Friday, May 23, 2008

Day 07 - Ghost towns & Vegas, baby!

Last night before leaving Panamint Springs, we all agreed to meet in Vegas. Adrian and I were splitting off to go visit the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. Keith, Brian, Wayne and Bob would all be in Vegas before us, so they would snag us a room. Turns out, he and I got voted off the island so to speak. We both snore, so we're bunking together now. Good, maybe the others will get some rest. That Keith guy... You know how he is... he's just miserable when he's tired. (if any of you know Keith, you'll know how funny that is - he's pretty much the easiest guy in the world to get along with)

Nothing exciting to write about the riding today. Today was 100% about covering distance after visiting the ghost town. And after riding in 40mph cross winds for about two hours yesterday across the plains on the way to Death Valley, I could do without hustling that 800lb monster through any more technical twisties today. Most of the pictures are of the ghost town. I don't really have much to say about day 7. Adrian led the whole way, we made a few stops for fuel breaks, drink breaks and arrived in Vegas in time to do some laundry, settle in, then go meet my neice, Sabrina, for lunch at Sammy's Wood Fired Pizza.

Sabrina is the only daughter of my brother Don and his wife Patty. After spending 5 years as a nuclear electrical technician in the Navy, she decided to go to cooking school and become a chef. She's finishing up school and working in the field now, hoping to build a nice career for herself. She's a smart girl and will go far, I think. And hey... it's always nice to have something to fall back on. I imagine that in the extremely unlikely event the chef thing doesn't work out, she'll be fine with her technical background. I'm happy she's doing something she loves. Not to get too philosophical, but more people should seek out that type of happiness. The world would be a better place.

Ok, then... the town of Rhyolite, NV has its own Wikipedia Entry. Is there ANYTHING you can't find in the Wikipedia? So I don't need to bore you with its history... which I know next to nothing of anyway, so that's fine. The town was officially abandoned in 1909. There's a plaque in the cemetery dated 1957, and some graves as recent as the 80s and 90s. Obviously old family members who wanted to go back to their roots. There are still some private residences in the hills behind the old town - mostly mobile homes.

The rest, I'll leave you with pictures that, hopefully, will speak for themselves. Enjoy. We're going to take a day off in Vegas and spend another night. Let everyone rewind and recharge. Anyone in the Vegas area wanting to meet up should give a holler.






















I wonder what the story with this building is. Of course, I also wish I had my 300mm zoom lens with me.


The train station


A caboose from a long-retired train


I snapped this photo of a rare, free-ranging Adrian. I hear they attack slow, too.




















Oh yeah... snake holes EVERYWHERE! Didn't get to see one live, though.














Vegas from the hotel room window.

And the route...

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