Nevada Trip Part 2

Ok where was I?  We were leaving the Silver Mine in Tonapah, NV.  Which also happens to be, according to the town's  billboards and brochures, a top stargazing destiny.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy the night we were there.  Anyway, we drove south, then west into our beautiful state of California.  We drove through the Inyo National Forest and to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest .  I had always thought that the Giant Sequioas were the oldest living things on earth, at 1000 plus years old!  But did you know that the oldest tree is a Bristlcone Pine that is  4,700 years old?!  I had just heard about these trees from a friend and lo and behold, a couple of weeks later, we read about them in our Apologia Botany science book!  (that happens quite a bit while homeschooling!)  These trees have been around since the time of the flood!  There are NO other living things older than that.  This is evidence for the flood! The Apologia books says it a lot better than I do, but I hope you get the idea.  The Bristlecone forest sits on top of a mountain 10,000 ft high!  Wow!  Here are some pictures:

Utah Juniper, where we stopped for a picnic

 

 

 

We went on a small hike up the mountain:

Poster at the Bristlecone Forest, we made it!:

The burned down Visitors Center.  It burned by arson just 2 weeks before we were there:

On top of the world, at least 10,000 ft!:

My husband stopped along the side of the road on the way home just so I could take a close up of these flowers.  I think they are Rabbit Brush, but it could be something different:

Fabulous sunset on the way home:

Dressing up

I put off thinking of the kids' costumes this October, til the very end.  But  I think we did a pretty good job., thanks to the Goodwill. This year, for the first time in years, we didn't go to a church Harvest party thingy.  They are crowded, noisy and boring.....for me!  We went trick or treating, which netted plenty of candy, but we had to walk a long way!  Most houses on a block were dark, so we zigzagged our way along the road.  When we got home, we gave out candy.  Ours was only one of two houses on our half of the block with lights on!  Now I remember why we didn't do trick or treating in the past!  I think next year we will go back to a church.  Here are the kids:

A pink kitty:

A pirate:

A ghost, like in Charlie Brown:

Gen. John McCain:

without the mask:

A purple superhero...she had designed a black and purple outfit on paper.  When we went to the Goodwill, she found this purple dress, how could I not buy it?

Just the other day, I was talking to someone about the candy cigarettes we used to love as children.  The gum cigarettes would have powder that came out the tip if you blew on the cigarette, like smoke.  The person asked if they still sold them.  I said, "Oh no, they couldn't sell those now.  They stopped a long time ago."  Well, they are still around! Only they are called, "Candy Sticks"!!  And they taste terrible. I couldn't believe it.  Of course, they are meant to be candy cigarettes.  I should have looked to see who makes them.

Relief!

During the summer, I had paid $100 to fill my van with gas! 

On Tuesday, it only cost me $60!  Oh, it was beautiful! 

Trip to Nevada

My neck is getting better, and I finally took the time to upload my photos onto photobucket.  It still doesn't work as fast as it should, but it did work. Some time ago, I mentioned a surprise trip we were about to make.  We sold our trailer (because we hadn't used it in 4 years!) and the older man that bought it, paid us extra to tow it to his land in Nevada!  We did it!  It was a 7 hour drive one way.  We only stopped for gas, and had lots of food in the van.  My mom went, too.  We had a great time singing to oldies songs and enjoying the scenery of the California High Desert along Hwy 395.  We arrived in Goldfield, NV, got the trailer set up, then drove to the small silver mining town of Tonapah, NV.  We ate dinner and got a motel room. The next morning, we were able to go to the silver museum.  The mine is not working, but you can tour it, we didn't have time.  Then we drove west through the mountains, back into CA, and to the Ancient Bristlcone Pine Forest.  I'll write more about them next time.  For now, Hhere are lots of pics from our first segment of the trip, with captions, coming above each pic. Most of these were taken from the car, while driving along Hwy 395.  I wasn't driving. ;)

Red Rock Canyon

Scenery on Hwy 395, through the high desert of California

Joshua Trees were in abundance

Another Red Rock picture

I'm pretty sure this is Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in CA:

Happy California Cows

Happy Calfornia Horses:

Not so happy cows:

I think these are all in Nevada:

 

Goldfield, NV, where we delivered the trailer:

A rock that looks like bacon:

The main flowers we saw on our trip, Rabbit Brush:

Silver in the raw:

The old silver mine and museum in Tonapah, NV:

These are silver, worth $10,000!

More Joshua Trees:

1930s Marital Scale

This is interesting.  I scored 74, "Superior"!  Try it!

1930s Marital Scale

Wild Parrots

We have a flock of wild parrots in our neighborhood!  We have seen them twice in the last couple of weeks, in the tree across the street.  This is the closest we could get with our zoom, without scaring them off: