I feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels without gaining any traction lately. The death of my step-dad threw me for a loop and as successor trustee, I have much to do. But, there’s a hitch. I had durable power of attorney (POA) for his financial affairs. However, the POA is only applicable while he was living. The POA would allow me to make financial moves on his behalf if he was incapacitated. Now that he’s no longer with us, the POA is meaningless. That’s where the trust comes into play. The thing is, I cannot make a move as successor trustee until a death certificate is recorded with the county and I have certified copies. That’s the sticking point – I don’t have copies yet.
Once I have the certificate, I’ll open a new bank account for the trust. I’ve already obtained an EIN for the account. Then we can start converting assets and fund the trust and also resolve any debts. Some things that should be easy aren’t so easy. For example, I’ve tried to cancel his cable TV service. The cable company, Frontier, won’t do it unless I have his secret four-digit PIN. I don’t have his PIN and have no way of getting it. They’re happy to keep receiving the automated payment he set up. I’ll get it figured out.
Meanwhile Donna and I have been getting back into a more usual routine. The weather has been unusually warm for this time of year. The week before last, we rode our bicycles to Pacific Beach. After cruising up the boardwalk and making a stop at the bike shop, we went to Kono’s Cafe for lunch. Kono’s is right across from Crystal Pier – it was Tug’s Tavern back in the day. They have a patio deck across Ocean Boulevard on the north side of the pier overlooking the beach and ocean. We dined alfresco and watched the surfers while we enjoyed our lunch.
North side of Crystal Pier View of the beach north to Bird Rock
On such a warm day – the temperature reached 90 degrees – I expected the beach to be crowded. But, as you can see in the photos, the beach crowd was light. On the way back to Mission Bay RV Resort, I snapped a picture on the north side of Mission Bay – called Sail Bay – looking southeast toward Riviera Drive. There weren’t many people there either.
Sail Bay toward Riviera Drive
A week ago Saturday, we drove Midget-San up to the Cuyamaca Mountains and the town of Julian. We went to an event called Belly Rumble. It was at the Menghini Winery and was put on by a group of San Diego British Car Clubs. They had food and drink, an informal car show for British marques and belly dancers!
Austin Healey’s and a MG TD on the endBelly Dancers on the stage
The winery was a few miles outside of town. On the way back, we stopped in Julian – a small town with a population of around 1,500 people. Julian is known for apples – specifically apple pie. We found the usual throngs of weekend tourists in town and long lines for apple pies at the bakery.
Midget-San in front of the Julian Mercantile
When I started the Midget to leave the winery, the oil pressure was very slow to build. In fact, the gauge showed zero PSI for over a minute before it built pressure. I was about to give up and call for an expensive tow, then it suddenly came up. It’s usually a little slow, but climbs within 10 seconds or so. I suspect an oil pump or pressure relief issue. This is not good. Left unchecked, it will eventually lead to bearing damage.
I talked to Bill from British Auto Repair – he’s the mechanic who replaced my hub/axle seal. He’s familiar with the Nissan A15 engine swap in Midgets and knows our car. He told me something I didn’t know. The Nissan A15 engine has an external oil pump. The pump is built into the oil filter flange on the side of the engine and can be easily replaced without pulling the engine or dropping the oil pan. This is good news! Outside of engines with dry-sump oil systems, I can’t think of another application with an external oil pump. Usually they’re located at the bottom of the engine block near one end of the crankshaft and, at minimum, the oil pan needs to be removed to access it.
I ordered a new oil pump from Rock Auto – an amazing online parts store. The had oil pumps in stock for this obscure 38-year-old engine. I’ll take the car to Bill’s place out in El Cajon once I have the part and replace the pump. We have Ken’s car still, so we’ve been using his Kia Soul for transportation and Midget-San has been parked in the trailer for the past two weeks.
The hot, dry weather spell has passed and we are experiencing a more “normal” San Diego climate. The daily highs are in the low to mid 60s with overnight lows in the upper 50s. The 10-day forecast calls for more of the same with little chance of rain. The cool nights are just right for sleeping with a window open and a down comforter on the bed.
As we are getting back to our routine, I’ll close this post with a couple of dinner plate pictures.
Chicken feta sausage with sauteed spinach, peppers and mushrooms and garlic cauliflower mash on the sideShrimp with a feta-tomato sauce and green beans – more garlic cauliflower mash on the side
*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!
My step-dad, Kenneth Keller, passed quietly Friday morning. He was 88 years old. We’ve learned a few details about the final months of his life over the past few weeks. He had been complaining about shortness of breath for a few months. His primary care physician examined him in August and again in September. He didn’t order any diagnostic procedures (i.e. chest X-ray). On September 28th, he was gasping for air and his neighbor, Helen, called 911 after talking to Ken’s primary care physician. He was transported to Loma Linda Hospital in Murrieta.
Ken was born in 1931 but we don’t know anything about his biological parents – he was put up for adoption and was adopted by the Keller family. I think he was born in Connecticut, but the family moved to Iowa.
He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1950 at the age of 19. He was shipped out to Korea. He fought the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army (PVA) at Chosin Reservoir in December of 1950. This was a pivotal battle in the Korean war and huge casualties were suffered by all involved. The marines were surrounded by an overwhelming force of Chinese PVA. The marines broke through and marched to the port of Hungnam, about 70 miles away for evacuation.
Ken was about five and a half feet tall and weighed all of 150 pounds at the time. But he carried and operated a Browning Machine Gun which had to be a heavy load to hump through the snow covered mountains around the reservoir.
Ken married and settled in San Diego, California. I don’t know anything about his first wife and children. After the divorce, they were completely estranged. Ken went to work for the City of San Diego as an electrician – a job he held for over twenty years.
In 1972, he married my mother. I grew to respect the man, especially for the way he always took care of my mother. As I came of age, he helped me purchase my first car (and second and third). They lived in a few places around San Diego before mom and Ken both retired. I think it was 1994 when they bought a house in Sun City – which is now a community of the city of Menifee in Riverside County. My mom passed away in 2012. Ken continued to live alone in their house for the remainder of his life.
At Loma Linda Hospital, he was treated for fluid in his lungs. Diagnostic x-rays revealed a tumor in his left lung. After a week, he was transported to Ramona Rehabilitation and Post Acute Care Center in Hemet. He was attended by skilled nursing staff 24 hours a day there. However, the place is somewhat crowded and the staff appears to be overworked.
Our goal was to move him into a boarding care home where he would have attendants 24/7 in a much quieter environment and more personal attention. After some research, Donna and I toured a couple of facilities. We decided that a new boarding care home in a recently developed residential area of Winchester was the best choice. New Hope Residential Elder Care is owned and operated by Jane Mikenas. She provides personal attention daily and has two attendants on duty at all times to care for up to six patients – a 3 to 1 ratio of patients to caregivers.
