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| Historic U.S. Route 395 |
For my birthday we ran up from San Diego to Gardnerville,
Nevada. We stopped overnight in Santa Clarita to pick up friends, so it feels
like a party. It’s a beautiful drive up U.S. Route 395. High
Sierra with Humphrey Bogart was filmed in Lone Pine, Charles Manson
was jailed in Independence, Bishop lays claim to the oldest rodeo in the
country, Mammoth remains my favorite ski resort, Lee Vining is named after a
saloon patron who shot himself in the most private of parts, and Bodie makes
other ghost towns appear stunted. Schat’s Bakery alone makes the long drive
worthwhile. This doesn’t even mention the stunning scenery. All that open
beautiful land makes you wonder why everyone huddles on top of each other in
Los Angeles.
Gardnerville is in Carson Valley, south of Carson City. The
whole region feels peaceful. Homes are spread out, friendly people abound, traffic
moves swiftly on the single thoroughfare,
and majestic mountains loom in every direction. It’s a great place to live or
visit.
Except … I can’t believe the amount of mayhem I’ve invented
in these precincts.
Several Steve Dancy Tales take place in Carson City and
Virginia City. Whenever I visit, I’m reminded that I wrote about another time.
The Carson Valley of today seems quiet and subdued, but when Mark Twain
wandered these environs, the region could truly be called the Wild West.
If you want to experience the history of this region, Roughing It by Mark Twain and An Editor on the Comstock Lode by
Wells Drury provide first-hand accounts of Virginia City in its heyday.