We're back in civilization, sorta

  We last wrote from Jamestown. Since then we have been to Yosemite, through Tioga pass to the Eastern side of the Sierras, and today we visited Bodie.

   First, here's some pics of Yosemite. It was beautiful there. Lots of tourists, and some rain, but we were able to see quite a bit. There was a bit of snow around, here and there. The top pic is of the rig parked in the campground, the next is Patsy and Sassi in a little patch of snow.

   The top photo in this group is of a guy we met who was trying his luck at fishing (with bait..?..) and the lower photo is Bridal Veil Falls. I don't think the photos do it justice, but you get the idea. We hiked up to Mirror Lake......It turns out it's a "Seasonal Lake". This time of the season, it's not much more than a stream running through the valley, but you can see where it fills up when the snow melts in the Spring. It was still a beautiful spot, and the stream was beautiful downstream from the lake.
  I'd guess it was about a mile and a half hike to the Lake. Guess what happened when we got there? It started raining! So, we had to hustle back to the camper and dry off. It was worth it, though. 

  Here's a shot through the windshield at the weather passing through Tuolomne Meadows. It started raining when we were in Yosemite, and it followed us all the way through Tioga Pass and almost all the way down the grade to US 395. It was pretty cold (For a Southern California couple). But it wasn't bad driving and we fared OK.
  We stayed at a little campground south of Bridgeport, and got up the next day to visit Bodie. Bodie is a Ghost Town. In its heyday, it was a town that revolved around the mining, and processing, of Gold Ore. The big Stamp Mill is there and you can take a tour of it, if you want to. At one time, it boasted a population of 10,000 inhabitants. There were two churches and 65 Saloons. Also a nice two story school house.
  Bodie was a rough town in its day. The literature reports that there was a lot of killing, fighting and "sinful living" in Bodie. The story goes that a little girl found out she and her family were going to move to Bodie, so she wrote in her diary "Good-bye God, we're moving to Bodie". The pamphlet says it became a pretty popular phrase in the old west.
   If you can imagine a town that closed, and looks like all the people just vanished and left all their belongings behind, you have Bodie. The mill last processed ore in 1938, but in the late 1800's it was a busy place. There is really too much of a story to show and tell on this blog. But we spent the day there and we were both just fascinated with the whole "thing".
   For instance, the General store still has the goods on the shelves. The school has all the desks, blackboards, books and toys for the children. The Fire House has the Hose Cart and Chemical wagon in it. The homes still have the stoves, furniture, some clothing, and we even saw a little bowl of assorted buttons in the window of a home. Lots of antiques! Sewing machines, washing machines (All were human powered). There was electricity in the town as a lot of buildings had light fixtures in them. There were a lot of outhouses, but you could see how as the "Modern age" approached some installed indoor plumbing, bath tubs, gas stoves, etc.
   I better post a photo or two, or I'll keep writing about the town....

Here's a look inside the Methodist church. The pump Organ is still there, the pews, etc.. Truly amazing!

Patsy shot this photo of a bowl of buttons sitting in the window of a home. There's some glare from the glass window, but you can make them out.

Here's a shot looking down one of the streets. There were LOTS of old buildings and homes. I have some great video of a lot of it. I'll try to post a video of the general area......

  I think this video is a panoramic shot of the area. I haven't edited anything I shot, and the preview is so tiny, it's hard to tell what it is. I think this was shot as we first got there.
  The grave yard fascinated me. There is actually three (maybe 4) graveyards.....One was the Masonic Graveyard, another was the I.O.O.F. (International Order Of Odd Fellows) graveyard, and another was the Ward (Which I took to mean the town folk) graveyard....However there was a fourth option....If you were deemed to be be too unsavory, you were buried outside the fence, and most times with no grave marker. There were a lot of graves, and some are being well maintained by someone, others are in a sad state of repair. There were a number of graves for little children.....It must have been some rough living back then.....
  While we were there, there was a couple of guys making a new grave marker and etching the "particulars" onto the stone. I mentioned earlier, that the town was abandoned around 1938....Well we saw a gravestone of a guy who was buried there in the late 1960's. So, I guess some folks who lived there, but moved away, wanted to be buried there. It really was an interesting place. Lots of old cars and machinery....I could go on, but I fear boring you.
  Let's see where we end up tomorrow.
  We hope all of you are doing fine!