Unfortunately, our was plan to move Ken on October 15th was dashed when he was diagnosed with an infectious bacterial infection. We weren’t able to get him into the boarding care home until Wednesday, October 23rd. By then, his health had declined dramatically. Hospice care evaluated him and assigned a nurse. Jane made him her priority as she was certain he was in his final stages.
My phone rang at 6:03am Friday morning. At first I thought it must be an East Coast telemarketer as I slumbered. Then I realized there could be another reason for an early morning call. It was Jane. She told me Ken passed moments earlier. She was at his bedside and held his hand as he slipped away. She had come in early because one of the caregivers told her Ken was struggling. He had been on atavan and morphine and passed away in peace.
Last January, I had Ken’s trust reviewed and updated by an attorney. I was named successor trustee and now I have the fiduciary responsibility to settle his estate. I met with Ken and my brother, Eddie, at Ken’s house in January to go over his wishes. I made copies of all documents and distributed them to my brother and sister to avoid any misunderstandings. This is a big responsibility and I wanted to be transparent with what would happen under these circumstances. I’ll be busy in the weeks ahead. I’ll try to update with a post or two covering happier stuff Donna and I are sure to find. Ken’s last words to us were, “You two have fun!”
I’ve been finding it hard to motivate myself to post to this blog lately. I’m busy keeping affairs in order for my step-dad, Ken. He’s still at the skilled nursing facility in Hemet. He is currently scheduled to be transported to the boarding home care facility in Winchester tomorrow. We will be able to employ hospice care there.
We got out and did a few things in the last week. Donna’s fighting a sinus infection, so that limited some of her normal activities. I went out and played pickleball a couple of times. On Thursday, we went to the UCSD campus to check out an unusual attraction Donna heard about. It’s located at the top of Jacobs Hall on the campus. The UCSD campus covers over 2,100 acres in La Jolla near Torrey Pines.
The attraction is an engineering/art exercise called Fallen Star. It’s a weird building cantilevered off of the roof of Jacobs Hall.
Jacobs Hall and Fallen Star
The hall is a seven-story building near the Ted Geisel library. It houses the Jacobs School of Engineering.
Donna at the door of Fallen Star Poem about the building
The building was designed by an engineer named Suh Do Ho. Everything inside the building from the floor to furnishings is set at crazy angles. It’s not like the floor is tilted and everything inside tilts with it. Some furnishings tilt one way while windows and other furnishings are tilted in different directions. It’s all very dis-orienting.
Everything is askew
The Ted Geisel library building is another interesting bit of architecture on the campus. It was built in 1970 and renovated and renamed after local author Theodor Geisel – better known as Dr. Suess – in the 1990s. The building looks like something that landed from outer space. At night when it’s lit up inside, it really looks even more outer-spacey.
Ted Geisel Library viewed from the top of the Jacobs Hall – the construction cranes are far away in the backgroundAnother view of the library from ground level
My friend Gary Stemple invited me to join him Friday night for the San Diego Music Hall of Fame induction show. There are a few organizations claiming to be San Diego Hall of Fame – this one is fairly recent with this being their second induction ceremony.
We took an Uber to Ocean Beach where the ceremony was held in a church hall. The musicians were each limited to just one or two songs during the presentation. I would have liked to have more music and fewer speeches, but that’s how these things go.
Robin Henkel
One of the inductees was Robin Henkel – a long time San Diego musician. Back in the ’70s, he was a member of a popular local band called Jambalaya. He plays blues and jazz now and has opened shows for many stars such as B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Bonnie Raitt and many others.
Angelo Pizzaro on keyboards
Angelo Pizzaro is a young up-and-coming star on the music scene in San Diego and he performed an original composition on keyboards, accompanied by a horn.
Candye Kane Alumni Band
The Candye Kane Alumni Band played a tribute to her as she is a San Diego Hall of Famer. Candye originally started in the porn industry in the early ’80s and her music career took hold in the mid-’80s. She passed away in 2016 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 54.
The show was fun and the atmosphere was very laid back.
We’ve had more great weather here although things are heating up again. We have a mild Santa Ana condition – I’ve written about it before. Santa Ana occurs when high pressure develops inland over the desert. This creates wind that blows across the mountains to the west, lowering humidity and raising temperature. The hot, dry wind is a big fire danger. Yesterday the high temperature reached 89 degrees and we’re expecting upper 80s today. The next few days should be upper 70s to low 80s, then we’ll settle down to a more “normal” high of around 70 degrees.
I haven’t written a post in over a week. It’s not just due to laziness on my part – I’ve been busy and family matters have me out of my usual routines. My step-dad, Ken, is still at Ramona Rehab Center in Hemet. It’s a little under two hours of driving time to get there if the traffic is flowing well. With a traffic jam or two, it can take three hours each way. His condition seemed to be improving, but then things changed. I finally got a report on the doctor’s findings.
He has a lung tumor of about 3.3cm in the left lobe. This is why he has fluid in his lung. I suspect he may also have additional tumors in his abdomen. At his age, 88 years old, no doctor is willing to risk surgical procedures – he probably wouldn’t survive an operation.
I’ve made several trips up to Hemet over the past week and half. The plan was to move Ken out of the rehab center on Tuesday, October 15th – tomorrow. Donna returned from her trip to Vermont last Wednesday night and she drove up with me on Saturday. We made a couple of stops to check out boarding care facilities. We found one we liked in Winchester – about 15 or 20 minutes away from the neighborhood Ken lived in. The boarding care facility is a normal looking residential house in a newly constructed neighborhood. They can accommodate up to six patients and have two attendants on duty 24 hours a day. After looking at the home, we drove up to the rehab center and faced some bad news.
Ken’s condition had worsened. He has a bacterial infection commonly called C. diff. It’s contagious and they won’t be releasing him until it clears up. I didn’t know this on Saturday – the test results came in on Sunday. I paid the admission fee and pro-rated care fee for October at the boarding care home on Saturday to make sure he had a private room available when he’s discharged from the rehab center. It won’t be happening tomorrow though.
Meanwhile life goes on and I had a few interesting days. On Thursday, my friend Gary Stemple invited me to go fishing with him and another friend of his named Duane. I bought a one-day California fishing license at Dana Landing at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon after returning from a trip to Hemet. I told the girl at the counter I needed a one-day license for tomorrow. I also needed a one-day Mexican fishing permit in case we crossed into Mexican waters. She told me I had to get the Mexican permit online.
When I got back to the park and started to search for the Mexican permit, I noticed the California license she issued me was for one-day but it was for Wednesday! Who would buy a license at 3pm and have it expire at midnight? I told her it was for tomorrow. I went back and she issued a new license without any further hassle.
