Yesterday, we took the V&T (Virginia & Truckee) Railroad from Carson City to Virginia City. We've had this day trip on our list of 'things to do' since we moved here.
Virginia City was originally called Virginia - named after a prospector. Settled in 1859, it became a huge mining town. While the main draw was hunting for gold, the hills were so full of silver, miners quickly realized their focus should shift.
The train ride was 24 miles long winding through the hills between Carson City & Virginia City. J. and I were both in awe of all the things between that we never knew about - so many old mines. Hidden small communities and lots of random locations where people have chosen to plant themselves. It's bare bones wilderness out there in the high desert. The landscape was very dry. We did see coveys of quail, some deer, lizards, a few birds and a wild hare (maybe two).
The V&T Railroad is privately owned by a family whose patriarch decided to spend the latter part of his life using his money to restore something his family cherished. It has many components of a walk back in time - all the employees on the train wear garments appropriate for the 1800's.
It was a lot of fun. The train ride took about an hour and fifteen minutes each way. They had a shuttle waiting to get train riders up to the main street of town. We had a nice lunch at the Palace Bar - delicious french dip sandwich and fried cheese curds for a starter. Then we wandered around the main drag and boosted the economy with a few purchases - some stone bracelets, candy, ice cream. We visited a museum and watched videos about the town's opera house, the mine and Mark Twain. Shuttle picked us up where they dropped us off and we returned to board the train for home.
We had been a little worried about killing a few hours between our arrival and departure in Virginia City but the time went quickly. The ride home was equally entertaining though it was pretty darn hot. We chose the best side of the train for both rides - had a bit of a breeze which helped.
Happy to have made the trip but we don't feel the need to repeat. Though the shuttle driver told us parking is a breeze if you arrive before 10AM - so maybe we'll drive there again someday. The lunch was truly really yummy and if we ever need a candy store, that's a good one!
I'm wiped out today - my hip was incredibly sore the entire day. J. made me an ice bag after we ate dinner and it seemed to really help. I slept pretty well.
J. headed out to work in the garage. I meandered over and opened a bin that's been on a shelf for two plus years and found all the garden seeds I had saved to plant here when we moved. I've had zero idea where that bin went - and finding it launched me on a boondoggle of working to remove the bad top soil in the flower beds under my bedroom window. We removed a couple bags of the dirt and put down fresh potting mix and then 'planted' some flower seeds in 'sheets' - put the sheet down, cover with 1/2" of soil, water and see what happens.
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