Games, Part Deux

On May 27, our youngest granddaughter graduated from 8th grade. It hardly seems possible that the four grand kids are growing up! Emily is an accomplished young lady, having earned Best Student awards in two of her classes. She is at the same time a lovely, intelligent person, and a teenage pain in the neck. How does that happen? I will tell you that we love her dearly, and know that she will do great and wonderful things After her promotion ceremony, we enjoyed ice cream and home-made CranApple pie with a home-made crust! Delicious way to celebrate!

The next day, Donna and I couldn't contain ourselves any longer and fired up the motorhome and hit the road. Our first day got us 190 miles east to just outside Carson City, Nevada, to visit old friends and enjoy the warm, pleasant weather. Larry has a genuine knack for woodworking, and without a great deal of formal training, is able to craft wonderful pieces of furniture. Having recently moved out of California to Nevada, Larry and Kathy have found themselves smack in the middle of turning a brand new house into a home, and I must say, they've done a wonderful job. One of the first things Larry built was a large smoker, so guess what greeted us for dinner?

Two of these bad boys! With potato salad and a special recipe for BBQ beans, we left vowing never to eat again. Larry has also just completed building an outside bar for the patio out of used wine barrels. It is magnificent, and with strategically placed LED lights and a flat screen TV, it is a comfortable place to hang out!

We stayed in the Dayton RV Park, a compact but comfortable park with wonderful hosts and plenty of room for big rigs.

We joined our friends the next morning for a $1.99 breakfast at one of the local casino's. What a deal! Eggs, bacon, potato's and toast! After that we cruised up Six Mile Canyon Rd to Virginia City to spend the day walking through an old gold and silver mining town. In the day, Virginia City was one of the richest in the country, and boasted the states' first newspaper. In fact, Mark Twain worked as a reporter at the Territorial Enterprise prior to going to California.

It is said (with some liberty with the calendar) that Mark Twain visited the Delta Saloon from time to time, and may even have visited the Suicide Table.

Virginia City is a quintessential late 1800's mining town that has reinvented itself as a tourist destination. The narrow streets and old buildings take a visitor back 150 years in the blink of an eye.

Of course, the church played an important part in daily town life.

After a dinner of ice cream and cookies (because we can), D and I retreated to the motorhome for a good night's sleep.

The next morning as we left town, our friends waved from the side of the road near their new house! What a send-off, and what a great time! 292 miles later, we found ourselves firmly planted in the parking lot of the Super Walmart in Elko, NV.

A three mile walk through a nearby residential district yielded this picture of a rose bush (in the high desert, no less!)