Donna came home from the airport close to midnight Wednesday night. It was a long travel day from Vermont. I was up at 4am to go fishing. We left Harbor Island in a 24-foot center console fishing boat at sunrise. The first stop was at the bait barge where we filled the live-well with live anchovies.
The fishing turned out to be a bust. We got skunked, although we fished hard at the nine-mile bank and also near the Coronado Islands of Mexico. There was a lot of naval activity outside of San Diego along a couple of shipping lanes. We saw a few Littoral-class combat ships. These stealth warships are futuristic looking and a bit scary.
Littoral – class combat ship
Another ship passed by us and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I think it was some kind of support ship for underwater research. It had two submersibles – the orange shapes you can see in the photo – and a weird open two-level deck.
Research vessel?
When we headed south toward the Coronado Islands, we rigged three lines for trolling. I drove the boat as we trolled slowly – about 4mph. Gary napped on the bow seats while Duane took a nap on the aft bench. As we approached the islands, I saw what looked like a powerful go-fast boat come around one of the islands and head toward us. Something about it made me think this wasn’t good. It was speeding on a heading to come directly to us. When it was about 500 yards out, I could see a number of men on board – at least a dozen. And they had guns.
As they came closer, I told Gary to wake up – we have armed Federales coming. I put the boat in neutral and wound my line in. I told Duane to wake up and start reeling his line in – we were going to be boarded. As their boat came alongside about 10 yards, I could see they were Mexican Federal agents with automatic weapons and body armor. They came around behind us and ran over two of our fishing lines, cutting one of them.
One of the men on board started yelling at the boat driver and had him back away. They floated about 30 yards beside us with all eyes on us. Duane asked me if he should get his passport and permit out. I told him to keep reeling his line in and keep his hands in their view. I didn’t want him to reach inside his backpack.
Once Duane had his line and lure in, they seemed satisfied that we were merely gringo fisherman. The guy that yelled at the boat driver seemed to be in charge. He gave us a thumbs up and called out, “Okay?” Gary replied, “Bueno.” They drove away without boarding our boat! How weird is that?
As we headed toward the islands, I spied a fin cutting the water about 100 yards away. Gary drove toward it. It was a large shark – we think it was a mako based on the color and it was about eight feet long. We gave up fishing around 3pm and headed back to San Diego Bay.
As we entered the bay, two go-fast boats came toward us and passed off the port side about 50 yards out. They had flashing lights and each held eight or 10 special forces troops – probably Navy SEALS from the Coronado North Island base. Then two more flew by followed by two more pairs – making a total of eight boats.
Gary continued cruising at about 25mph toward the gas dock and Harbor Island when we noticed a go-fast boat with flashing lights coming up on us from behind. We thought one of the special forces boat had turned around to follow us. Then we heard the whoop-whoop of its siren and we slowed to a stop. It was a Coast Guard Patrol Boat with three, 300-horsepower outboard engines! Two officers boarded our boat. It was a routine safety check. It went smoothly – we had all of our gear and paperwork in order. This was the first time any of us had been boarded by the Coast Guard.
On Saturday morning, Donna and I drove Midget-San to the British Car Day show at Spanish Landing Park on San Diego Bay across from the airport. It was a nice show with the cars organized by marque representing various car clubs in the area.
Nice 1959 Bugeye Sprite
There were several Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprites. My first car was a Bugeye that I bought when I was 15 years old.
Mister Bean – a British comedian
The original Mini was a very small car sold under the Austin or Morris nameplate. The current versions are much larger cars. In the photo above, you can partially see a Clubman wagon with wood trim in the background.
1957 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud
There were several DeLoreans on display. Although DeLorean Motor Company was an American company, the cars were built in North Ireland, making them British cars.
Back to the Future
This old MG was interesting. The bonnet not only covered the motor, it extended beyond the firewall to expose the steering column and control pedals. It looks like it might have been a bit drafty on the legs and feet.
Circa 1930 MGClose-up view of open bonnet
We saw Paul Konkle’s 1962 MGB racecar. Paul is the owner of British Car Repair where I had the axle/hub seal replaced on our Midget.
Donna looking good in Paul’s MGB racecar
Paul raced the previous weekend at the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) Nationals at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. He brought home a gold medal!
Paul’s SVRA medals
We had to leave by 11am to go north to look at boarding care facilities which brings me back to the start of this post.
Gary invited us to join him on Sunday and drive up to Carson for the Chargers game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Gary has season tickets and Donna was our designated driver. There were so many Steeler fans visiting southern California at the game, the vibe in the tailgating area was hostile. I’ve never experienced such a negative atmosphere inside the stadium at a Chargers game before.
Great seats
The weather here in San Diego continues to be outstanding. Last week was a little warmer than usual with highs reaching the mid-80s. The week ahead should have highs in the low-to-mid-70s and overnight lows around 60 degrees.
I’m staying busy here in San Diego. In my last post I mentioned dropping the Midget off for repairs at British Auto Repair near the Sports Arena. I also had ordered new wheels and tires on Monday. The current tires had good tread but they were five years old and seemed like the rubber had hardened.
I was also getting a vibration that was worse at 55-58 MPH. Usually when you feel a vibration at a speed in 50 – 60 MPH range, it indicates a wheel balance problem. But this vibration would be more pronounced intermittently. It seemed like an imbalance or out-of-round condition of two or more wheels would align in phase at times and the steering wheel and shift lever would shake. The wheels on Midget-San are the original Rostyle stamped steel wheels – nearly 40 years old. Cosmetically they looked brand new, but I had no idea if they had suffered previous damage and had been straightened.
Original Rostyle steel wheel
Back in the 1960s and early 70s, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) had a number of classes to race British cars in. Back then it seemed like every British race car was shod with eight-spoke cast alloy wheels called minilites. When I was a teenager driving an Austin-Healey Sprite I lusted after a set of minilites, but they were out of my budget. Those wheels not only looked sharp, they were also lightweight. Wheel weight is an important factor in a vehicles handling characteristics. Wheels are what auto engineers call “unsprung” weight. Unsprung weight is any weight that’s not supported by the vehicles suspension, such as wheels, brake discs and axles. These components are more or less hung from the suspension springs and shocks.
Nowadays minilite style wheels are available from a few manufacturers. I ordered a set of Minator minilite style alloy wheels from Moss Motors with free shipping on Monday. I also ordered a set of Toyo tires from Amazon Prime to mount on the new wheels. I was pleasantly surprised when the wheels and tires were delivered together from UPS Wednesday afternoon!
Wednesday evening Donna took a flight to Albany, New York enroute to her parents house in Bennington, Vermont. She’ll be there for a week helping her dad rehab from a broken hip. So, I’m a bachelor for the week.
