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March 29th - April 6th look to be the dates for us, given the kids school schedules.

 

Post up if you are interested in a return visit. Haven't figured out the routes yet -- severity of the winter will determine how far north we will go. If it's cold may stay south and explore around the Bob and Wards area a bit -- lots of untouched territory. If it's warm may explore up North by the ghost town/Hunter mountain area -- lot of untouched territory there as well. Of course there is always Briggs camp and the Panamints around it if we can land it...

 

I do know I am not camping in Green Valley again!

 

Probably going to have to limit size of group again this year or split up into two campsites given some of the NPS regulations about group camping that are close to passing.

 

I think some of the school districts get their break the week before --- so doublecheck your kids availability if you have em....

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Thanks Chuck. Definitely count me and Ella in. I am requesting that week off work. Unfortunately, Ella will have to miss a week of kindergarten. She doesn't want to miss the trip!
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March 29th - April 6th look to be the dates for us, given the kids school schedules.

...

I think some of the school districts get their break the week before --- so doublecheck your kids availability if you have em....

 

It varies. Some examples...

 

March 29 - April 5

* San Mateo / Foster City: http://www.smfc.k12.ca.us/calendar

 

April 8-12

* San Jose Unified (where my kids attend): http://www.sjusd.org/pdf/districtinformation/2012_2013_SJUSD_Instructional_Calendar.pdf

* Campbell: http://www.cuhsd.org/documents/2012-2013CalendarBoardApprovedJan132011REVISEDFeb162012_000.pdf

 

April 15-19

* Fremont Union HS: http://www.fuhsd.org/calendar

 

Karl.

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It varies. Some examples...

 

March 29 - April 5

* San Mateo / Foster City: http://www.smfc.k12.ca.us/calendar

 

April 8-12

* San Jose Unified (where my kids attend): http://www.sjusd.org/pdf/districtinformation/2012_2013_SJUSD_Instructional_Calendar.pdf

* Campbell: http://www.cuhsd.org/documents/2012-2013CalendarBoardApprovedJan132011REVISEDFeb162012_000.pdf

 

April 15-19

* Fremont Union HS: http://www.fuhsd.org/calendar

 

Karl.

 

Palo Alto (USD) March 30th - April 7th

 

I might be up for it, but minus Lucas as he will be with his mother (he is with us for what used to be ski week in February, but is now "ski two extra days")

 

Regards,

 

Graeme

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I already have a list of about 20 things that need to be fixed, modded, installed, or purchased for this trip. An RTE front skid plate was ordered this morning, and I think an ARB fridge will be a Christmas present to myself:) Man I'm already stoked for this trip!
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Geez Chuck, already? I haven't recovered from the last one yet! But I guess some folks do need to plan this far ahead to be sure to get the time off. Of course, you know I'll be there, and willing to help with the planning again.
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Dust is everywhere and gets in everything. I have to throw out my cabin filter and air filter after each trip, but a small price to pay.

 

Also, you may see extreme temp fluctuations. Last trip, we were changing Suttle's tire in 104 degree heat on Wednesday and then it snowed Friday night!

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  • 5 weeks later...

So, I got on Sheriff Stones mailing list somehow. And got the Holiday mailing. So question for those of you who were there last year -- what do you think about another stopover (either in the first part of the trip or to end the trip) in Gold Point... I think there are some cool trails around that area that are unexplored by us so far -- but worry a bit about the weather -- remember the snow?

 

 

Anyway -- here is the Sheriff Stone update -- I already chided him for not mentioning the Land Rover club...

 

 

Howdy one and all.

 

It’s been a long time since we’ve done a newsletter hasn’t it.

 

This year has been a slower than normal year of getting major projects done to report on but we’ll bring you up to date on what’s happened in the last few months or so.

 

First we’ve got to let you know that we are planning on doing our annual Day after Thanksgiving dinner again this year. Those interested in joining us for $15 per person please let us know in the next couple of weeks so we can have plenty of good food on hand. We’ll have turkey, honey glazed ham, stuffing, mashed spuds and gravy, sweet potatoes, veggies, desserts, ore dervies and probably stuff I don’t know about yet. We’ll serve hopefully between 2 and 3 p.m. Friday November 23rd.

