Homecoming 2006

Massanutten Military Academy is located in Woodstock VA, in the scenic Shenandoah Valley. When Philip attended school there it was remote, rural and fairly isolated. The downtown consisted of a movie theater, a drug store, a diner, a few churches and the sheriff's office/court house. While it is still a distance from any sizable city (about 80 miles from Washington), Woodstock now contains the usual sad array of suburban sprawl: Wal-Mart, lots of fast food restaurants, a number of housing developments, etc. The historic downtown, however, looks pretty much the same and is quite attractive. Philip had not been back since he graduated 40 years ago, so everything looked very different to him.
The campus is beautiful and, except for a couple of new buildings, has not changed much. When we arrived on Friday we walked around the campus and Philip pointed out all the important landmarks: where he lived, where he had classes, and the route he and his roommate took to sneak off campus and go downtown to buy liquor. The building which housed the mess hall when he was there is now a student center with pool tables, TVs, etc. The mess hall is now located in a beautiful new building. We ran into the President of the Academy on our walk (we had met him a couple of years ago at an alumni dinner in Providence) and he sent us up to his office where his secretary gave us visitor passes so that we could go anywhere on campus. We waited until lunch time so that we had a chance to watch the cadets line up and march to lunch--the cadets must get into formation and march to every meal.
Across the street from the campus is the Alumni Association building, and they were hosting a cookout for the alumni there. We met several men (the school was all-male until the late 70s) who graduated in the 30s and 40s, and a number who were from classes in the 50s and 60s. Later that evening was a wonderful party at the President's home, where we had a chance to talk to quite a number of people who remembered Philip.
Saturday was the football game, with a tailgate barbeque before the game. During the game we talked to several other alumni, and Philip took part in a halftime drill contest. Alumni and current cadets were invited to come down to the field and see who could be the "last man standing" during a rapid-fire drill instruction (with rifles). I was very impressed at how well Philip remembered his drills! He didn't make it to the end, but he lasted a lot longer than most of the other alumni. We won the football game, and we even sat next to the newly named Homecoming Queen (whose father was visiting that weekend).
That night was a banquet, where we sat with John Smuck and his wife, and a wonderful couple from Florida--Toby and Tula. Toby graduated in 1943 and is still selling swimming pools in Florida. Tula is a newly retired grade school teacher.
I was very impressed with the school. The cadets are polite, smart and obviously happy to be there. The discipline and structure offered by the school shows even in the way they interact with each other. We saw students studying in groups in the library; at the football game; walking to and from class. They are normal teenagers, having fun, but I didn't see any of the meanspirited behavior that so often takes place in public high schools. The school has a 100% college acceptance rate (which they've had for the past five years) and it shows.
Philip even went upstairs to his old dorm room--he could barely breathe when he got to the top of the stairs, but he saw his old room!
It was a fun weekend, and we're hoping to go back next year. Philip's old roommate has gone to Homecoming nearly every year, but couldn't make it this year. We're hoping he'll come next year, too. Click on the Massanutten 2006 album to see some pictures. Click on an individual picture to enlarge it. The brass sign posted on the court house is clearly readable and quite interesting.

Perhaps I Was Too Rash...

It was like the vacation that follwed me home. Or maybe the ghost of sinus infections past. In any event, on Tuesday morning following our return I woke to find myself covered with a hideous red rash. At that point it didn't itch, so I thought perhaps it would go away. No such luck. By the time I got home that night, the rash had turned into welts all over my body (with the exception, thank goodness, of my face) and it itched constantly. I spent the entire night trying not to scratch (without a lot of success). I tried cortisone cream, baking soda bath, antihistamines--nothing worked. I went to work exhausted and wishing I had a burkah to wear. I called the doctor and it was determined that I was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic I had taken in Nevada. The following day I could stand it no more: I called the doctor again and asked for something, anything, to stop the itch. This time they wanted to see me, so I went to Cambridge after work. The doctor took one look at me and said, "yes, that looks just like when my daughter took that antibiotic." I left armed with an industrial strength cortisone cream and some powerful antihistamines that would also help me sleep. I had never heard of this antihistamine, so upon looking it up I discovered it's also a veterinary drug. I'm taking horse tranquilizers! They worked, though--knocked me out cold and stopped the itch (along with the cream). It's now been over a week and the rash is just beginning to fade.

