Friday, April 14, 2017

Not Sure Where We Are

Tonopah, Nevada
North Tonopah Development

I know no one is surprised that I don't know the name of the RV park where we are staying, but neither does Bill.  

I drove the entire trip today.  The sun was shining and there was no wind.  It was a two lane road with construction and a pilot car when we left Pahrump but that was the only slow down. The road was very smooth and very little traffic.

Since the Casino advertised 30 amp service I drove to a park north of town with 50 amp full hook ups.  There is no signage to know the name.  There are double wide duplexes behind us and pull thru 50 amp full hook up sites in the front.

Our emailed receipt says North Tonopah Development.  The WiFi code was printed on a small post it size paper along with the  door code for the shower/laundry.  The cable channel listing was on another small sheet of paper. On the top of both of those sheets of paper it says Tonopah Hospitality Services.  So either we are at Tonopah Hospitality Services of North Tonopah Development.  If anyone knows the real name of this place, let me know.

The temperature was 47 degrees and windy when we left the truck.  It wouldn't have seemed so cold if we had worn long pants.  

After writing yesterday's blog about our second tourist stop at the Chicken Ranch, I thought I'd tell you about the Pahrump Valley Museum we visited yesterday before the whorehouse tour.

I think every time someone visits a small local museum you should be greeted by a volunteer who can tell you a little about the area and the museum.  We were very lucky to have a volunteer that enjoys what he is doing.  

The volunteer told us that the town of Pahrump did not have electricity until 1964.  He said they used to wet burlap and put it on the windows to help cool the houses.  

The museum was very well organized and easy to read the descriptions.  

Of course mining was a big industry as well as cotton.  
The second half of the building was the Nevada Test Site exhibit.  The docent told us that the Obama Administration halted the storage of radioactive waste in Nevada and instead stores it all over the United States.  They are hoping the 18 billion dollar facility will again be used with the new administration.  

I really didn't expect this exhibit to be as interesting as it was.  It was well done and explained the process very well.

There was an outdoor out building walking tour on the grounds.  

In 1947 this Raycraft cottage was built out of railroad ties.
Notice there are no barriers in the home or Plexiglas.

It was a great depiction of what it would have looked like during that time.

I wanted to get a close up of the railroad ties so our friend, Harry, can see it.  Harry, these ties came from the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad.

The next building which was built in one weekend in the 1970's was the Chamber of Commerce.

One of the museum founders built this mock up of a mine tunnel.

This 100 plus year old building was the general store and local post office.

I suggested to Bill that he could also get his hair cut here since there was a barber pole.  

No matter what museum you visit, if they have out buildings they always have a schoolhouse.
This building was used as a school house in 1945 when it was moved to the Pahrump Ranch.

The Bowman house is the largest house known to have been built out of railroad ties.  
This house was very nice for the time period.

It was much larger than the house I lived in when I was in elementary school.

Bill always gravitates to these kind of vehicles.

The museum also had a great collection of bronzes.

The local garden club volunteers their skills in the garden.

There was a lot to see in this museum.  If you are in the area, make sure you stop for a visit.  There is no charge, just a donation jar and friendly people.

Turtle Safely.........







4 comments:

  1. We toured that museum last fall and really enjoyed it, but not docent to tell us about things. Very nice.

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    Replies
    1. It's a shame that some volunteers aren't interested in the history at all.

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  2. Local museums are always very interesting. Nice post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some are so much better than others. I've found some people are just gatekeepers at them.

      Delete

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