All Around Nevada

Truckee River Bike Path

admin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:44:50 +0000

The Truckee River Bike Path, a scenic recreational destination for both bikes and pedestrians, has segments beginning at Mayberry Park. It runs without break from west of Chrissie Caughlin Park eastward along the Truckee River through downtown Reno and all the way to the eastern end of the city of Sparks, past Vista Blvd. This trail is approximately 12 miles in length, and passes many parks and recreational areas. It goes along the river through downtown Reno, through industrial areas, wetlands and marshes. There are numerous places to enter or exit the trail along the route. This VR tour was photographed in 2003 for the Reno Gazette Journal website.

Click on any of the 26 green targets to enter a virtual-reality view of the Truckee River Bike Path at that location. To view any environment full screen click the button at the right of the toolbar in the image. Map courtesy Reno Gazette Journal.

Tropical Paradise

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:11:34 +0000

This is not nearly Nevada. But it is the first virtual-reality environment I created, back in 1997. This five-node tour of The Baths on Virgin Gorda will even take you on a dive to the coral reef. When first made in QuickTime VR (QTVR), it also include two “virtual fish,” but these seem to have fled the scene now that it’s been converted to Flash. The project won the first prize in Apple’s 1998 QTVR competition. I won a fine film camera, a Nikon SLR, which I used for a year before I dove into digital.

To view full screen click the button at the bottom of the image.

The Seasons Change Suddenly, 10/5/11

admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:30:26 +0000

Wasn’t it just last weekend that it was too hot to do the yard work? Now we wake up to snow on the mountains, and need to put on the fall jacket.

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The Ruby Pipeline East of Winnemucca

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:53:47 +0000

The swath of the Ruby Pipeline appears from over the hills and then heads west across the valley.

The Virginia City Coach

admin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:47:47 +0000

Click the hotspot to enter.
Once the rolling home of eccentric writers Lucius Beebe and his partner Charles Clegg, the Virginia City railcar began its life in 1928 as the Pullman car Crystal Peak. After its purchase by Clegg in 1954 the car was redone in “Venetian Renaissance Baroque” style by a Hollywood set designer. Antique furnishings valued at $375,000 were imported from Europe for the interior. More information may be found at the official website. While making these photographs we were treated to a ride on the car’s observation platform while it was turned around in the Union Pacific’s Sparks rail yard. The video can be seen here.

The Middlegate Shoe Tree

admin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 02:51:40 +0000

Just east of the quirky roadhouse known as Middlegate Station, a 70′ tall shoe-bedecked cottonwood tree on the side of Highway 50 was the king of sole. It was, that is, until it was cut down by vandals at the start of 2011. Will it rise again?

Carson City Mint (Nevada State Museum)

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:20:58 +0000

Click on the doorway to enter and view the coin press.
Treasury architect Alfred Mullett designed the U.S. Mint in Carson City, which opened in 1869. Locating a mint in a remote location was extraordinary, but justified by the Comstock’s large deposits of gold and silver. Opposite the coin press is a vintage vault. Iron shutters provided security, barring potential thieves drawn to the millions of dollars in gold and silver that passed through the facility. The last coinage was stamped at the Carson City Mint in 1893. The Mint building reopened as the Nevada State Museum in October 1941. (Ron James)

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Moonlite Bunny Ranch

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 06:03:28 +0000

Known on late-night HBO’s reality television series as the Cathouse, the Moonlight Bunny Ranch is located at 69 Moonlite Road in the small community of Mound House, east of Carson City. This establishment is one of four in the tiny town, where the only other major industry is lead shot manufacturing. Brothels have been winked at in Nevada for 150 years; the institutions have been legal and regulated since 1971 in a number of Nevada counties.

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Click here to see the location in Google Maps

Rhyolite’s Last Supper

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:53:01 +0000

Just beyond the edge of the ghostly walls of the abandoned mining town of Rhyolite, which itself totters on the edge of Nevada and California, sits the Goldwell Open Air Museum. The centerpiece of this outdoor sculpture garden is The Last Supper, created by Belgian artist Albert Szukalski (1945 – 2000) in 1984. Other artworks created by some of his Belgian colleagues stand nearby in perfect harmony with the desert environment.

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Central Nevada Museum

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:47:37 +0000

Tonopah’s Central Nevada Museum, founded in 1981 by the Central Nevada Historical Society, features an outdoor exhibit which includes an old west town where visitors can explore miners’ cabins, a saloon, a blacksmith shop, the railroad yard. There is also a display of early mining equipment, with a 10 stamp mill, ore cars, and other equipment. Inside the museum, exhibits focus upon Tonopah’s role as “Queen of the Silver Camps”, as well as other central Nevada boomtowns. There are also exhibits on the area’s Native American and natural history.

To view full screen click the button at the right of the toolbar in the image.

Click here to see the location in Google Maps.