Virginia City

Virginia City was the site of the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode, the gigantic deposits of gold and silver in Six Mile Canyon. The discovery, and the resulting influx of prospectors, made Virginia City the most important settlement between Denver and San Francisco. The silver ore discovered in Virginia City was worth $2000 per ton in 1859 dollars. It is estimated that $4 billion to $8 billion (in today's dollars) worth of silver came from the Virginia City mines. At its peak, Virginia City had 30,000 residents, including Mark Twain, who wrote for the Territorial Enterprise, Nevada's first newspaper. And because this was a mining town in the newly forming West, there was something going on nearly 24 hours a day. There were visiting celebrities, Shakespearean theater, opium dens, 2 newspapers, competing fire companies, fraternal organizations, at least five police precincts, a thriving red light district, and the first Miner's Union in the U.S. The International Hotel was six stories high and boasted the West's first elevator, called the "rising room."

A fire nearly wiped out Virginia City in 1875, but it was rebuilt, and many of the buildings we saw are original. The ride to Virginia City was another steep drive up the mountain, but the views are really breathtaking once you're there. Yes, it's a little bit touristy. But the sidewalks are still mostly boardwalk, the buildings are, if not original, at least restored to their original appearance (it's easy to tell which ones really are old). And the history is fascinating. This town is the reason most of the Jeffrey pines were cut down around Lake Tahoe. And it's the reason many people became fabulously wealthy in the mid to late 1800s. Because of the mining in Virginia City, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad was built, which ran from Reno to Carson City to Virginia City and later to Minden.
There is no indication in Virginia City of any great wealth. It is small and dusty and the town gives no hint to its past. The answer is San Francisco: Virginia City is the town that built San Francisco. San Francisco's banks, businesses, magnificent architecture, hotels all were built with money from the Virginia City mines. It is hard to imagine how dangerous it was for the miners and how people had the vision to take a chance in this remote spot. Samuel Clemens, of course, got his start here. After 22 months he left Virginia City as Mark Twain. There are some interesting small museums that we spent some time in, and if you can look beyond the T shirts and souvenirs it is a fascinating place with gorgeous scenery.

Lifestyles of the Gilded Age

The Tallac Historic site consists of 74 acres in the secluded woods and along the beaches of Lake Tahoe. It is where three wealthy San Franciscans built their large summer estates in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Baldwin Estate was built by Lucky Baldwin, who built the Santa Anita racetrack. The three estates (the other two are the Pope and the Heller estates) are large, elegant homes, with separate smaller outbuildings to house the nanny, the tutor, the chauffeur, the maid, the house servants, the gardener, etc. The grounds are filled with ponds, flowers, walking paths and, of course, boat houses. Guests would come from the city to enjoy the country air, the quiet, and the lake. Each home had direct access to the beaches of Lake Tahoe. These people knew how to live. Sort of like the Newport "summer cottages," except rustic in design.

Say Ahhh...