Thursday morning I called Discount Tire to see how much they would charge to mount and balance the new tires and find out when they could it. When I told the guy I had the new wheels and tires already, he put me on hold and didn’t pick up in the next five minutes. Obviously they weren’t interested in doing the job. I hung up. Next I called Victor’s Tire and Auto Detail shop up the hill from here on Clairemont Drive. They said they would do it for a total of $60 out-the-door and to come in anytime. I drove up there – two guys on two tire machines mounted the tires then balanced them and I was on my way within 15 minutes!
New tire and Minator minilite style eight spoke alloy wheel
I put the wheels away in the trailer, then my phone rang. It was British Auto Repair. They had finished the axle/hub seal repair. I wasn’t expecting it for another day or two. They also told me that the gasket and O-ring was all that was needed – I had caught the leak early enough to avoid damage to the brake shoes and there was no hub damage. So a repair that could have cost as much as $600 only came to $200. Good news indeed.
I took an Uber to the shop and drove Midget-San back to Mission Bay RV Resort and parked next to the trailer in the overflow lot. I was able to change the wheels and had the car ready to go in no time.
New wheelsAn osprey supervised my work
I took a test drive up to Torrey Pines and back. Smooth. No sign of the vibration I could feel before. The car drives better and I think it looks better too!
Friday I drove Ken’s car up to Hemet to visit him and check on his progress at Ramona Rehab Center. It’s a little over a 90-minute drive without any traffic tie-ups. He seemed to be doing better and was in fine spirits. But, they had taken another chest x-ray that morning and were waiting for the results. The doctor thinks he’s getting fluid in his lungs again. I still haven’t heard anything but I intend to follow-up this afternoon.
At happy hour at the Offshore Tavern and Grill last night I heard about a surfing contest at La Jolla Shores this morning. I headed up there at 10am to check it out. The Windansea Surf Club had their Menehune Juniors contest. I hung out on the beach and watched for a while – some of the kids are pretty good!
Nice ride
An ensemble with two guitars and a bass played surf music. They had a van with their amps and a generator in the parking behind an EZ-up canopy. They sounded good and played a lot of surf classics from the 60s.
The surf sound – Fender Jaguar guitars and Reverb amps
The weather has been fantastic and we can expect more of the same in the coming week. Today will be the last day I can say I’m 62 years old. My 63rd birthday is tomorrow.
*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!
The short drive from Oceanside to Mission Bay was uneventful Friday morning. The day before, I had called Mission Bay RV Resort to inquire if they were still using the e-mail Fast Track check-in process – I hadn’t received the e-mail. The guy I talked to didn’t seem to know – I could hear him asking someone else in the office – then he said I would get an e-mail. I didn’t. Mission Bay RV Resort is under new management. I won’t go into the details in this post – it’s been a political football – but now the RV park is being run by the same people that operate Campland – an RV resort on the bay across Rose Inlet from Mission Bay RV Resort.
Not much has changed so far, but there was one positive at check-in. When we first started coming to Mission Bay, we were required to leave the park for at least 24 hours after one month – what we called the 24-hour shuffle. One month was defined as 31 consecutive days. Then they changed the policy to allow two consecutive months – 62 days. Now three months are allowed before you have to leave the park, so we’re checked in for 93 consecutive days. This is great – packing up and getting out of the park for 24 hours when you want to have an extended stay here was always a pain. We unloaded Midget-San and dropped the trailer in the overflow lot, then set up in site 111.
As usual we found many activities going on in Mission Bay Park. The RV park also filled up for the weekend. This is the normal pattern here at this time of year – lots of weekend warriors but generally quiet with many empty sites during the weekdays.
Something going on at De Anza Cove
We’ve been having king tides with the high tide over six-feet above the normal sea level. The tides should be back to a more normal level after today – the high tide will be about four feet above mean sea level.
I have my outdoor TV set up again – I hook it up to the park’s cable TV. It allows me to sit outside in the evenings and puff a cigar while I watch football. Sunday night, that’s what I did.
Sunday Night Football on the outdoor TV
I’ve been trying to stay on top of my step-dad’s healthcare at Loma Linda Hospital in Murrieta. When I visited him last week, I went to the nurses’ station on his floor and gave them my contact information and told them I was next-of-kin and had power of attorney for his healthcare decisions. I thought we were clear that I was the contact person. They didn’t contact me. They kept calling Ken’s neighbor, Helen with updates. Ken’s good friend, Ray, and his wife, Helen, live across the street from Ken in Sun City (Menifee). Ray is 90 years old. I think Helen is well into her 70s and she’s had her hands full taking care of Ray and looking after Ken. Helen is sharp as a tack and really on top of things. We finally got it straightened out with the hospital so I would be contacted if needed.
Ken is doing better, but he’s not able to fend for himself just yet. Monday we had him transferred to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation. Hopefully he’ll regain enough strength to be able to go home soon. Donna and I borrowed her sister, Sheila’s car on Tuesday and drove it up to Menifee to get some things from Ken’s house. I took Ken’s car – a 2015 Kia Soul – and we drove to Hemet to admit Ken to the rehab facility. I figured it was best if I kept his car in case I needed to take him anywhere else. I couldn’t get him into or out of the Midget. I also picked up his mail and took care of some financial matters for him.
I made a Costco run on Monday morning in Midget-San. I’ve written about the Costco on Morena Boulevard here before. It’s the original Price Club location. I’ve also written about the high end liquor they offer there. When I saw a bottle of Russian Beluga Vodka, I was dumbfounded.
Beluga Vodka – only $6,999 for 750ml
I don’t understand how any vodka could command a price of $6,999 – but it does come in a Lalique Crystal bottle. The 50-year old Scotch Whisky from The Glenlivet tops all though.
The Glenliviet – $18,999
This morning, we dropped off Midget-San at British Auto Repair near the Sports Arena. The right rear axle/hub seal is leaking. I don’t have the work space or all of the tools needed for the job so I found what are probably the best British car mechanics in the area for the job. Since I have Ken’s car right now, it was a good time to get the repair done.
Tonight, Donna will fly out of Lindbergh Field to Albany, New York. She’s going to Bennington, Vermont to visit her parents for the next week. She’ll be helping her dad with his rehab – he broke his hip a few weeks ago.
The weather here has been great – daily highs in the 70s and overnight lows around 60 degrees. I can expect more blue skies and fine weather in the week ahead with a slight warming trend after the weekend. I’ll probably make a trip or two to Hemet – about 90 miles from here – to visit Ken and check on his progress.
*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!
I closed my last post saying we had eight nights to fill before we could check in at Mission Bay RV Park in San Diego and needed a plan. What we came up with may not have been the most exciting plan, but it was practical. We left Bishop and headed south on US395 for about 140 miles to Ridgecrest, California.
The Elks Lodge in Ridgecrest has about a dozen sites with full hook-ups – five are 50amp service. Ridgecrest isn’t the most glamorous destination, but at $20/night it would work for the first four nights we needed to fill.
