Lady Bikers and Spinning Wool, Friday, 6/27/14 and Saturday, 6/28/14

Friday, June 27, 2014

Today’s weather was a repeat of yesterday, and the train is still broke down.  Chuck worked at the Virginia City depot and did $4.00 worth of business all day long.   

Cindy worked at the Nevada City museum, and it is always busier there.  At about 4:00 p.m. the sky opened up with a torrential rain shower and two older ladies came inside the building to take shelter.  They are riding the Trans Am Bike Trail (with a few minor alterations) like the man you read about yesterday.  However, they are not in the actual race.   

Here is the amazing and inspirational part about these two ladies:  Grandmother Coreen Frasier will be celebrating her 71^st birthday in few days, and her friend and riding partner is 67 year old great grandmother Linda Schuck.  They both live in Arkansas and flew to Portland, Oregon to start their great adventure on June 2.  They have special suitcases which hold their fold up bicycles to facilitate traveling.  Coreen’s brother lives in Washington, D.C., so after arriving in Portland they shipped their bike cases to him.   When the weather is nice, they set up their tents at night in campgrounds along the route.  If the weather is nasty, like today, they pay for the luxury of staying in a hotel.  They expect to arrive in Washington, D.C. sometime about the end of August at which time they will collect their bike cases from Coreen’s brother and fly home to Arkansas.  Wow—what a summer!   

Chuck closed up the Virginia City depot a little early and went to Nevada City to lock up the buildings while Cindy prepared the bank deposit.  While he was there he encountered an ancient old couple dancing in the music hall.  He let them finish their dance before closing up the building and they were so appreciative they gave him a $5.00 tip which he put into the preservation donation box. 

Tonight all the inn mates were invited to Duel’s house for a cook out.  As we have mentioned before, Duel’s dad, Dan Thyer, is in charge of the living history program at Nevada City and his mom is a living history interpreter on the weekends.  They live in a beautiful house just east across the mountains near Ennis.  The house has high ceilings and large picture windows which offer spectacular views of the surrounding mountains.  The whole family is very crafty and talented and the house was filled with examples of their creativity.  Dan and Duel made the beds, as well as some assorted tables and benches.  There was a fascinating coffee table made with a base of moose antlers.   After eating a great meal, we played a few rounds of Bragg before calling it a night. 

Linda and Coreen

 

 

Saturday, June 28, 2014

We woke up to more cold and rainy weather.  Chuck was scheduled to work on the train today, but since the train is still broke down he got the day off. 

Cindy worked at Nevada City and the morning was really slow and boring.  Chuck showed up with new inn mate Elise at about 11:00 a.m.  He escorted her around Nevada City and introduced her to many of the living history interpreters.  Her collections job is 40 hours per week Monday through Thursday, so she gets a long weekend every week.  Therefore, she has already been recruited to volunteer her services in living history and she is being outfitted with appropriate clothing.  She spent some time with the lady who was demonstrating spinning, and she is going to become the spinning apprentice.  Today she spun wool into yarn using a large spinning wheel and also a drop spindle.  She will also be trained on how to dye the yarn using natural plant coloring.