November Obscura

2008 Chatsworth Train Collision

2011-09-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

A few days after this train accident, we went to the location, or as close as we could get, the Chatsworth, Simi Valley and Moorpark stations to photograph the sad but beautiful, touching memorials set up there. It is 3 years since this tragic event.

You can read more on the train wreck HERE

On the road in Wisconsin

2011-08-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

This photo was not taken at 4:20!

A Castle of Cheese!

They have barns all over the place here

No Laverne & Shirley

Thar be lots of green here!

A red barn on green grass- just like in the movies!

There may have been some rednecks here

We stopped for lunch. This place reminded me of the old Van De Kamps restaurants from the 1960's

They keep these wayyyy outside of town

I think these signs were in every state! Fail.

In California- Illegal. Here, you just pop on down to the shop!

More cheese is always good

They call Carl's Jr. - Hardee's out here

Funny name for a grocery store

The Sears Tower

2011-08-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

The Willis Tower (formerly named, and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois.[4] At the time of its completion in 1973, it was thetallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world, as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.

The Sears Tower observation deck, called the Skydeck, opened on June 22, 1974. Located on the 103rd floor of the tower, it is 1,353 feet (412 m) above ground and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Chicago. Tourists can experience how the building sways on a windy day. They can see far over the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin on a clear day. Elevators take tourists to the top in about 60 seconds. The Skydeck competes with the John Hancock Center's observation floor a mile and a half away, which is 323 feet (98 m) lower. Some 1.3 million tourists visit the Skydeck annually. A second Skydeck on the 99th floor is used when the 103rd floor is closed. The tourist entrance can be found on the south side of the building along Jackson Boulevard.

In January 2009, the Willis Tower owners began a major renovation of the Skydeck, to include the installation of glass balconies, extending approximately four feet over Wacker Drive from the 103rd floor. The all-glass boxes allow visitors to look through the floor to the street 1,353 feet (412 m) below. The boxes, which can bear five short tons of weight (about 4.5 metric tons), opened to the public on July 2, 2009.

You can stand outside the edge of the tower 103 stories up in these clear boxes!

Just to say I did.

A visit to the Ostrich Farm- Ostrichland

2011-08-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

This is the best place to make a stop on the way to Ostrich Land

There is a year round Christmas store inside!

Ostriches

and Emus!

Baby Ostriches

They also like to hiss

These are the feeding trays

Bohemian National Cemetery

2011-08-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

Walking Downtown Chicago 2011

2011-08-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

I call these 'Hurry Up' doors, cuz people are in a hurry when they go through them!

Lots of Scions were being used as Taxis

Shanahan's- Where Shamrocks and Crawfish Collide

2011-08-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

Oak Park Illinois, Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright, & lots of Midwest charm

2011-08-06T05:51:00.000-07:00

Veterans Memorial

Oak Park Baptist

Hemingway House

Nearly every house in the small town is fabulous like this!

Bun Bun Bunny Bun!

LOVE!

This is the Post Office!

Secret Society symbol

Chicago as seen from the River

2011-07-31T05:42:00.000-07:00

Johnnies - Elmwood Park, Illinois

2011-07-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

This place is nothing to look at, but the line was out the door! Despite that, they were fast, took us all of 10 minutes to wait in line, order and get our lunch.

Italian sausage sandwich

These lemon Italian ices were excellent!

BEST sandwich EVER!

Mount Carmel Cemetery, Chicago- Al Capone

2011-07-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

Chicago Food- Tasty Dog- Oak Park

2011-07-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Tasty Dog- Please do not try and make a California style Chili dog.

Stick with Chicago style.

Hyde Park Neighborhood, Chicago- The Presidents House

2011-07-14T05:03:00.000-07:00

Not only is the street blocked off with cement barriers and other fences, but security and Secret Service are constantly circling the place. Probably a little inconvenient for the neighbors.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-07-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

Grandfather Ladislave. Killed in the War in England. Purple Heart and re- internment at Evergreen Memorial Park, Evergreen Park, Illinois

Grandmother

Together again

As we walked away from the graves a Red Tailed hawk began to screech at us and fly in circles over us.

Victorian Breakfast on the Porch

2011-07-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

This was the table we sat at for 4 beautiful spring days.

Concordia Cemetery- Forest Park, Illinois

2011-07-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

The Robin of Spring!

Chicago Food- Giordano's Pizza

2011-07-07T04:25:00.000-07:00

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery, in the Forest Preserve

2011-07-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

Bachelor's Grove is a little hard to locate, so I have included some landmarks to help you know you are in the right place in case you decide to look for it. You have to find this sign.