Ridgecrest has been in the news recently due to earthquakes centered near the town. In July, quakes with magnitudes of 6.4, 5.4 and 7.1 happened. In the last week, several smaller quakes occurred including a a magnitude 3.2 on Saturday morning, which was recorded by geologists, but we didn’t even notice it.
Ridgecrest’s other claim to fame is the China Lake Naval Station nearby. China Lake is mainly a research and evaluation facility for the US Navy – and it’s also the largest landholding in the navy’s inventory.
When we arrived, there were a few other RVs there, but after two days, we had the place to ourselves. We didn’t do anything exciting while we were there. Donna caught up on a couple of assignments while we took advantage of the 50-amp service to keep the air conditioners running during the day. The high temperature hovered around 90 each day, but quickly cooled off after sundown to overnight lows in the upper 50s. We also had excellent satellite reception and I recorded Formula One and Moto-GP races.
A park all to ourselves in RidgecrestWe dropped the trailer across from our site by the lodge
The Ridgecrest Elks Lodge has an RV club and they’ve done a great job with the RV sites, but the lodge doesn’t seem to be very active. They do have Bingo on Thursday nights and Donna went over to play. On Friday evening I went in for a cold one around 5pm and found only two people there. The bartender told me Fridays are usually quiet as so many people get out of town for the weekend. The lodge is closed Saturday and Sunday!
By the time I had the Midget secured in the trailer and hooked up, it was 10:30am when we pulled out of Ridgecrest on Monday morning. We followed US395 south to I-15 and went over Cajon Summit. Cajon Summit is followed by six miles of steep downgrade dropping into San Bernadino. The traffic was harrowing on this stretch as expected. Cars dart from lane to lane trying to take advantage of any opening without much regard for tractor-trailer and big-rig RVs.
We took I-215 down through Riverside and continued our trek southward. We made a stop at Ethanac Road in Menifee where I knew there was a travel center. Finding truck stops in southern California isn’t as easy as some places. I filled our tank with diesel #2 at $3.75/gallon. Not bad considering California fuel prices – we’ve seen much higher prices.
My step-dad, Ken, lives nearby but we didn’t see him. There isn’t anyplace nearby to legally park an RV. We would have to go several miles, then unload the Midget for a visit and load back up to get on the road. I really wanted to get past the afternoon rush through Temecula and get off the road. Our destination was another four-night stay at an Elks Lodge – in Oceanside this time. We’ve wanted to stay there for a while but weren’t able to get a reservation in the past. This time we got lucky and snagged a site for four nights – only a 30-amp service this time. The 30-amp service isn’t a big deal since we have cooler breezes here coming off the Pacific Ocean and don’t need to run air conditioners.
Tuesday morning Donna and I took a ride down the Coast Highway to Saint Michaels By-The-Sea just after crossing into Carlsbad. We met Debbie Bednarski – a friend from my high school days – there and played pickleball. They have two outdoor courts and 12-15 people showed up to play. It was great to see Debbie again and also get back on the pickleball courts.
While we were there, I received a phone call from the my step-dad, Ken’s neighbor, Helen. She told me Ken had just been taken away in an ambulance for transport to Loma Linda Hospital in Murrieta. I knew he was complaining about shortness of breath and it seems like it’s gotten bad enough that he needed attention.
This created a little tension for me – I had to figure out how to handle the situation. Donna’s dad had taken a fall a few weeks ago and broke his hip. He had successful surgery but now needs rehabilitation. He spent two weeks in a facility before Donna’s sisters decided to take over. Linda is a nurse and Sheila is a physical therapist. Sheila flew from San Diego to Vermont to get him going on rehab.
Meanwhile, Sheila’s 15 year-old son, Connor, was invited to play with a band made up of local middle and high schoolers opening up the Padres MLB game with the national anthem at Petco Park on Tuesday night. I needed to drop Donna off at Sheila’s place in La Jolla so she could use Sheila’s car to drive Connor to the ballgame and back.
I called the hospital and talked to an ER nurse. She told me they were taking Ken to X-ray, he was coherent, his vitals were good and I should wait and check back later. So I carried on and drove Donna to La Jolla. I called the hospital again and the nurse told me nothing had really changed and she advised me to sit tight and wait until the doctor came up with something. She didn’t seem overly concerned at this point. I notified my sister and brother and also my daughters of the situation. They admitted Ken to the hospital for more tests and observation.
Yesterday I drove the Midget up to Murrieta. It’s a blast up the interstate most of the way – not a fun drive in a small British sports car. At the hospital, I found Ken’s room and he seemed much better. They had discovered a large amount of fluid in one lung and drained 1.5 liters from it! With the liquid removed, he could breathe much better.
I’m concerned though. The thing is, his heart rate, blood pressure and temperature were all fine. He just couldn’t breathe. To me, I’m thinking this isn’t pneumonia or some kind of infection – he would’ve been ill. So why was there fluid in his lung? The only thing I can come up with is congestive heart failure or cancer. He’s 88 years old, so I’m hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
Meanwhile, Donna has plans to fly to Varmont next week. She’ll spend a day with Sheila learning what needs to be done to assist with her dad’s physical therapy. Sheila will return home while Donna stays there for a week or more. Family matters matter. I’ll be at Mission Bay RV Resort – we check in tomorrow.
A rain shower passed through here this morning. We skipped pickleball, but drove down to the Oceanside Farmers’ Market near the pier. There were some unique vendors and we bought more than usual.
Oceanside Farmers Market – and the back of Donna’s head
It’s cloudy and cool – the high might reach 70 degrees. We expect pleasant weather at Mission Bay – daytime highs in the low 70s and overnight lows in the 60s. Hard to beat that.
Our third and final stop of the 13-day Alpine Coach Association (ACA) Eastern Sierra Tour was at Highlands RV Park in Bishop, California. Saturday morning we gathered together at the group area for breakfast goodies and discussed the day’s activity. We were going to drive up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest – about 40 miles away.
Donna and I drove there in Midget-San. We headed south to Big Pine then turned east on CA168. This road climbs from about 4,000 feet above sea level to about 10,000 feet above sea level in a little over 20 miles. Our destination was the Shulman Grove Visitor Center. As we started climbing on CA168, we were following a group of Porsches. These guys were having fun, cruising at the speed limit or below on the straights, allowing gaps to open up between the cars, then gassing it through the tight twisty sections. We were able to keep up with them most of the time in the Midget – of course they could have run away from us at any time, but since they didn’t run at high speed on the straights we stayed with them.
After climbing steep grades, we were around 6,500 above sea level when Donna said she smelled coolant. I also could smell it and saw the coolant temperature gauge suddenly shoot into the hot zone. I quickly pulled off the road and shut the engine down. I opened the hood and found the coolant hose had come off the water pump again – this happened once before in Winchester Bay, Oregon.
