Driving the Distance

A piggy-back trailer loomed behind us to the left, casting a shadow over Little Red. Andy signaled right, but a car swerved to pass on the wrong side and cut in front as we aimed for the exit on Virginia Avenue. Andy maneuvered to the exit, everyone around us zooming past at 70 m.p.h. He let out a sigh. "I-80 between Sparks and Reno is NOT a fun drive," he said. "And what bothers me most is the speed. Maybe it's old age setting in, but at 70 m.p.h., any accident is deadly. Even the school bus is going to pass me, and I'm doing the speed limit. It's the extreme tail-gating at such high speeds that is most dangerous. It would take me a long time to get used to such road manners if I lived here."
Fort Churchill, nestled among yellow-leafed cottonwoods, stood in ruins at the State Historic Site. From the moment we turned off I-95 ALT, we smelled the sage in bloom. We rode past Old Town Dayton, the site of Nevada's first gold discovery.
Part way up the hill into the mountains the remains of Silver City lay in ruins, with mining equipment and houses of fortune hunters in total disrepair.

Virginia City at 6,200 feet, now a National Historic Landmark, was once called "the richest place on earth." Maybe as the price of gold goes up it will be again. People still mine the area and others might be making a living off tourists, but today many shops were closed for the season. A few tourists meandered along the raised wooden boardwalk. "Here, have a piece of root beer candy," called out a young man in front of the Mercantile. "Come in our store and relive the days gone by. We have lots of wonderful items for sale."

Inside, Andy and I saw everything from John F. Kennedy election posters to Betty Boop mugs and shot glasses to old glass bottles of Coca Cola.

Although there was discrepancy, historians declared Genoa as Nevada's first settlement in 1851. The town, on the back side of the mountains that form Lake Tahoe, ultimately fulfilled the definition of the historical term "settlement": at least 25 people, regular if infrequent mail delivery, and at least one commercial enterprise. Settled by Mormons, Genoa was one of 30 Pony Express stops across Nevada in the mid-1800's. "I could live here," I told Andy. "With the trees, spectacular views of the Sierras in the distance and huge homes, this is the life. It doesn't hurt that the thermometer hit 76 degrees on November 1, either."