Time to get into some serious relaxing. We thought we'd take a break from driving up and down mountains. We had tickets for a sunset cruise on Lake Tahoe in the evening, so we spent the day relaxing in the hot tubs. There are seven of them, some hotter than others. With the warm breeze and the heat wave attacking this part of the country, it was a great way to spend a few hours. As hot as the weather was (each day was at least 95 degrees, but of course there's no humidity), sitting in the hot tub with the strong breeze on your face feels incredibly good. That, plus the fact that the antibiotics seemed to have started to work their magic.
In the late afternoon we headed back over the mountain to Zephyr Cove. We left early so we could explore South Lake Tahoe a little bit. South Lake Tahoe is the center of activity on the south side of the lake. Most of the big resort hotels are there, along with huge Harrah's and Harvey's casinos. Lots of shops, some of which were fairly nice. This is not, however, a shopping destination. Nowhere in our travels did we see anything in the way of shopping as we know it in the big city. It was a reminder that Nevada is a very sparsely populated state, and that with the possible exception of Las Vegas, you are not going to find interesting shopping opportunities here. Nevertheless, we did see a few fairly nice art galleries. One of the best parts of this vacation was that we bought absolutely nothing.
At 7:00 we boarded a beautiful catamaran sailboat and headed off for a two hour cruise around the lake. Once we were far enough away from shore and the sails were raised, the engine was shut off and it was incredibly quiet and peaceful. Still light out at 7:00, the water was a stunning blue. This cruise offered free champagne, wine, beer and soda (other drinks were $5) and our shipmates were taking full advantage. We sat near a group of people who were obviously traveling together and knew each other from home. Very loud, very eager to show off. The men were all golfers and talked about it incessantly. They started drinking as soon as they got on the boat, and didn't stop until we docked again. At first their wives weren't drinking, but eventually they caught up and were just as obnoxious as their husbands (one woman said to her husband, who was talking about business, "You may run it, but I own it!" Then she wiggled her tush in another man's face while her husband laughed). In some ways it was amusing to watch. These people obviously had money, and were old enough to know better, but they didn't have too much class and didn't seem to mind making a spectacle of themselves.

But once the sun started to go down it didn't matter. It was so beautiful, and so peaceful on the lake. The heat of the day disappeared and the air was cool. We saw the paddlewheel boat (the same one we had taken a few days earlier) coming in from its last cruise, and watched the lights go on in the houses and hotels all around the lake. It was a wonderful evening. Of course, we had to drive over the mountain again to get home, but compared with Route 89 our mountain road (called the Kingsbury Grade) was a piece of cake--it has guard rails.

The Oldest Little Town in Nevada

Our resort is located in a town called Genoa (pronounced gen OH a), so we went to find out about it. It's a tiny place, but boasts some noteworthy history. Originally called Mormon Station, Genoa is Nevada's oldest town and was founded in 1851 as a settler's or squatter's government. The settlers adopted resolutions, by-laws, rules for taking up land and rules for water rights. Because of the large numbers of travelers and emigrants passing through the area, trading was the principal business. Nevada's first post office was established in Genoa in 1852 and its first printed newspaper was founded there. We also saw the Old Genoa Bar, the oldest continuously operating thirst parlor in Nevada. The courthouse, Nevada's first, was opened in 1865 and has been completely preserved and restored. It's a beautiful, quite large brick building with the courtroom on the second floor and the jail in the basement.
An interesting feature of Genoa is that it sits on the route of the Pony Express. One of Genoa's legendary heroes is John "Snowshoe" Thompson, who began delivering mail and other goods before the Pony Express was established. He made the trip, a treacherous 90-mile route through the Sierra from Genoa to Placerville CA twice a month from 1856-1876 on what was probably the first pair of wooden skis in the West. Despite his contributions and dangerous ventures, he was never fully compensated by the Postal Service. After driving on the mountains, I can only imagine how it must have been to walk it, especially in the winter.

From Genoa we drove south, through Minden and Gardnerville, to Lake Topaz. The scenery is beautiful no matter where you go: mountains all around, and wide valley floor covered with wildflowers, sage, grass. It's all very relaxing.

