A Drive to Nevada

This morning I woke up around 6::00am and got dressed. Then I organized some things and kind of planned what to do today. I didn't actually make any concrete plans since I wasn't sure when Thomas was going to make it to Sacramento.

Sacramento Convention Center

Around 7:30am he called and had just landed in Las Vegas. He said he would probably arrive at the airport in Sacramento around 9:00am or sometime around that time. Then he needed to check on his luggage. So he decided he would take a taxi to the hotel and that way I wouldn't have to wait around at the airport. After talking to him I decided to go for a walk and get some breakfast. I ended up a few blocks from the hotel at Capitol Garage where I had an omelet and coffee. As I was walking back to the hotel I got a call from Thomas and he was on his way to meet me at the hotel. We arrived at the hotel about the same time and went up to the room. He said he wasn't too tired but really wanted a shower and to change clothes but unfortunately he didn't have his luggage. While he was in the shower I went down to the hotel gift shop and got him a toothbrush. Once he had showered and brushed his teeth he said he felt much better. He borrowed some socks, underwear and a shirt from me and wore his same pants and shoes for today and hopefully his luggage would get to the hotel in the afternoon.

Lake Tahoe

He decided he wanted to go and do something and try and get on a normal schedule. So we got in the car and headed to Carson City. We took US50 headed east and after driving for a little while decided to stop for an early lunch (since Thomas hadn't eaten this morning). We stopped just past Placerville at the Red Apple Café. Thomas got something to eat and I just had coffee since I had eaten earlier. I hadn't read anything about this place - we just saw the sign and decided to stop. [I just looked it up and the reviews weren't good but we didn't have a problem.] The food was good but the service was a little slow but not horrible. I thought it was a nice stopping point and Thomas enjoyed his food. After eating we got back on the road and continued our drive. US50 leaves Sacramento as a four lane highway in both directions and gradually loses lanes until it becomes a curvy two lane road. From the café and for the rest of the drive we loved the views and the road - it turned out to be a fantastic drive. The drive took us around South Lake Tahoe and into Nevada. After crossing the state line we stopped in Zephyr Cove to find a couple of letterboxes. My first find in Nevada was artTrekker's Birds of Tahoe #2. This is a mystery box so I won't say exactly where it is but I can say that the views of Lake Tahoe from this area are incredible. We were at this spot for about 45 minutes while stamping in and just sitting and looking at the lake and mountains. Finally we headed out and a few mile up the road we stopped at Spooner Summit to find Dragon's Squirrely Switchbacks and Bear Prints (a two box series of store bought stamps). This was a quick stop and both were easy finds. We didn't stay here for long since the boxes were close to the parking area and we didn't want to do any hiking since we needed to continue our drive if we were going to get to the Nevada Capitol in Carson City.

Nevada State Capitol

Not long after finding the last two boxes we arrived in Carson City and made our way to the Capitol. The building from the outside is nice and the property surrounding the building is beautiful but I have to say this is one of my least favorite Capitols. The building is constructed from a native sandstone and had a silver dome at the top. Very beautiful  and inviting. But upon entering I almost immediately felt disappointed. The place really isn't kept up very well. The building is small and when you enter the front doors there is a tiny entry and then you are in a long hallway that is perpendicular to the entry. And directly across the long hall from the entry is another small area that looks just like the entry that leads to the back doors. We talked to a security guard and got my Capitol Collection stamp and a brochure. We also learned a little about the building. It is now used only for the Executive Branch of the Nevada government. The Legislature meets next door in a more modern building. The Capitol is only two stories and so we headed up the stairs to the second floor and walked around . There really wasn't much to see - the Senate and Assembly chambers aren't set up for use since the Legislature is in a different building. The Assembly area just had some plastic chairs in it and the Senate side is now a small museum. I really felt like they could have set up and furnished the chambers like they were when in use to help give a better presentation of how the building was used. After about 30 minutes here we headed next door to the more modern Legislative building. Again I was disappointed as this just seemed like a modern office building - nothing that interestng. So we decided to head out. At least I can check that Capitol off my list - I think I am around the 34 mark of Capitols visited.

Next we headed up to Virginia City. We arrived in town and found a spot to park and started walking along the main street. We went into shops and museums and learned a lot about the town. Virginia City was a big deal in the 19th century producing millions of dollars of silver and gold during its heyday. Money from the mining helped to finance the Civil War and to build other cities (San Francisco was built with Comstock silver). We also learned that Mark Twain worked at the newspaper here for a while.

"To find a petrified man, or break a stranger's leg, or cave an imaginary mine, or discover some dead Indians in a Gold Hill tunnel, or massacre a family at Dutch Nick's, were feats and calamities that we never hesitated about devising when the public needed matters of thrilling interest for breakfast. The seemingly tranquil ENTERPRISE office was a ghastly factory of slaughter, mutilation and general destruction in those days."
- Mark Twain's Letters from Washington, Number IX, Territorial Enterprise, March 7, 1868

Silver Terrace Cemeteries

After some time in town we headed out to the Silver Terrace Cemeteries just northeast of town. Here we did some letterboxing. There were quite a few boxes hidden in the different sections of the cemetery. We found eight boxes and then decided to call it a day as it was already 6:00pm and we still had to drive back to Sacramento. I enjoyed the boxes we found - they were by artTrekker, Public Hand, Wendy, Playful Otter, Captain Slick Kitty and Grumpy Grinch. I think there was an event here and that is why there are so many boxes at the cemetery. There were more boxes but we ran out of time and the wind had gotten really bad. The cemeteries are built on the side of a hill and are terraced. There are different sections - Masons, Pacific Coast Pioneers, Knights of Pythias, Virginia City Firemen, Wilson and Brown, Improved Order of Redmen, Roman Catholic, and the city and county. We had a nice time walking around and reading the gravestones. The history of the place was amazing. And now I can add Nevada to the list of states I have letterboxed in - the total is now 44.

Now it was time to retrace our drive and head back to Sacramento. On the drive back we only stopped once and that was for dinner - we ate at Red Hut in South Lake Tahoe just as we crossed back in to California. After eating we just drove and didn't make any other stops along the way (mostly because by this time it was dark and we were ready to get back to the hotel and get some sleep). It was almost 10:00pm when we arrived at the hotel. Thankfully Thomas' luggage had been delivered and that made him very happy. Thomas went directly to bed and fell asleep almost immediately. I took a shower and decided to do a little blogging. We are going to sleep in tomorrow and decide what we want to do when we get up.