 

Should you wish to stay here a day or two we have all cabins available and plenty of rv parking at this time.

 

Back in February we had Simon, a movie director, come out from England to do a short movie trailer for a movie he wanted to do called Bruno & Earlene go to Las Vegas. With that trailer he was able to secure funding to come back with his cast and crew of about 18 in the first part of September for 8 days to do the whole thing. They stayed in all of our cabins and Red Dog Lil and I made about 500 meals for them while Walt took care of their refreshments like water and lemonade and such. They were a great bunch to have here for the whole time. We hope his movie is successful enough to come back to Gold Point for a sequel.

 

When Red Dog Lil gets home tonight and proof reads this I’ll have here tell you what it was all about. She has a copy of the script and has read the whole story.

 

Ok, Red Dog is home now so I’ll let her tell you about the movie. Go ahead Red.

 

In reading the script I find it to be a touching story and here are the highlights. A lot more happened in some of the other scenes but are not necessary to go into for the Bruno & Earlene story:

 

Earlene runs away from her boyfriend. Bruno & Earlene meet at Venice Beach Boardwalk skate bowl. They strike up a conversation. He takes her to the place where he is “couch surfing†in someone’s home that has gone on vacation. The woman comes home and catches them but they get away. They go to Earlene’s motel room. Next morning Bruno leaves, Earlene follows him and a friend to a big mansion in the middle of nowhere. It belongs to a doctor that studies chromosomes and he takes pictures to document “people like Bruno†and pays them money to do it. Earlene takes Bruno away from the mansion and they break into another cabin for the night that is empty of its owners. They decide to take a road trip to Vegas. Bruno has a fixation on the Eiffel Tower in Paris and has always wanted to see it. Earlene says she can’t get him to the real Paris but she can get him to Vegas to see the replica of the one there. Many miles later they end up in a motel in Beatty where Bruno steals a room key. There they run into Billy who becomes their escape from the cops. Earlene had stolen her boyfriend’s car when she left and the cops were checking it out when they come out of the motel room the next morning. Billy steals a truck and off they go. They end up on a dirt road, the truck breaks down and they are in the middle of nowhere. They ditch the truck and start walking. They end up in (Gold Point) what they thought was a ghost town from a distance. They are about to meet up with the “characters†of the town who ended up there after running away from other lives. They go into the saloon and find some of the residents. Two Scottish guys, the bartender and eventually the cook and the lady Sheriff steps up. The Sheriff gives them a key to a cabin for the night. There it comes out just what is different about Bruno. Bruno was supposed to be a twin but the sister’s egg merged with his egg and he ended up being a boy with a uterus, an ovary and a fallopian tube and grew up very confused not knowing if he was a boy or a girl. Billy turns out to be gay and forms a relationship with one of the Scottish guys. Earlene and Bruno have a disagreement, he would like to stay in the town because he feels at home there but Earlene decides to take off on her own and admits she is pregnant. She get a ride from the other Scottish guy. Bruno decides to go back to the clinic that Earlene dragged him out of to go ahead and have the pictures taken so he can get money to help Earlene. He hitches a ride with some tourists that had gotten lost and wound up in the same town. They drop him off and he thumbs a ride with another vehicle to get to the clinic. Earlene has second thoughts and has the Scottish guy take her back to the town where she finds that Bruno has taken off as well. Earlene figures out that Bruno has gone back to the clinic after she talks to the other residents and her and Billy decide to take off and go after Bruno. They get to the clinic and Earlene once again pulls Bruno out of there. They finally get to Vegas along with Billy and his Scottish boyfriend. Bruno gets to see the Eiffel Tower. Earlene has her baby. Undetermined if Bruno changes his lifestyle from male to female but it sounds like it from the ending in the script.

 

Thanks Red Dog. We hope this is a success for Simon and that we will get to see it in the not so far future.