Fear, Thy Name is Route 89

By Monday it was time to test my theory that what I had was a sinus infection--something I have never had before. Minden, the town next to ours, had a beautiful, state of the art urgent care walk-in clinic. I checked in with a very nice woman who, after I gave her my address, told me that she was from Bangor ME and that her father was born in Braintree. The Boston area connections just keep coming. I didn't need to wait long, and the doctor confirmed that I did indeed have a sinus infection. He gave me a prescription for antibiotics and a powerful decongestant and off we went to the drugstore. Thank goodness for health insurance: I didn't have to pay anything except the $10 at the drugstore for the medicine.The drive around Lake Tahoe is 72 miles, billed as "the most beautiful drive in America." From South Lake Tahoe, just over the mountain from us, we took Route 89 up the western side of the lake, into California, north to Incline Village, then south down Route 28 back into Nevada. It is indeed a spectacular drive. The views are indescribable. Equally indescribable is how scary Route 89 is. It climbs the mountains with hairpin turns along cliffs that simply hang over the edge of the mountain--and no guard rails. I think my heart stopped every time a car came down in the opposite lane. By the time we realized that this wasn't going to get any better, it was too late. On we went until we finally reached the top of the lake and were on our way down. The road down was not much better, but it did get a little less gut-wrenching as we passed Crystal Bay.
We had hoped to see the Ponderosa Ranch, the location of the ranch shown on the television show Bonanza (although the show was shot largely in Hollywood, the ranch was used for exterior shots). Tacky, yes, but a little slice of childhood memory. Unfortunately, when we got there we were told that a private individual had bought the ranch two years earlier and the entire place is locked up. No one seems to know what the buyer is going to do with the land, but it seems logical to assume that he will either develop it with a hotel/resort or condos or homes. The private homes around Lake Tahoe are huge, expensive, and beautiful. We made it back unscathed.
As a reward for our bravery on the mountain road, we went out to dinner. Restaurants in the area, even in the tiny towns near our resort, are generally not cheap. This was one of only two nights we ate out. As an added bonus to our (very good) dinner, we were treated to a floor show going on at a nearby table. A very young, none too classy, woman was having dinner with two men she clearly had not met until that evening. The men were, to put it charitably, fairly clueless and not at all sophisticated or good looking. The woman was trying very hard to appear captivated by everything they said, was giving them (and everyone else) an unobstructed view of what was falling out of her halter top, and was insisting on ordering lobster (the most expensive item on the menu). We saw two bottles of wine come to the table in the space of about 15 minutes. Philip was amused because the men didn't seem to understand that the dinner was only the beginning of what they were going to end up paying for.

Lake Tahoe

One of the first things we noticed is the almost absolute quiet of our surroundings. Standing on the deck early in the morning the only sounds are birds and the breeze coming off the mountains. The air is amazingly fragrant due to the sage that grows everywhere, along with lavender and, of course, various kinds of pine trees higher up on the mountains.

We drove to Lake Tahoe on our first day, which is only about eleven miles away, but those eleven miles are on a climbing, circuitous road that goes over the mountain. We begin at around 5000 feet elevation, climb to more than 9000 feet, and descend to the lake which is about 6000 feet. The views are spectacular, but it does take some getting used to the roads--only two lanes, very curvy, and very high. We drove to Zephyr Cove and got our first look at Lake Tahoe. It is utterly gorgeous. Lake Tahoe is the worlds' second largest alpine lake and was formed when the Sierra Nevada mountains pushed up out of the ground and created the crater that would become the lake. Then the glaciers, along with volcanic action and lava finished the job, carving out the lake and feeding it. Lake Tahoe is 99.7% pure and clear: a white dinner plate can be seen from a depth of 67 feet. At its deepest point the lake is nearly 1700 feet deep and is very cold. Because of its purity, the lake mirrors the color of the sky so on a clear summer day the water is a perfect deep blue color. It is 22 miles long, 12 miles wide and covers a surface area of 191 miles. The coastline around the lake is 72 miles. The lake holds over 39 trillion gallons of water, enough to cover a flat area the size of California to a depth of 14 inches. If drained, it would take 700 years to refill the lake. Lake Tahoe never freezes because the huge volume of lake water is always in motion. Each winter, the cold water on the surface sinks while warm water rises from the deep.

We decided to take a paddlewheel (imported from the Mississippi) boat tour of the lake, and spent two hours on the water. The cruise took us to a part of the lake called Emerald Bay, so called because the water in this portion of the lake is a beautiful bright green color.
On Emerald Bay is a castle called Vikingsholm, the summer home of millionaire heiress Lora Knight. She built it in 1929, and because the rugged mountain scenery and sheer granite cliffs surrounding Emerald Bay reminded her of the fjords in Norway, Knight chose a Scandinavian design. It’s a house with many unusual features, including a sod roof seeded with wildflowers and dragon-heads at the peak of the roof. There is an island in the bay, just in front of the castle. On top of this island she built a tea house, also made of stone. She and her guests would take a boat to the island, climb the steep hill and have tea in the afternoons. We also learned that the Jeffrey pines covering the mountains are all less than 100 years old. When the Comstock Lode was discovered in Virginia City, the silver mining industry deforested nearly all of the trees in order to build mines, homes, other buildings as well as for heat and everything else a boom town needed . Despite their size, the trees now covering the mountains are relatively young.

