A Step Back in Time-September 20, 2011

After calling to have our mail sent here, we went exploring. We went to Twin Bridges, Alder Gulch, Nevada City, Ruby Dam and Virginia City. If we went through that many places in one day, you may assume that they are not huge cities. In fact, they are mainly old gold mining towns. Nevada City is just as it was in 1863, completely untouched. I'm again at the point of not being able to think of enough words to describe anything we saw today. The houses those people lived in during the gold rush were so small and had no insulation. I do not know how they stood the cold. Right outside of Nevada City were gigantic piles of rocks, on both sides of the road. We stopped to read one of those historical markers and discovered that those were tailings from gold mining. I cannot imagine how hard it would have been dig those huge rocks out without our modern machinery. But they did it and they got rich with the gold. Virginia City still has the original buildings but they are more modern stores now. Some are closed for the season. A few have been permanently sealed with the original furnishings inside, so you have to peep in the windows. It was something to see and something we will remember for a long, long time. Coming back we saw potatoes being dug. The huge trucks coming out of the field were loaded to the hilt. This is the first potato growing operation we have seen so far. Today we saw herds and herds of deer, also a first so far. That means we are truly in the land "where the deer and the antelope play".