625.

This shows what the ruins look like today. It’s an interesting place in which your imagination can run wild if you let it.

We got to go inside a reconstructed kiva where ceremonies and social events would have taken place for the Pueblos.

The top of the kiva

This shows an overlay of the two churches that were built here. The second was smaller due to a smaller Pueblo population.

The churches today

This is a view from one of the church exits near the altar.

Jerri and I loved the part of New Mexico that we saw. The many faces of the landscape reminded us somewhat of Nevada, but NM has more colors, I think (although I haven’t seen all of Nevada yet). We liked the pace of the towns…much more relaxed than last year’s trip to Boston. The people were so friendly and we enjoyed chatting with them. We learned to answer New Mexico’s official state question: “Red or green? “   That is to say what color of chile would you like on your food. I would say, Christmas because I liked both flavors. Jerri would usually say green because it’s a bit milder. We would like to go back some day to see more of the state.

Another ristra. We wanted to bring one home but they were pretty expensive and we didn’t ask if they could be shipped. Maybe next time.

Here are some additional photos due to some comments made by some folks who were there as well as RD Schmidt who took all the wonderful photos.  He feels that the answer to the entire play is summed up in the following picture.

Check out the head line in the paper that Isaiah Clemmens is reading and Peachy’s expression. Also check out Peachy’s sign.

The demise of Peachy…or…The lights are definitely too hot in here!

Jerri and Peachy. Jerri did a great job handling the raffle while Peachy was on stage.

An adoring fan taking care of Peachy’s train 🙂 Just kidding. This is a long time buddy, Connie

Jerri and Jolee…the best!

As stated before, the play was a lot of fun and the Friends of the Museum were able to raise additional monies to be able to contribute to the Nevada State Museum.  It’s a good cause for a great preserver of Nevada history.

This is the title of the second melodrama murder mystery presented by the Friends of the Nevada State Museum. It is a great fund raiser and people seem to enjoy our shenanigans. It’s fun to do…if you don’t mess up your lines and then forget the next cue. Trust me, I did that in this play.

It began a few months ago when our intrepid script writers, Dave and Kathy went on a cruise. The more beers they consumed, the funnier the lines and gags became. It really is a fun story. I was originally going to be in charge of the raffle and not have a role in the play. However, one of the players was going to have knee replacement surgery and had to back out. There used to be a commercial in So. Cal. with the line “Who ya gonna call?” I was the recipient of that call and became Peachy Keen (in lieu of Black Barbara as in the last play).  (Don’t forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

Kim Chi (Kathy) and Billy Bob Barrista (Dave) were the script writers.

Rehearsals began, and again, we never had all of the players together until it was getting close to the play date. We tried to get away with fewer rehearsals but we never got our lines and cues right. So we ended up having 4 rehearsals in the 5 days before the actual play. We were originally going to have it at the Governor’s Mansion, but there was a mix-up with an event planned by the First Lady, so we got bumped. We ended up presenting our play in the cozy atmosphere of the museum. The room only holds 60 people but it worked out ok. We hope to do the play again next April at the Governor’s Mansion.

The play takes place in Ginny City (Virginia City) in the Red Light Saloon, Bed, Bath and Brothel. It’s a going enterprise that the mayor’s wife wants to shut down and turn into a high-class tea salon. Polly Tician-Highgrade is ahead of her time as a women’s libber and wants women to have the vote. Maybe even have a woman run for president some day. (Imagine that!) Of course, the men in the town do not want a tea salon. The town is filled with shady characters and the plot is rife with shady dealings, graft and grime.

Polly Tician-Highgrade, a powerful, rich woman in Ginny City

Here are some of the characters.

Julia Bouillabaisse, high madam at the Red Light Saloon. Polly Tician-Highgrade. Harry Highgrade, Ginny City’s mayor

Death Valley Dick, foreman of the Gottrocks min but is really a Pinkerton agent. Rich Gold-digger, who learned how to undermine Jack Gottrocks’ mine. Matt Basterson, the sheriff. Slick Thumb, Ginny City’s assayer.

Fannie Mae East, Rich Gold-digger’s girl friend and identical twin to Fannie Mae South. The twins are dancers/singers at the Red Light Saloon, Bed, Bath and Brothel.

Fanny Mae South from the North. Peachy Keen, singer/dancer (?) who trained in San Francisco at the Institute of Vulcanology. She is taking over Fannie Mae South’s role at the Bag Piper’s Opera House.

There are more characters, but there are not good pictures of them. The puns and bad jokes were great in this play and the audience supported us with lots of groans, laughs and boos.

Peachy is searching for her long lost daddy who might be in Ginny City. She ends up knowing a lot of dirt about many folks in this town that Peachy thinks is too rough for the likes for little, ol’ her.

Peachy ends up getting the shaft and is carted back into the saloon in a Gottrocks Mine ore cart.

Peachy comes to and is helped out of the cart and into a chair

After Peachy gives a few clues, she has a dramatic passing. Everyone is shocked!

While the Sheriff and Death Valley Dick are finding out who is the murderer, Peachy keeps an eye on what is going on. You know, it’s a bit dry on stage and she drinks a beer while watching the proceedings.

The cast is receiving votes as to who did the dastardly deed. Peachy is still sitting on her death chair, still observing

Well, I didn’t con anyone to take over the raffle, so Jerri and I are reading off the winners of the superb raffle that we had. We even had gifts from Governor Sandoval!

Of course, it’s traditional for anyone who passes on to get flowers, and Peachy was no exception. Here she is with her long lost daddy, Rich Gold-digger and Jack Gottrocks.

Murder at the Mine was a lot of fun to do, even though I groused about having to learn lines, etc.  Once one gets into it, one enjoys the camaraderie of the cast and it’s kind of a kick with the in jokes that a cast develops.  I appreciate the folks who asked me and am glad they did.