 

The first week of October we had a Rotary club rally here of about 36 guests. They stayed here about a week. Each day they left Gold Point and explored different areas on all points of the compass.

 

The following week we had around 20 guests on their annual fall ride of the My Two Wheels off road club visit us for 4 days. They will again be back in April for their annual spring ride.

 

During the time they were here we had two doctors from Georgia come out to do a photo shoot. They flew into Vegas where they picked up 4 lovely models. They arrived Friday in Gold Point around 3 in the afternoon and left around 1 p.m. the next day. They knew the riders were going to be here but the riders didn’t know the girls were going to be here. So it was quite a surprise to all of them when the girls started modeling all around our buildings inside and out wearing nothing but a smile and their boots. If the wives of the riders find out about this they may not be allowed to play in Gold Point anymore so please don’t tell them. Lol. The photographers plan on coming back sometime next spring. Yeah!!!!!! Will you be lucky enough to be here at that time??

 

This last weekend we had 24 geology and paleontologists from northern California come for two nights and a day. They climbed Mt. Dunfee East of Gold Point looking for fossils. Matt, the professor thought that he would bring a different class back again next year.

 

About a month ago we had another group of students stop by for about an hour and we had one of them identify an old bone we have in a case in the saloon as an old mammoth bone about 8 to 10,000 years old. It was here when we bought the Senators home back in 1981 so we don’t know where it was found.

 

Two weeks ago we had Ken the piano repairman and Jim the electrical wizard came back for a few days.

 

Ken retuned the piano and put some more glue resin on the pins and it sounds really great. Jim, Ken and their friend George tried to fix the instruments but couldn’t get them to work on this trip. They found some serious problems with the tiny diaphragms on them. Jim will be doing some research and hopefully next time they come back for a visit next year we’ll have a fully working piano. Until then we are very pleased with listening to the piano only right now.

 

Jim was also nice enough to bring us two ostrich eggs. He showed us how to drill a small hole on one end and blow out the liquid. We then had scrambled ostrich eggs for breakfast. We scrambled the other one yesterday for another group of guests. They taste the same as regular eggs. Now Red Dog Lil has two eggs to use to paint on or whatever she wants to with them.

 

By the way Red Dog Lil, real name Sandy, is reluctantly enjoying her fame having a hurricane named after her. If anyone reading this is going to be effected by her we hope you make it through the storm with little or no harm. You can always write to her and complain if you wish. Maybe even send us a photo of her wrath. I just read the ticker tape this morning and found that the name “Sandy†will be retired as a name used for hurricanes. Ironically it is the 77th name to be retired. Sheriff Stones lucky number. Maybe it’s time to buy a lottery ticket.

 

Stranger has been able to spend a little more time working on Shangri-la. He’s cleaned out the back and moved in the Jacuzzi tub. The bedroom now has carpet and he has started putting up the wood waistcoat. He hopes to be back in a few weeks to work on it some more.

 

We have talked about having an End of the World party here in December but Red Dog and I have chosen to go down to spend Christmas time with my parents and her mom. If the world really does end on December 21st we wanted to be with mommies and daddy.

 

Now another chapter in the ongoing series “Tales from the not so old Westâ€

 

May 16, 1908 Rhyolite Bullfrog Miner

 

“Sister Nevada Camps.

Hornsilver…Hornsilver is now less than a month old, but already it has a population closely hugging the thousand mark. There are several grocery stores, a hardware store and a drug store doing a land office business. Seven salons are assuaging the desert thirst. Every block in the center of the city has its restaurant and lodging house, while several feed yards are transacting business at the lower end of the Main street.

 

Already-and this seems incredible-a telephone system has been in operation for nearly two weeks and a railroad spur of the T & G. has been surveyed and preparations for grading are under way, while the Clark road people are planning to also build to the camp. Negotiations are under way for the bringing in of electric light and power. A franchise for a water system is also being considered by the board of county commissioners.

