Into the past--Carson City and Virginia City, Nevada

After leaving Bridgeport, CA, we traveled to Carson City the capitol of Nevada. This city of about 45,000 has buildings from the 1800s . We visited the train museum which has many old engines and cars. Nearby is the town of Virginia City of Bonanza fame. It was an mining town and now is a tourist mecca and biker haven. There is one main street perched on the side of the mountain that is full of saloons and shops. "The Bucket of Blood" being one of the most famous. We wandered through the shops and museums for 2 days. A couple streets down is a large and lovely church called St. Mary of the Mountains. It's steeple is a beacon from every part of town. I guess with all the saloons it needed to be highly visible. As we were wandering through shops I saw a group of ladies sewing and two dress forms with Civil War dresses. Talking with the women, I found they were a group of reenactors that were holding a sewing bee. We talked for a good while and one of the ladies showed us the hotel upstairs which was very nicely done in victorian taste. The next day we rode the Virginia and Truckee railroad from Carson City to Virginia City. We had another 3 hours there before riding back to Carson City. The weather has been particularly nice. We will be leaving for Gaeagle, CA and will met some friends we made on last years trip.