7-7-2021 DAYTON, NV

 

Not surprisingly, there is a “no vacancy” sign in this whole vicinity.  We made our park reservations a couple of months ago and still, the closest we could get to Virginia City was Dayton.  It’s 10 mi. but the drive is fun and beautiful;  mountains dotted with sagebrush, junipers and piñon pines and wild horses and burros wandering all over the place.  Back in 1849, Dayton was the first place gold was discovered in Nevada and that along with the massive silver lode found in Virginia City was the beginning of the mad rush of humanity to the West.  As the supply of precious metals dried up, many places have become ghost towns but Dayton and Virginia City survived and thrived.

Just wandering about town!

 

We had but one mission on this trip.  For a couple of decades now, we have searched for the grave of our beloved, rather raucous and “colorful” Boeing Manager, Ed Gruenemay.  He was terribly intimidating at first, until you gained his confidence and I suppose until I gained some of my own.  Back then, before the PC culture existed, things were much different and more laid back.  On my first day on this job, I was introduced to Ed in my Manager’s office and was told that Ed would train me.  As we left Fred’s office, Ed put his arm around my shoulder and through the cigarette smoke, said in a subdued voice, “We had another chick out here in the shop once.  It didn’t work out.  We fired her.”  There were other memorable moments.  Ed had a very loud, booming voice and no filters.  Across the office one lunch hour, he told of his conversation with his soon-to-be-wife.  He shouted, “I told her that I get laid on Saturday night, period.  It may not be you, but I get laid on Saturday night.”  Ed was an extraordinarily excellent engineer and took no prisoners when it came to reworking and repairing the airplane.  There was no margin for error.  His relentless insistence on perfection drove us and in the end, we all grew to love and respect him.  Over the years, he became a Manager and Rob and I both wound up working for him.  His retirement in Virginia City involved the building of a log cabin and we paid a visit to help.  His death at 64 was sudden and premature. Never having had the opportunity to pay our respects and obtain a bit of closure, we made an incorrect assumption and searched for his grave in Virginia City, year after year, trip after trip.  Finally, online sleuthing and phone calls brought me success.  We found his final resting place not in Virginia City at all but in Reno.  We brought flowers, a flag, affixed a small pewter C-17 to his stone and wished our dear friend Ed peace. 

 

Lindy and Bre

During one of our visits to the Bucket of Blood Saloon, we shared a table with Bre and Andre.  While chatting it up, we learned that Bre is a waitress at the Beacon Restaurant at Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe.  She said, “C’mon down for lunch!  I’ll wait on you and serve good stuff!”  OK!  And what a beautiful place it is with tables and umbrellas right on the sand and centuries-old ponderosa pines growing right up through the deck.  The hostess said that we had at least a one-hour wait so we strolled into the bar.  At that moment, Bre walked by, grinned, hugged us and sat us right down at one of her tables!  (It’s all about who you know!)  She served us a wonderful lunch accompanied by the Beacon’s world-famous rum runner cocktail.

The Beacon Restaurant in Camp
Richardson - from the pier

 

Rum Runner

Rob thought that we couldn’t drive all that way (1 hour 20 mins. each way) just to go to lunch.  His research found an afternoon Rum Runner boat cruise on Lake Tahoe and he reserved two places for us.  We sailed out onto the lake and though it was a very hot day, the breeze was as refreshing as, well, the rum runner cocktails that they serve, what else?  Sunshine and depth changed the colors of the water to many spectacular shades of blue and emerald.  We cruised around a small island in Emerald Bay and past a mansion on the shore.  The story is that Lora Josephine Knight built this mansion in 1929 on the 240 acres of land that she owned.  She was the wealthy widow of James Moore, co-founder of Nabisco, Diamond Matches and Continental Can.  She was a Brit and the Brits like their afternoon tea so Lady Knight had built a Tea House at the top of the small island that she also owned.  Each afternoon, the butler would ferry her out to the island where she would sit peacefully with her tea.  Sounds boring.  She was a traveler and on one of her trips to Yurrup, she fell in love with and acquired a $40K big round rug.  Since there was nowhere in the mansion to put the rug, she had a round tower-like addition built to accommodate the rug.  A peculiar bucket list item but to each his own.  She lived out her days here and now, the land, mansion (now a museum) and Tea House are historic property belonging to the state of CA. 

Lora Josephine Knight's private island
in Emerald Bay

The Tea House

Rob enjoying a rum runner

Lady Knight's mansion.  Note the
round tower on the end of the building.

 

When we returned to Dayton, our Pahrump neighbors George and Kathy had parked a few spaces from us as, by chance, our travel paths were crossing.  After a quick cocktail, we went to dinner at Js’ Old Town Bistro in the historic district of Dayton.  The building dates back to 1860 and over the decades has seen many uses:  a mercantile, several pubs, an ice cream parlor and auto repair shop.  The current owners saved the exterior structure but largely gutted the interior to add small details such as a bathroom.  The service, wine and food were superb and of course, we always enjoy socializing with our good friends when we meet on the road.  Today, we pack up and head north to Hat Creek, CA.