 

Hornsilver is not a boom cam. It is upon a permanent basis. Instead of booming a townsite to stimulate prospecting in the neighborhood, Hornsilver got its producing mines first and the considered the townsite proposition.â€

 

May 16th 1908 Hornsilver Herald Vol. 1 no. 2

 

“new business projected. Clayton & Weaver have bought lot 5, block 9, Main street and will put a substantial business house thereon. P.J. Flanner has purchased lot 5 block 10, for mercantile purposes. Gilroy & McGavin have purchased lots 4 and 8 on Main street, and will erect a building for a saloon.â€

 

“Finishing New Buildings. Walter & Brown are putting the finishing touches to the cozy building next to Beckman & Brick’s, in which they will open a chop house. A. Ruf will have completed his building on Third avenue, near Main street by today, which is intended for a meat market. Charles Stevens’ building for the Northern saloon is about finished. James Fowlie, of the Montana bar, will have completed the large frame structure…containing the gaming adjunct to his bar.

 

“Great Western Market. Andrew (Ruf) has opened a market on Third avenue, where fresh meats, vegetables and fruits will be received daily. Sausages will be a specialty.â€

 

“Pioneer Drug Store. W. H. Hyatt of Goldfield will put in a stock of drugs, etc. in the building occupied by the Barnes Brothers.â€

 

“Hobbs and Frisbie. An interest in the Frisbie lease on the Hornsilver King ground, at Hornsilver, was purchased last week by John H. Hobbs…Goldfield Tribuneâ€

 

“What the papers are printing about Hornsilver. Birth of the new camp. One of the best early stories on Hornsilver was written by W. M. Gotwaldet for the Goldfield News, published two weeks ago….The site is a semicircular basin, surrounded on three sides by the Crescent range. Two days before our visit the first lot had been sold in the new town and the first tent pitched. On the day of our trip there were fourteen tents in the morning and eighteen tents and two frame building when we left. At noon a wagon freighted with lumber and another laden with culinary utensils and supplies drew up in front of a vacant lot. When we returned from a visit to the mines several hours later we found a substantial hotel building with dinner served in the dining room. Sunday morning two saloons started business in structures consisting of a floor and a bar, together with the necessary stock. By the middle of the afternoon the refreshment parlors were snugly under roof and even had ice with which to regale their customers…

 

As of this writing, Thursday afternoon, the camp of Hornsilver has already been assured a railroad, a telephone line and water system. It is a bustling little city with six saloons, four restaurants, a barber shop, four lodging houses, three stores, two automobile lines and one stage line, a feed yard, livery stable and what not. At the mature age of five days the city of Hornsilver made application for a post office and a precinct is being established, while the mining district has already fixed its metes and bounds and selected its officials. Within a couple of weeks the town will have attained a growth of possibly a thousand men, women and children…â€

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

 

 

 

happy trails and sunsets

 

Sheriff Stone and/or Red Dog Lil

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So, I got on Sheriff Stones mailing list somehow. And got the Holiday mailing. So question for those of you who were there last year -- what do you think about another stopover (either in the first part of the trip or to end the trip) in Gold Point... I think there are some cool trails around that area that are unexplored by us so far -- but worry a bit about the weather -- remember the snow?

 

As I recall, we were quite taken with Gold Point and talked about starting the trip there next year, staying a few days and exploring before moving on to Death Valley. I'm still up for that plan. As for the weather, we hit darn near every kind of weather possible this last trip and there's no telling what we'll have next year. That's part of what makes it so interesting. But we can deal with whatever we're handed...we're tough Land Rover people...!

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Sheriff Stone is quite a character. It was a great way to end the trip last year and I was very thankful to have a roof above me when it was snowing all night long. As for weather, like Dan said, you just never know what is in store for us. On Wed, I was changing Kevin's tire in 102F heat and on Friday we were making snowballs. Extreme swings...

 

There is definitely a lot to explore near Gold Peak and if the weather cooperates, we can camp in the ghost town for a nominal fee rather than pay for cabins.

 

I am hoping that we can see Scotty's castle this year, but its your call Chuck. You have put together some great itineraries the past few years.

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