I had checked the oil and coolant levels before we left that morning. Looking at the coolant reservoir now, I could see the level in the overflow reservoir hadn’t changed. Here’s the thing – the engine coolant is held in a closed system. When the coolant absorbs heat, it expands. Since it’s a closed system, the expansion of the coolant creates pressure. This is a good thing – up to a point. At 15 pounds per square inch of pressure, the boiling point of water is raised to about 250 degrees.
The cooling system in cars has a radiator cap that relieves pressure – anywhere from 11 pounds to 25 pounds per square inch, depending on the design. This pressure relief valve in the radiator cap directs excess coolant into the overflow reservoir. When the engine cools, the coolant contracts and another valve in the cap opens and coolant is drawn from the reservoir back into the engine.
Our engine was hot. Expanding coolant should have flowed through the pressure relief valve in the radiator cap and into the overflow reservoir. This didn’t happen. When it cooled down a bit, I removed the radiator cap and found it difficult to overcome the spring pressure on the relief valve. My theory is a defective cap didn’t relieve the pressure in the cooling system. Something had to give and it was the hose connection at the water pump.
A few of the ACA members on their way up to the Bristlecone Forest stopped and offered assistance. I reconnected the hose at the water pump and waited for about 25-30 minutes to allow the engine block to cool. Then I started adding water. By then we had told everyone that had stopped to carry on – we’d be fine. It turned out I didn’t have enough water. Luckily, a car with tourists – we think they may have been Germans with rudimentary English – stopped and gave us enough water to fill the radiator and a bottle of drinking water. It was about 90 degrees outside and we were in the direct sun. We made the rest of the climb without any issues – I didn’t push the car hard and kept an eye on the coolant temperature.
At the Shulman Grove Visitor Center, a park ranger gave us a presentation telling us about the bristlecone pines and the methodology for determining their age. We learned that the information scientists have gained from the ancient trees has been instrumental in confirming or debunking many scientific theories regarding ancient history, climate and world events. There are trees here over 4,800 years old – the oldest known and confirmed organism.
The soil in the area is not at all fertile – it mainly consists of dolomite. The thing about bristlecone pines is that the hardiest trees with the longest life span are the ones that grow in the poorest conditions. The ranger pointed out a tree that was growing in a small ravine where it received more water than the trees on the hillsides. It was also more protected from the wind. The tree looked very healthy. He told us it was only a couple hundred years old and its life expectancy was only about 400 years. Another tree was growing on the hillside. It was exposed to the wind and received little water as any rainfall would drain down the hill. About three and half feet of its root system was exposed from erosion. This tree was between 300 and 400 years old. It had two dead branches but he thought that tree would likely live for a few thousand years. There’s something about overcoming adversity!
Relatively young, healthy tree growing in favorable conditionsOlder tree in the center with two dead branches sticking up struggling for survival but likely to live a long time
There was a dead tree he pointed out to us. By taking a core sample they determined that the tree had been standing there dead for more than 250 years! In this high, dry climate, there aren’t many organisms to attack the living or dead trees.
Old dead bristlecone pineBristlecone pines growing on a dolomite hillside
The drive back down to Big Pine revealed just how steep the climb was. Many sections were 8% gradients or more. We stopped at a scenic overlook and could see all the way across the Owens Valley. We were in the White Mountains on the east side of the valley and the Eastern Sierra Nevada range is on the west side. We could also see the town of Bishop about a dozen miles away as the crow flies.
View across the Owens Valley
Back in town, I stopped at O’Reilly Auto Parts and bought a new radiator cap and a gallon of coolant – I had about half a gallon of coolant stored in the trailer. Sunday morning I drained the water from Midget-San’s cooling system, refilled it with a 50/50 mix of coolant and replaced the radiator cap. The rest of the day I stayed indoors and watched football and the Moto GP race from Misano, Italy. The temperature outside was in the upper 80s. We shared another potluck dinner with the ACA group.
Monday morning we had an early start. Our destination was about 70 miles south to the Museum of Western Film History and Alabama Hills in Lone Pine. Lone Pine has a 100-year history of film making starting with Fatty Arbuckle in 1919. The Alabama Hills on the west side of town have a unique rocky landscape with the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada range for a backdrop. This landscape has been featured in countless films – mostly, but not limited to, westerns. Elaborate sets were built here to make the film Gunga Din and the mountains in the background were supposed to be the Himalayas. A sci-fi movie called Tremors was filmed here. The opening scenes with Robert Downey Jr. in the first Iron Man movie was filmed here. Many commercials – mostly car ads – are filmed here. The location has the great landscape and it’s only about six hours away from Hollywood.
After taking a self-guided tour of the museum, we got in our cars – well, we didn’t get in Midget-San – we rode with Michael and Teresa Weitz in their Jeep – and went out to the rough roads of Alabama Hills. We had a tour guide that led us to stopping points where various movie scenes were shot. He had a stack of enlarged photographs – stills taken as the movies were being made. He pointed out the rock formations that were used in different scenes and told us how the sets were made. Look at the photos below and see if you recognize any of the landscapes.
Our tour guide with a photo of the “Duke”
On the way out of Alabama Hills on Tuttle Creek Road, we passed a house nestled in the rocky terrain that Hopalong Cassidy lived in for nearly 40 years.
Hopalong Cassidy’s place
We had lunch in a park in Lone Pine, then headed back north on US395. We made a stop about 10 miles out of town at Manzanar – a National Historic Site. Manzanar was an abandoned town that was converted into a “War Relocation Center.” This was essentially a concentration camp for Americans of Japanese descent during World War II.
Donna and I did a self-guided tour of the museum there. I looked at the roll listing the names of Japanese-Americans imprisoned there. I found two with the surname Ohata – my mother’s maiden name. I don’t know of any of her relatives that were in the USA before she came here from Japan in the 1950s – so they probably weren’t my ancestors.
We took the driving tour of the grounds. This gave us a sense of the scope the camp which contained over 11,000 Japanese-Americans in a number of barracks arranged in “blocks.” It was an emotional place for me and I had conflicted thoughts about what happened and comparing it to the terrorist threats we face today.
On the drive back to Bishop, the wind really picked up velocity. There’s a wildfire burning in the west valley and the wind wasn’t going to help contain it. We saw a warning saying that the power company had cut electricity in Mono County to prevent any wind damaged power lines from starting more fires. Mono County is just north of Bishop which is in Inyo County.
Midget-San made the 140-mile round trip without missing a beat and the cooling system worked perfectly. I’m confident that my diagnosis of a faulty pressure relief in the radiator cap was correct.