You also have to run across a busy street.

Then find the beginning of the path here.

This is the only way you know for sure that you have arrived.

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is a small, abandoned cemetery in the Chicago metropolitan area. It is located near Midlothian and Oak Forest, Illinois in the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve on the Midlothian Turnpike. It is well-known for its haunted stories and ghost sightings. There are countless reports of glowing balls, apparitions, squeaks, moans, groans and unexplained noises. Its adjacent pond is also known for rumored mafia affiliation with Al Capone

The small entrance road was once a branch of the Midlothian Turnpike until the early 1960s, when the smaller branch was left in favor of letting traffic go onto 143rd street. The closing of the road engendered the "racer's lane" era of Bachelor's Grove, making it the perfect spot for teenagers looking for a clandestine spot to drag race and become amorous with their cars. It was around this time that many ghost stories about Bachelor's Grove came into being. In the early 1970s, vandalism developed from scattered littering to full on destruction of tombstones and trees. Of the estimated 200 tombstones that once were in the cemetery, only 20 remain: the ones that are too heavy to be moved. In addition to that, several graves were dug up, forcing those in charge to set the tombs in concrete for protection.

The largest remaining gravestone, marked with the Fulton family name, is scattered with trinkets visitors have left behind at the infant Fulton child's grave. Reports of satanic rituals have enhanced the legends of hauntings and ghosts, though to this day only anecdotal evidence as well as alleged pictures of "orbs" exist to prove such a haunting.

A 1991 photograph taken using infrared film purports to show a spectral 'White Lady'-type ghost seated on a checkered plinth. Well-known to ghost enthusiasts, it is the most vivid claim to hauntings. Despite the fact that the cemetery is allegedly one of the most haunted gravesites in the country, it seems as if the human visitors' desecration of the site, in addition to the natural sounds and visual stimuli of a dark forest, combined with preconceived expectations, are more likely the cause of such reports. However, photographic evidence and first hand accounts of paranormal activity are cause for more extensive investigations into the enigma that persists about the cemetery proper.

The small, stagnant pond adjacent to the cemetery is also reportedly haunted, as it is rumored that Chicago mobster, Al Capone, used it as a dumping ground to dispose of bodies during the 1920s prohibition era, though these claims are unsubstantiated. Another legend about the pond exists involving the ghosts of a farmer and his plow horse who drowned in the pond in the 1870s. It is said that the horse went crazy for an unknown reason upon passing the pond and ran into it, taking with it the farmer.

The path back to the street

Chicago- Flop house

2011-07-03T05:40:00.000-07:00

On our first night we stayed here. From the Write Inn website- The Write Inn, a historical landmark, originally opened in 1926 as the Oak Park Manor. The architectural gem was the home to many literary figures, including Nobel Laureate & Pulitzer Prize winner, Ernest Hemingway and poet Vincent Starrett, who found the ambiance of the hotel an excellent atmosphere for writing and relaxing.

This place was originally an old flop house in the 20's. It is a fine old building, but as a place to stay we can't recommend it. Tiny , dark, uncomfortable rooms. A fellow traveller we shared an elevator ride with even remarked how the elevator was bigger that his room, we had to concur.

This is one half of our room, taken from standing on the far side of the bed which was billed as a queen but was a full. The bathroom which is located right at the foot of the bed with about a foot of clearance. And you had to step up about 10 inches into the bathroom.

Being an old building, it did have nice old touches

I was fascinated with the stairway, which was way faster than the elevator.

The Hemingway Museum is located just across the street.

About The Ernest Hemingway Museum

Just a short walk from the birthplace, housed inside the Oak Park Arts Center, the Ernest Hemingway Museum is host to permanent and temporary exhibits that explore the author's life. Kiosks fashioned from historic doors hold exhibits of rare photos and artifacts, including Hemingway's childhood diary and the famous letter from nurse Agnes von Kurowsky-later portrayed in A Farewell to Arms-terminating their engagement. Special exhibits highlight Hemingway's love of nature and the arts, along with his involvement in both World Wars and the movies. Other exhibits include The Eye of the Writer, Picturing Hemingway, and Hemingway and the Arts. A museum bookshop features books by and about the author, gift items, videos and posters.

