Well, we’ve finally arrived at the penultimate post on our trip to California and Nevada. If you need to catch up (and it won’t be for the faint of heart), you can begin here with The Devil’s Slide and Mussel Rock, then take a drive up to Mt Hamilton and the Lick Observatory, come back to the bay and spend some time at the beaches, and then you’re off to Reno, Nevada. Last week we spent a bit of time at the W.M. Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum among other places.

Today we are going to Grimes Point via Virginia City. We had originally set out to go to Carson City and from there to Grimes Point. Once we got out of Reno, my husband (who was as usual at the steering wheel) decided to do a little exploring first. We picked up Highway 50 and drove a little ways when he said, “Let’s go to Virginia City.” So we did.

Virginia City is an interesting town, definitely catering to tourists but with some nice local establishments. Like this place where we ate lunch and enjoyed some ice cream.

I suspect if we lived in Virginia City, we’d be at The Roasting House a lot. Our sandwiches were delicious, the ice cream (Maple Pecan) was yummy and the service was great.

And though there was the tourist element, it was fun checking out the old brick buildings and looking (as always) at mineral and fossil displays.

The day was getting on so we finally tore ourselves away from Virginia City and headed to Highway 50. Even though in previous posts, I’ve complained (and complained) about the heat and aridness of Nevada, I find the landscape to be peculiarly appealing to me.

Twisty, winding roads always make me a bit nervous, both as a driver and a passenger; however, my husband recommended an app for my iPhone called Hyperlapse which I decided to try out. Heh heh heh. Even though we were going much slower than suggested in the video, the time lapse does capture how I felt.

Well, soon after that fun ride we found ourselves in Fallon, Nevada. I’ve never been to Fallon but Greg had often been there for work. About 30 years ago. It’s changed a bit since then. Lots of casinos where there once were none. Schools were letting out and the traffic was godawful. We both get tense in traffic congestion, especially in unfamiliar places so we stopped at a CVS to get our bearings and some eye drops for Greg. It was at the CVS when we realized that we no longer had cellphone service. None. Zip.

We got back on Hwy 50 and the hell out of town. Our moods lifted as the highway became less populated.

We finally made it to Grimes Point, about a mile down a rocky dirt road past the Petroglyphs Trail. Amazing to think that this area was once filled with water.

And that my husband allowed me to keep him in the video. Will wonders never cease. Of course, as he already knew, he was in shadow so, yeah, you can’t pick him out of a lineup.

The following slideshow is a mashup of both Grimes Point and the Petroglyphs Trail. Both areas have petroglyphs (duh), but the Petroglyphs Trail is located nearest Hwy 50 off a paved section of road. The importance of these details will be evident in my last Views From the Road post. For now, enjoy the slideshow, and thanks for coming this far with me.

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