Road Trip – The Road to Virginia City

This is what we woke up to this morning. For whatever reason I didn’t know that Weed was nestled in the shadow of Mt. Shasta. I also was ignorant of the fact that Mt. Shasta is the second largest volcano in the Cascade range, weighing in at 14,180 ft. That’s just behind our pride and glory Rainier, 14,409ft. These are all things I learned this morning.

I also learned that Weed is cold. Nobody ever warns your about that in high school health class.

We hit the road at about 9:30 and savored the joy of driving to Virginia city. We cruised along 395 through Northern California and took in the sun, the elevation, and the fragrant junipers. We had the windows down and it smelled like we were bathing in gin. Somewhat reminiscent of college.

A ways further down 395 we came across this little gem. At the time I thought the gin air was getting to me but once we pulled over to check, it was confirmed.  In the middle of nowhere, 25 miles or so north of Reno there is a tree full of shoes. Somewhere between a breakfast club homage and the creepy tree from 300, this rubber laden tree is apparently a popular phenomena on California’s 395 highway. From what we learned there is more than one and no one seems to agree of why they exist. The best story we found was this:

Once, a married couple on their way to a honeymoon destination got in a fight. The argument got so heated that the groom pulls over and yells at his new bride. She is so wounded by the out burst that she gets of the car and begins to walk away. The groom, now in full pursuit yells at her to get back in the car. She refuses so he tackles her, removes her shoes and throws them into the only thing nearby, the tree. Thus preventing her from walking away.

It must have worked, because years later their children come to throw their own shoes into the tree to celebrate their parent’s love.

Personally I’ve never seen children celebrate their parent’s love. Then again… it is California. Stranger things have happened.

When we finally made it to Virginia city I was blown away. I didn’t know before we arrived that Virginia City was at 6200 ft. My only experience with the place up until now was watching episodes of Bonanza with my grandpa. Yeah, for everyone else born after 1985 here’s the Wikipedia link below.

Bonanza for Beginners

Virginia City is pretty much the coolest place we’ve been too in a long time. Virginia City is the kid that shows up to a Halloween party in a full tailored outfit made of period appropriate materials, stitched by hand. In the world of theme towns, the one that has buildings from the 1800’s is king. Since it’s heyday in the late 19th century this mining town has kept it architecture and it’s charm. It looks and feels like a true western town, because it is.

We had the opportunity to tour the town by trolly, visit the novelty candy shop, take a tour of a mine shaft, and walk the boardwalk. Watch out for the videos we’ll be producing for this town. They’re going to be some of our best.

In the mean time we’re going to give you a taste of the town in pictures.

There are so many incredible places to stay while you’re in town, including the charming Assay House on the end of B Street, it’s hard to choose. We were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to stay at the stunning B Street house B&B. The videos for each will be up soon.

Tomorrow, we ride at dawn. We have a long way to go to Las Vegas to make it in time for the Uncork’d event. As for Virginia City, you can bet your last silver dollar that we’ll be back and we’ll be writing more on this town soon.  In less than 24 hours this frontier town has branded our hearts. Tawny and I are already setting a course back here. The people here have made us feel like old friends in just a day.

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We encourage you to tell us any stories about Bonanza or Virginia City below in the comment section. We also want to announce the exciting news! We were just nominated as TripFilms film makers of the year for the annual Trippy’s awards.

You can check it out HERE, and vote for us HERE. We’d really appreciate the vote. We’re up for:

1.) Filmmaker of the Year

2.) LOL Award

3.) Destination Profile.

You can (and should feel free to) vote for all three.  We really appreciate all of your support.

Join us tomorrow for the harrowing ride south to Vegas!