Chicago Food - White Castle

2011-06-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

White Castle is an American regional fast food hamburger restaurant chain in the Midwestern United States, and the first of its kind in the US. It is known for its small, square hamburgers. Sometimes referred to as "sliders", the burgers were priced at five cents until the 1940s, and remained at ten cents for years thereafter while the burgers became smaller. For several years, when the original burgers sold for five cents, White Castle periodically ran promotional ads in local newspapers which contained coupons offering five burgers for ten cents, takeout only.

Jeff, a Chicago native, insists that this is the way to eat White Castle in the car, while driving. Fast and while driving a large American car. Such a car has a dash big enough for all the little boxes.

La Conchita

2011-05-12T05:32:00.000-07:00

La Conchita is a small unincorporated community in western Ventura County, California, on U.S. Route 101 just southeast of the Santa Barbara county line. On January 10th 2005 after quite a few days of rain, the hillside once again came down. This time claiming 10 lives, injuring 14. 15 homes were swallowed by the earth and another 16 were red tagged as uninhabitable.

We have passed La Conchita often in the years since this tradgedy and have been meaning to stop in. On the way home from a weekend away we finally did.

This sign is posted on the only road into the community

People still live here in houses like this right next door to destroyed homes or with the hillside in their backyard.

La Conchita sits on the North side of the 101 freeway, the south is the ocean. It is a lovely quaint community, but so tragic.

Short video of the landslide actually occuring.

The village of La Conchita is along a portion of the coast prone to mudslides, and sits beneath a geologically unstable formation. In 1909, a devastating mudslide occurred approximately one-half mile north of the town, and in 2005 slides closed Highway 101 in both directions, trapping residents.

Sandwiched between a steep, unstable hillside (with the La Conchita Ranch Company situated on the plateau directly over the community), and the Pacific Ocean, La Conchita has been the site of recent major mudslides:

On March 4, 1995 at 2:03pm, a mudslide buried or damaged seven homes, injuring no one. After the main failure, the weather forecast predicted more rain for the following week.

On March 10, 1995, a debris flow occurred in the canyon west of the March 4 slide, damaging four or five more residences and a banana plantation.

On January 10, 2005 at 12:30pm, a massive mudslide buried four blocks of the town in over 30 feet (9 m) of earth. Ten people were killed by the slide and 14 were injured. Of the 166 homes in the community, fifteen were destroyed and sixteen more were tagged by the county as uninhabitable.

La Conchita Ranch Co. was sued by those affected by the 2005 landslide. A settlement was reached, giving the plaintiffs the company's assets and $5 million dollars

Lunch in Malibu- Malibu Seafood

2011-03-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Malibu's oldest Surf Shop

Down PCH toward the Malibu Colony

Best seafood EVER! Go HERE for more details!

Frequent Pelican fly overs while dining on the patio.

View from the patio

Shrimp & Chips

Scallops & Chips

Steamed Shrimp

Fish & Chips

PCH is a very fast busy highway, so trust them to install these special U turn signals. I haven't seen these anywhere else in the city.

Eeeeek!

Heading Home

As a little girl my Dad always honked the horn when we drove through this tunnel on Malibu Canyon. My husband keeps up the tradition today!

Topanga Canyon to Malibu

2011-03-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

Rocky Peak at the head of the Santa Susana Pass road. This is the extreme North end of Topanga Canyon, which is just minutes from the Spahn Ranch where the Manson Family moved in 1968.

Topanga is the name given to the area by the Native American indigenous Tongva tribe, and may mean "a place above." It was the western border of their territory, abutting the Chumash tribe that occupied the coast from Malibu northwards. Bedrock mortars can be found carved into rock outcroppings in many locations.

Topanga was first settled by Europeans in 1839. In the 1920s, Topanga Canyon became a weekend getaway for Hollywood stars with several cottages built for that purpose. The rolling hills and ample vegetation served to provide both privacy and attractive surroundings for the rich and famous.

During the 1960s, Topanga Canyon became a magnet to many new artists. In 1965 Wallace Berman settled in the area. For a time, Neil Young lived in Topanga, first living with producer David Briggs then later buying his own house. He would record most of his After the Gold Rush album in his basement studio in 1970. Charles Manson had previously been living in Topanga, where he had briefly befriended both Neil Young and Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. Members of "Manson's family" began their campaign of murder on July 31, 1969 with the murder of Topanga resident Gary Hinman, a music teacher who had opened his home to anyone needing shelter.