Back at Highlands RV Park, I was sitting outside and reading in the shade while Donna took a walk to shop at an antique store. The wind was gusting well over 30mph. I saw an awning ripped from a coach down the lane from us by the wind. I thought of the canopies Tom Polk had at the ACA group site and ran over there. I was just in time as the large canopies were being lifted and tossed about by the wind. Two other ACA members, Bud and Norm, came over and we managed to dismantle the canopies before they were damaged. I also retracted a neighbor’s awning that was left out while they were away.
The scheduled activity for Tuesday was a tour of the Laws Museum outside of Bishop. Donna and I toured this museum when we here in May and I wrote about it in this post. We skipped the 10:30am tour and rode our bicycles to the museum grounds about five and half miles away arriving at 11:30am. The organizers picked up sandwiches from Schat’s Bakery and brought them out for a picnic lunch on the grounds. We also had a short train ride on a Brill car built in the 1920s.
Diesel powered Brill carOur bikes parked in front of Southern Pacific locomotive number 9
We had a catered dinner back at Highlands RV Park. We had the same local caterer for three dinners on the tour – one in Mammoth Lakes and two here – she did a superb job on the meals!
This morning marks the end of the ACA Eastern Sierra Tour. Most of the ACA members have pulled out of the park as I type this. We’ve extended our stay another night and we need to come up with a plan. We’ll have eight nights to fill before we’re scheduled to arrive back at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego.
With the warm temperatures, we’ll have to choose any boondocking locations carefully.
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When we left Carson City, Nevada, we were at an elevation of about 4,800 feet above sea level. Our route was simple – US395 south for about 130 miles, then turn west on CA203 (exit 263). Along the way, we crossed Conway Summit at 8,143 feet above sea level. Our destination was Mammoth Mountain RV Park at Mammoth Lakes, California – a total distance of about 140 miles.
The RV park has mostly large, loosely defined, back-in sites among pine trees. It’s at an elevation of about 7,800 feet above sea level. When I checked in, I asked where the best place to unload the Midget from the trailer would be. The guy told me not to worry – the lane in front of our site was very wide and it would be no problem to unload there and back the trailer in to drop it in the site.
He’s obviously never driven a big rig. The “wide” lane was lined with trees and wasn’t wide enough for two coaches to pass each other. The easy back-in to drop the trailer was also complicated by trees. But, we got it done.
It looks wide open from here, but believe me the trees behind where I’m standing made it tough
On Tuesday morning, Donna rode with Steve, Gayle, Chuck and Barbara up to Devil’s Postpile National Monument. They were just in time for a ranger-led tour. From there, they hiked to Rainbow Falls and then to Red’s Meadow. I stayed behind as I needed some down time.
We had a happy hour with the group later that day, then had dinner on our own back at the coach. The weather in Mammoth Lakes was mostly pleasant during the day if you were in direct sun. But in the shade, the temperature was noticeably cooler and the wind could create a chill. The temperature over the four nights we were there ranged from the mid-to-upper 60s during the day and low 30s overnight.
On Wednesday morning, there was an optional Mammoth Mountain Ski Area gondola ride. We passed – we didn’t think we had the right clothing for a ride up to 11,000+ feet above sea level. I heard it was just above freezing temperature at the top. Donna and I took a ride in Midget-San through town and out to the ski area. There was a potluck dinner on the schedule and I had prepped two racks of babyback ribs the day before. Around 2pm, I got the Traeger wood-pellet fired smoker-grill out of the trailer and put the ribs on.
With the limited grill space on our small Traeger, I couldn’t provide enough ribs for everyone. I cut the ribs into single bone servings so as many people as possible could sample them.
Potluck dinner at Mammoth Mountain RV Park
Thursday’s scheduled activity was a trip to Bodie State Park. Bodie is a California gold-mining ghost town. It was over an hour away by car. Donna and I didn’t want to make the long drive to spend the day at a ghost town. We opted to drive out Lake Mary Road and get a look at some of the lakes. We drove by Lake Mamie and stopped at the Twin Falls overlook.
Twin Lake viewed from Twin Falls overlookAnother view of Twin Lake
We drove up to Horseshoe Lake – probably the most interesting of the many lakes in the area. What makes Horseshoe Lake so interesting is the high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is thought that a large reservoir of CO2 exists deep under the mountain. The gas was identified in 1994 and it is believed that an earthquake in 1989 opened channels in the earth releasing the gas in this area. About 120 acres of trees died when the CO2 deprived their roots of oxygen.
Dead forest at Horseshoe LakeHorseshoe Lake
Horseshoe Lake is about 9,000 feet above sea level. I was happy with how well the Nissan A15 engine in Midget-San performed. The Weber DGV carburetor continued to run cleanly at this altitude although I could feel the power loss from the thin air.
We drove the loop around Lake Mary. We came across several people from the Alpine Coach group – I guess we weren’t the only ones taking a self-guided tour of the area.
On Thursday evening, I was hoping the watch the NFL Thursday Night Game. But, with all of the trees I couldn’t get a satellite signal and the park cable TV didn’t have the NFL Network. I was out of luck. Then I figured out that I could stream the game on my smart phone. It didn’t take long to get used to the small screen and I watched the second half as Tampa Bay beat Carolina.
Friday morning we packed up, hitched the trailer and hit the road. We had a short run of about 40 miles to Bishop California and the Highlands RV Park. The ride down US395 included a six-mile descent of 6% taking us down to about 4,200 feet above sea level. I made the entire six-mile descent without touching the brake pedal as the Jacobs Engineering (Jake) engine compression brake came through again. I had the Jake brake set on low and targeted 55mph. When my speed crept up to about 58-59mph, I switched the Jake to high and it brought us back down to 55. I toggled the low-high setting all the way down with no worries.
At check-in, the guy at the counter was surprised by the overall length of our rig. He said we would take the pull-through site from end-to-end, but it would be okay. It took a bit of doing to get into the narrow pull-through, but we got in, although we’re extended a little beyond the site boundary at both ends. The weather forecast for the weekend here calls for highs in the low 90s and overnight lows in the upper 50s. Much warmer than Mammoth Lakes – we’ll be running the air conditioners!
It’s been a whirlwind since my last post, five days ago. That’s the thing about organized group tours – you’re no longer setting your own agenda and scheduling at your own pace. I ended my last post by saying we were going to Virginia City for a train ride – that wasn’t accurate. What we did was drive a few miles out of Carson City east on US50 to Eastgate Depot. That’s where we boarded the Virginia and Truckee (V&T) train for a ride up the railway to Virginia City.
Before we boarded, a couple in period costumes put on a two-person show giving the history of the area and the V&T line. It was quite good and somewhat hilarious although the truth of the matter is they exposed how corrupt the banks and politicians of the era were. There may be a lot of truth to it today as well.
The 1914 Pullman rail car we rode in was pulled by a steam powered 1916 Baldwin locomotive. Originally the V&T used wood-fired steam engines. They converted them to coal and quickly realized it was a mistake. The coal-burning locomotives required much more maintenance and the coal had to be shipped to the rail yards. They then converted them to burn fuel oil. The locomotive that pulled us along was fired with recycled motor oil.
