The road to ruins

When I left Fallon, NV this morning, the air smelled like fallen rain.  As I drove out of town, I could see faint rainbows within grey clouds in the western skyline.  About an hour later, it started drizzling lightly as I entered the outskirts of Carson City.  My plan for the morning was a visit to the Nevada State Museum.  The museum had exhibits on the history of the area, from territory to statehood, silver mining and the long gone Carson City Mint.  When it comes to museums, I've always been fond of dioramas and model...this museum had a couple of those.

After the museum visit, my gas tank wasn't quite empty enough to fill up, so I headed south on U.S. 395 with a planned gas pitstop in the next town.  Well, that plan didn't pan out as I couldn't find the gas station I was looking for.  Instead of searching for another, I just kept driving with a new plan to fill up down the road.  Bad idea!  I ended up paying almost $1.50 more per gallon in the next (smaller) town in California.  Let that be a lesson to listen to that little voice in my head.  Fill up when you can!  

I drove another couple of hours south, then turned east onto Hwy 270, also known as Bodie Road.  My destination was Bodie State Historic Park.  I had been wanting to visit this place for a long time, but it never worked out due to seasonal inclimate road conditions.  Located around 8000 foot elevation, this park is at the mercy of winter weather.  But, on this day, despite lots of clouds in the sky, there was no rain, and certainly no snow.  After ten miles of pavement, the road changed to packed dirt...not a problem with my trusty Blazer!  Three more miles, and I reached the park.  Bodie State Historic Park is what can be described as a California gold mining ghost town.  What remains of this former vibrant town is just a shadow of what it used to be.  Rundown and ruined buildings and the artifacts of its residents, long gone. 

 

I call that second photo, Ode To The Outhouse.  And, there were a LOT of outhouses...one for pretty much every house!  Here are a few more photos...and another outhouse pic.  This one looked a little worse for wear!

 

Those shots of inside the buildings look so eerie.  Lives frozen in time.  I can imagine seeing images like that in horror movies, although this was the real deal.  In fact, that almost looks like ghosts in the bar photo...nope, just the reflection of the glass.  Overall, I thought Bodie was really cool.  I might go back one day and look over everything more closely.  There's a lot to see.  Tomorrow, I'll be looking at more old stuff, but of a different kind.