The Topanga Corral was a nightclub that featured an eclectic mix of performers, including then Topanga locals Canned Heat, Spirit, Little Feat, Spanky and Our Gang, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, Etta James, Windance, Neil Young, and Crazy Horse, Geronimo Black, and many others. It is rumored that Jim Morrison was inspired to write "Roadhouse Blues" about the drive up Topanga Canyon Boulevard to The Corral. Later in the 1970s, after being destroyed by fire and rebuilt, the club featured many up and coming bands from the L.A. punk scene. In 1986, the Corral again burned to the ground and was not rebuilt. Today, many musicians, artists and actors continue to make Topanga their home.

Due to its location in the Santa Monica Mountains, Topanga is a favorite spot for hikers, as well as bicycle, and motorcycle riders/racers. Many movie/TV car/bike chases were filmed on the winding road with the picturesque cliffs in the background. The thick vegetation, steep terrain and frequent (and dry) Santa Ana winds combine to make Topanga an extreme fire danger.

When Pigs fly!

There is always some sort of construction going on in the canyon

This gem of a shop- Hidden Treasures is a must stop at deep in the canyon.

Hmmm, so this is where the Starbucks Mermaid hangs out!

Skulls outside a business is always a good sign!

The garden at Hidden Treasures

Topanga Canyon and Pacific Coast Highway or PCH as it's called here.

Observations by Night - Los Angeles

2011-03-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles on a blurry, cloudy evening

Burbank, California

Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown, Los Angeles just after the rain

Closer

Looking West

Hollywood, California

All these photos were taken from the Griffith Observatory

At the Observatory

The camera obscura (Latin; "camera" is a "vaulted chamber/room" + "obscura" means "dark"= "darkened chamber/room") is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside where it is reproduced, upside-down, but with color and perspective preserved. The image can be projected onto paper, and can then be traced to produce a highly accurate representation.

Using mirrors, as in the 18th century overhead version (illustrated in the History section below), it is possible to project a right-side-up image. Another more portable type is a box with an angled mirror projecting onto tracing paper placed on the glass top, the image being upright as viewed from the back.

As a pinhole is made smaller, the image gets sharper, but the projected image becomes dimmer. With too small a pinhole the sharpness again becomes worse due to diffraction. Some practical camera obscuras use a lens rather than a pinhole because it allows a larger aperture, giving a usable brightness while maintaining focus.

Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, includingdowntown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction with an extensive array of space- and science-related displays.

The first exhibit visitors encountered in 1935 was the Foucault pendulum, which was designed to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. The Foucault pendulum ( /fuːˈkoʊ/ foo-KOH), or Foucault's pendulum, named after the French physicist Léon Foucault, is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate therotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotated, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the first simple proof of the rotation in an easy-to-see experiment.

The experimental apparatus consists of a tall pendulum free to swing in any vertical plane. The actual plane of swing appears to rotate relative to the Earth; in fact the plane is fixed in space while the Earth rotates under the pendulum once a sidereal day. The first public exhibition of a Foucault pendulum took place in February 1851 in the Meridian of the Paris Observatory. A few weeks later Foucault made his most famous pendulum when he suspended a 28 kg brass-coated lead bob with a 67 meter long wire from the dome of the Panthéon, Paris. The plane of the pendulum's swing rotated clockwise 11° per hour, making a full circle in 32.7 hours. The original bob used in 1851 at the Panthéon was moved in 1855 to the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris

Labyrinth

2010-11-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

On a recent stay at a Hot Springs resort on the central California coast, we found this Labyrinth. It is modeled after the one in the Chartres Cathedral in France. The Labyrinth at Chartres is made of blue and white stones built in approximately 1230, and is forty feet across.

We walked the Labyrinth together.

Dolls Halloween visit to an old Cemetery

2010-11-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

I hate it when you go to visit a cemetery and you find this. Because it means that you have to climb the fence. It wouldn't be the first time we climbed a cemetery fence and I am fairly sure it won't be the last. So in we all went.

Finding The White Rabbit

2010-11-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

Alice searches inside the magic tree for the White Rabbit

There he is!

The White Rabbit tells Alice he is late and can not stay. .

Alice wonders if she shall ever find him again.

Alice played by Breeanne

The White Rabbit played Himself

Lunch at Disneyland - Halloween 2010

2010-10-27T05:52:00.000-07:00

When visiting Disneyland, which we do fairly often, We recommend either of these places. But on this day we dined at Cafe Orleans which can be found in the French Quarter, just outside the exit of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, across from The Pieces of Eight shop.

