Last Work Day and Goodbye Virginia City, Tuesday, 9/2/14 and Wednesday, 9/3/14

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

It was nice weather again today for our last day of work in Montana.  Chuck worked on the train, and Cindy worked at the gold panning operation.   A busload of train enthusiasts from Pennsylvania showed up today and rode the train and panned for gold.  Half of them rode the train while half of them panned for gold and then they switched around.  Cindy lined up all the pans we own and put dirt in them along with tweezers and vials, so she was ready for the onslaught.   

The last train run was at 4:00 p.m. today, so Chuck went to help Cindy clean out the troughs and close up for the season as this was the last day for gold panning.  The Nevada City museum will remain open until September 14^th, and the train will run on the weekends through that date.  

Elise got back from her trip to Seattle last night at 1:00 a.m., and she was napping when we got home at 5:30 p.m.  We woke her up and took her to Ennis with us to get pizza one last time.  She and the inn mates had a great trip to Seattle and she showed us some pictures including one she took of the famous Space Needle.  We got back to the Bonanza Inn at 7:00 p.m. and got the truck loaded and ready to go by 9:30 p.m. 

 

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

We left the Bonanza Inn this morning at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at the Ford dealership in Helena about 8:45 a.m.  We had the back of the truck loaded down with weather proof items and the back seat was full of suitcases and other items that should not get wet.  In order for the mechanic to work on the seat heaters, we had to unload the back seat and put everything into the truck bed.  Chuck warned the service representative that we had moved all our possessions to the back and asked that he please make sure to keep the truck inside in case it rained before we took possession.  We then took the dealer’s shuttle van to a shopping complex and wandered around for a while.  We got a call that the truck was almost ready, so we called for the shuttle and stood in the cold wind waiting for a ride.  (It has been in the forties and fifties all day.)   When we returned to pick up the truck, the mechanic came in all sheepishly and said he was so sorry but he had run the truck through the automatic car wash and didn’t realize the back was full of our belongings.  Oh my gosh!!!!  Our suitcases are fabric soft siders and they were sopping wet as well as a cardboard box.  There was also an open topped bag full of toiletry items and there was about an inch of water in the bottom of the bag, and the contents were a mess.   We left all the stuff in the back of the truck hoping it would dry out some, and then we drove to a restaurant and ate lunch.   

At 12:30 p.m. the suitcases were somewhat dry, so we put them in the front and headed north.  At 4:00 p.m., we checked into a hotel in Browning, Montana which is just east of Glacier National Park.   We plan to drive through the park tomorrow.

Goodbye Virginia City