1916 Baldwin steam locomotive1914 Pullman Rail car
They bill the trip as a 24-mile round-trip, making it 12 miles each way, but our tour guide told us it was longer than that. The train moves slowly as it climbs a 2.4% grade most of the way. We went through the 566-foot long tunnel #2 and another shorter tunnel. The tour guide narrated throughout the hour and 15-minute ride – when he wasn’t interrupted by the train whistle. There are whistle requirements for trains as they cross any thoroughfare, whether it’s open to the public or private.
Send-off from Eastgate Depot
We saw several wild horses on the ride up to Virginia City and many more on the way back down. The train took us to the Virginia City Depot on F Street. This is a few blocks down from C Street which is the main street through town. It’s a relatively steep uphill walk from the depot. Virginia City is built on the side of a mountain. We had a three and half hour layover to tour the town and grab lunch. I visited Virginia City back in 2016 and posted photos in this post.
Donna and I strolled along the wooden boardwalk through town on both sides of the main drag.
Howdy partner – on the boardwalk
We poked around in a few shops and bought some locally made beef jerky. Then we looked at lunch menus and finally settled on Joe’s Cafe – which was recommended by our tour guide. The food there was excellent and we enjoyed lunch along with fellow Alpine Coach Association (ACA) members, Ed and Pat Meadows. We had lunch on the rear deck with a 100-mile view!
You see all types of folks in Virginia City. We even came across a modern day prospector doing it the old-fashioned way. He had a burro loaded with his equipment and supplies. He was dozing on a hitching rail when we first saw him, then later he loaded up and headed out.
See the prospector dozing on the hitching railTime to load up and head out
The elevation of Virginia City is 6,150 feet above sea level, so we made a considerable climb to get here. The town was the result of the discovery of the Comstock Lode – the first major silver deposit discovered in America. At its heyday, the population may have been as high as 20,000 people. Today, there are about 1,000 residents with about 4,000 people total in Storey County.
In 1875, the main business district was destroyed by fire – what they called The Great Fire. As the fire spread toward the residential districts down the mountain, a decision was made to blow up the St. Mary’s in the Mountains Catholic Church to create a fire break. The church agreed to the plan as long as the town promised to rebuild the church. Their plan worked and saved the housing. There was much wealth in Virginia City at the time and they kept their promise to rebuild the church.
St. Mary’s in the Mountains church and 100-mile view
The Virginia City train depot doesn’t have a turntable. So, to get back down to Carson City, the locomotive was disconnected from the two Pullman cars, switched to another rail then reconnected on the downhill side of the cars. This meant the locomotive ran in reverse all the way back to Carson City. I should also mention that just before we reached Virginia City, there is a sharp curve in the railroad and the grade steepens for a short distance to 3.9%. This is the steepest railroad grade I’ve ever heard of. Modern rail lines don’t exceed 3%.
The train engineers were careful to keep the speed down as we slowly descended – a runaway train wouldn’t be good. We saw several small herds of a dozen or more wild horses on the way down.
Wild horsesMore horsesLooking across a canyon to the railroad grade and tunnel #2 entrance
The good thing about going on a pre-planned group tour is the fact that I wouldn’t have been inclined to spend $55/person to ride in an old train up to Virginia City. But now I’m glad we did the tour.
Saturday morning started with breakfast at the group area before we departed for two scheduled tours. Donna and I drove in Midget-San a few miles to the Nevada State Capitol Building. There we divided into two groups for a guided tour.
State Capitol Building with silver dome
The guided tour was interesting as our guide was very knowledgeable and filled us in on many details of the state’s history.
Chandelier with pink alabaster stone globesTeddy Roosevelt once sat in this chair made from elk antlers
The tour lasted about an hour and a half, then we walked a few blocks down the road to the Nevada State Museum. This museum is located in the old Carson City Mint Building. The building has additions to it and included a simulated mine in the basement. Again, the guided tour was filled with historical facts and worth the time. It was another hour and a half. We ended the tour with a demonstration of the Carson City Mint coin press number one.
Coin press number one
This is the last remaining working coin press of this type in the world. Carson City Mint struck coins from 1870 to 1893. Coins with the CC stamp are highly sought after by collectors. One of the tour guides operating the press showed us a 100-ounce bar of silver – 99.99% pure.
100 – ounce bar of silver on the left
Sunday morning we headed out for yet another tour. This time, Donna and I drove Midget-San about 30 miles east on US50 then south to Fort Churchill State Park. Fort Churchill was operated for only about nine years – 1860 to 1869. The soldiers stationed there were tasked with keeping the peace and protecting the settlers coming across the wagon trails. It also served as a Pony Express stop and supply depot for the army.
Today the fort is in ruins. It was abandoned in 1869 and pieces of value, such as doors, windows and hardware were sold off. Roofing material was stolen and the buildings vandalized. Today the grounds are preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only partial adobe walls remain of the buildings. It was interesting to tour the grounds and visualize what life must have been like there 150 years ago.
Officer quarters ruinsBuildings south of the parade grounds
They have two of three cannons sent to the fort in the 1860s. The heavy cannons were considered useless by the commanding officer – they were too heavy and unwieldy for the terrain surrounding the fort. He gave them away to local militia. Now they are on display at the state park and are still in working order. We were given a firing demonstration – with a powder charge only, no projectile.
Artillery circa 1860Fire in the hole!
We regrouped for lunch at a nearby roadside picnic area. Most of the group went on to tour Buckland Station – another area of historical interest. Donna and I were toured out and headed back to Carson City.
I kicked back and watched the Formula One race from Monza that I had recorded. It was a great race! I watched a little football, then we departed for a group dinner at Red’s Old 395 Grill. We had a choice of smoked pork spare ribs or beef brisket with cole slaw, beans, cornbread and fried onions. Donna went for the ribs and I had brisket. We were about done in though and I missed all of the opening weekend of NFL action.
I should mention one more thing that happened at Gold Dust West Casino RV Park. On Sunday afternoon, Scott Hicks came by our site and told me there was a sign on our trailer saying it wasn’t authorized to be there and was subject to tow! What?! I went and pulled the sign and took it to the registration desk at the casino. I explained to them that I was in the RV park and I put the trailer right where they told me to put it. I also mentioned the green tag they gave me that was on the trailer identifying me as a RV park guest. Eventually, a manager told me it was a mistake by someone in security and not to worry, it was fine.
On Monday morning, we prepared to pull out and head south to Mammoth Lakes. When I went to hook up the trailer, there was another sign on it saying it was unauthorized and subject to tow! I’m not too impressed the with the security people at Gold Dust West.
This post is much too long, I’ll have to catch up on Mammoth Lakes in another post.
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