Mint Julep

French Onion Soup

Pomme Frites

Chicken Gumbo crepe, asparagus, new red potatoes

After lunch you can take the raft to Pirates Lair- aka Tom Sawyers Island, and go find this Treasure Chest. It is just there for the taking! But wait! When you try to hoist it up. . .

This guy beat you to it and is not letting go of his Treasure!

Queen Mary- Part 3 The Engine Room

2010-09-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

The silvery sparkle on the propeller is coins that have gathered there.

Queen Mary - Part 2 The Radio Room

2010-09-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hatch 13 Ghost story

2010-08-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

This is Hatch 13, site of one of the Queen Mary's most well known haunting's. The most documented is the ghost of eighteen-year-old crewman, John Pedder. The story goes that Pedder was crushed to death while trying to slip through an automatically closing door in shaft alley during a watertight drill on July 10, 1966. The story is also told that the sailors played a sort of game of chicken with the closing hatches and well, John lost. It was hatchway door No. 13. Passengers and tour guides have seen a young bearded man in blue coveralls in this area. He is normally seen walking the length of shaft alley and disappears at door number 13. I spent a good 10 minutes alone standing right next to this hatch and taking photos of the hatch and all around it. Alas, I did not meet John.

Grand Old Ship- The Queen Mary- Part 1

2010-08-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (then Cunard-White Star when the vessel entered service). Built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, in answer to the mainland European superliners of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

After their release from World War II troop transport duties, Queen Mary and her running mate RMS Queen Elizabeth commenced this two-ship service and continued it for two decades until Queen Mary's retirement in 1967.

The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel. Queen Mary celebrated the 70th anniversary of her launch in both Clydebank and Long Beach during 2004, and the 70th anniversary of her maiden voyage in 2006. She was the flagship of the Cunard Line from 1936 until 1945 when she was replaced in this role by the Queen Elizabeth.

I love these Vintage ads

The crossing guard at the Queen Mary

Quite a few of these British phone boxes scattered about, but this one had an ATM!!

Has the Queen sprung a leak? This is a special effect on part of the Ghosts and Legends tour.

Hello! Hey why am I out here in the sun?

The Queen Mary was painted all grey during the war and was known as The Grey Ghost.

In December 1942, Queen Mary was carrying 16,082 American troops from New York to Great Britain, a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel. While 700 miles from Scotland during a gale, she was suddenly hit broadside by a rogue wave that may have reached a height of 28 metres (92 ft).

An account of this crossing can be found in Walter Ford Carter's book, No Greater Sacrifice, No Greater Love. Carter's father, Dr. Norval Carter, part of the 110th Station Hospital on board at the time, wrote that at one point Queen Mary "damned near capsized... One moment the top deck was at its usual height and then, swoom! Down, over, and forward she would pitch."

It was calculated later that the ship tilted 52 degrees, and would have capsized had she rolled another 3 degrees.

Beautiful Detail

Upper Decks Nursery

Stairs near the First class level

The Bridge

Flag Cabinet

All the modern conveniences

We ended up standing right under the front smokestack at 3pm. WARNING! It is really loud!

Coming up in part 2. The Radio Room and the Engine Room!

Virginia City Cemeteries _ Comstock Cemeteries

2010-07-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

The Comstock cemeteries are within the boundaries of the Virginia City National Historic Landmark (NHL). Because of its rich history, the National Park Service in 1961 designated Virginia City and the surrounding area a NHL, to commemorate the history of the mining frontier. The Landmark, commonly referred to as the Comstock, encompasses nearly 15,000 acres. In 1859 Virginia City and the surrounding area burst into prominence and fame because of the Comstock Lode discovery, one of the richest ore strikes in the world.

The Virginia City cemetery is actually a collection of cemeteries one right next to the other on a hill next to the main part of town. Much like Bodie, the cemetery is easily viewed from the town and was a very busy one.

One of the things that I loved about these cemeteries were all the wonderful elaborate wrought iron fences. As you can see- there are many still standing and they are even more beautiful than the photos. There were many collapsed wood fence enclosures throughout the cemeteries.

If you make your way to Virginia City to see the cemeteries, be prepared for the very strong winds that they have there. These photos were taken while we hiked all over the hill in 60 mile per hour wind gusts. Not an easy walk either, its quite a hike up and down hills.

Once in a while I come across a nice zinc monument like this one. It was a bit damaged though.

I loved these built in flower cups!

Virginia City, Nevada

2010-07-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

Virginia City is one of the oldest established communities in Nevada. Like many cities and towns in the state, Virginia City was a mining boomtown; in fact it is one of the most famous boomtowns in the Old West, as it virtually appeared overnight as a result of the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859.