After we returned, we went to the ticket window of another cruise company, this one offering sailboat cruises. A woman on the plane to Reno had told us not to miss the sunset cruise, so we asked about tickets. As we chatted with a young guy behind the counter, I noticed he had a Red Sox cap on, so I asked him if he was from Boston. It turned out he is from Concord NH, so of course I asked him what he was doing in Lake Tahoe. He said he didn't want a "real job" immediately after graduating from college, so he works at the Heavenly Ski Resort in the winter and at Zephyr Cove during the summers. Very nice, personable guy and the third person we've met so far with ties to Boston (two in supermarkets, plus this guy).
My sore throat had not gotten any better, and now both ears were plugged. All in all, things had gotten worse. The next day was D-Day: Philip insisted that I see a doctor. I'm wasn't getting any sleep and I wasn't feeling well, so I agreed that I may as well try to get some medicine.

Welcome to Nevada

We left for Nevada on Saturday, July 22. When we landed in Reno we had been flying for more than 10 hours, but due to the time change it was still early and we arrived to a beautiful, sunny day. The drive to the resort was easy, about 45 minutes and we were impressed by the beauty of the mountains (snow capped, even in the extreme heat) and the wide open plains of the Carson Valley. Our resort was situated at the foot of the mountains overlooking the valley. There was a very large ranch nearby, with a huge population of beautiful, very happy cattle who spent their days munching grass, wading in the streams and having "morning meetings" during which they gathered in tight groups early in the morning--we guessed that they were deciding which part of the acreage they would spend their day in. The resort was built in 1862 during the Civil War. David Walley found that his property held seven natural hot springs, and developed the resort for travelers looking to soak in their therapeutic waters. There are pictures of early vacationers making their way there, by horse and wagon. Some of the original structures are still there; the restaurant was one of the original buildings, and there is one small brick cabin that was original but has been restored. A fire early in the century destroyed most of the resort's buildings but those made of stone at least partially survived. The amenities are wonderful, and the hot springs are now fully modern outdoor hot tubs/spas set on the locations of the first natural hot springs. All the hot tubs are fed from the underground hot springs, so they are mineralized and have varying temperatures. There are also two large regular pools and a beautiful full service spa offering massages of various kinds and other services. Since we were tired from the trip, we made dinner at home (we stopped at a supermarket on our way, knowing we wouldn't want to go out again) and called it a day.

Vacation: At Last

It seems so long ago that we made our plans for this summer. We had just returned from Palm Springs (or, as I like to call it, Heaven on Earth). Cold, snowy, and we couldn't wait for summer. Since climate rules our choices of vacation spots, we decided to look into Lake Tahoe. I knew that Leonard and Jeanne go there frequently, and I knew it had a dry summer climate. Philip called Interval International and after a couple of weeks we were booked. We had hoped for a Marriott resort, but the more time that passed the more I realized we weren't getting in to either of the Marriotts there. So we made a reservation at David Walley's, which looks quite nice.
So now it's a little more than one day before we leave. We'll pack tonight, which is always more dramatic than it needs to be. Philip is so good about knowing exactly what we should take, and I'm always worried I won't have the right clothing or enough clothing. We manage to keep the content of the suitcase down to a manageable amount. After the clothes are packed I'll run around worrying about anything I might have forgotten. Of course Philip keeps reminding me that wherever we go there are stores where things can be purchased. As long as we have all his medications, and I remember to leave a check for the pet sitter, we're ok.
Yet another example of my perfect timing: I came down with a nasty sore throat on Sunday, and it's not getting appreciably better. It's difficult to sleep, so I'm overtired as well. Luckily we don't have to change planes on the way to Reno, so maybe I can relax and get some sleep. I know just being away will make whatever it is go away! Soon I'll be looking at mountains and the beautiful Lake Tahoe, and Philip will be breathing dry, clean air.
We have decided not to bring the laptop with us (this is supposed to be a vacation), so this will likely be my last entry until we get back. Bon Voyage!