During its peak, Virginia City had a population of over 10,000 residents and was called the richest city in America. During the 20 years following the Comstock success "about $400 million was taken out of the ground".

When the Comstock Lode ended in 1898, the city's population declined sharply.

Adolph Sutro built the Sutro Tunnel in support of the mining operations. Conceived in 1860, it wasn't completed until many years later, after much of the silver mining had already been completed. From its creation in 1859 to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12,000,000 in damages.

The Gothic style Catholic church has its own museum in the basement.

I love these rain gutters- Look out below!

We had a good lunch here. This place was recommended by a local

I love old brick

So named due to the nightly clean up resulting in mopping up a bucket of blood from the bar room floor.

These light fixtures were awesome in the Bucket of Blood

Found these excellent old coin ride horses outside the Bucket of Blood Saloon

These fixtures and fabulous tin ceiling can be found inside the Visitors center.

How many Pintos do you see?

Old Mine

There are several old mine heads like this all around the hills in town.

Beautiful old steamer

One of the very few depictions of an Un blind Justice. Note- No blindfold as is usually seen.

These doors are on the second story

The School house

The Spite houses of Virginia City

Yeah. . Virginia City is pretty Cool!

Next up is Virginia City cemetery

On the way to Nevada. . .

2010-07-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

On the way to Nevada, just after we left Bodie, we realized we were being followed by these flying saucers with cloud disguises on!

Actually. . it seems that these are Lenticular Clouds. Lenticular clouds are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned perpendicular to the wind direction. Lenticular clouds can be separated into altocumulus standing lenticularis (ACSL), stratocumulus standing lenticular (SCSL), and cirrocumulus standing lenticular (CCSL)

Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on the downwind side. If the temperature at the crest of the wave drops to the dew point, moisture in the air may condense to form lenticular clouds. As the moist air moves back down into the trough of the wave, the cloud may evaporate back into vapor.

Under certain conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds can form near the crest of each successive wave, creating a formation known as a 'wave cloud'. The wave systems cause large vertical air movements and so enough water vapor may condense to produce precipitation. The clouds have been mistaken for UFOs (or "visual cover" for UFOs) because these clouds have a characteristic lens appearance and smooth saucer-like shape. Bright colors (called Irisation) are sometimes seen along the edge of lenticular clouds.

Zoomed past this small cemetery, but I did manage to snap a shot.

Hello Nevada

Miners Union Cemetery- Bodie

2010-06-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

This is the Undertakers home/office in Bodie. I had to get these photos through thick, dirty and very reflective vintage glass. The old style caskets were a real find!

The Bodie cemetery is located on a hill across the main road into Bodie. There is a great view of the town from the cemetery but also the cemetery is easily seen from the town and a constant reminder of the closeness of death in Bodie which was considered one of the most wild of the Wild West towns.

Grave marker placed for Waterman S. Body aka William S. Bodey

Looks like the Lockwoods lost at least 2 family members in 1892, likely an influenza epidemic.

Grave of Lottie Johl

This is not an original marker for Rosa May. Her actual gravesite is near this area as she was buried outside the cemetery fence. You can see the fence in the background.

Rosa May (1855 – 1911-12) was a prostitute during the late 19th century and very early 20th century who lived in the Virginia City and Bodie, California areas. Legend states that she was selflessly nursing sick miners during an epidemic and succumbed to the illness herself. Because of this she has been referred to as the “hooker with a heart of gold”. From 1888 to the early 1890s, she traveled to and from Bodie, California and eventually settled there in 1893. She appears on the 1900 census records. 1902 land records show that Rosa purchased a house in Bodie’s “Red Light District” for $175.

Based on external evidence it appears that Rosa died during the winter of 1911-1912. Her exact cause of death is not known and a legal record of her death does not exist. She was buried in Bodie, but due to the nature of her profession, she was not allowed to be buried within the cemetery boundary. Her grave site lies about 100 feet outside of the town cemetery, did not have a headstone marker, and had a small wooden fence built around it. A gravestone marker now exists in the area but it was erected many years after her death and is in the wrong location.

Morgue building as seen from the top of the cemetery

A view inside the morgue

Front view of the morgue

View of Bodie from the morgue

A last view of Bodie from cemetery hill

Leaving Bodie behind us. . For more on Bodie and if you plan to visit you can check HERE for info

Coming up Virginia City and Virginia City Cemetery