So I'm wearing my USA Kilts Casual in Fraser tartan today for the drive across the Nevada desert....and sandals....

I laid over in Tonopah, Nevada last night and made the last leg to Carson City and the family gathering of cousins.

I'm a 4th generation miner. My great grandfather Archie Macdonald was a first generation Canadian. His father came over from Skye. Archie learned mining then moved down to the States working the mines.



This pic was taken in Idaho City, Colorado.

By 1880 he made the census rolls in Bodie, CA. So I'm gonna be driving by Bodie which is now a ghost town and California State Park. Very well preserved. Its only a 13 mile side road. 8,375 feet in the Sierra Nevadas.

1880 was Bodie's heyday...10,000 miners working the mines...saloons, dance halls, yee hah. So why not go see how my great grandfather lived back then.

Climbing up to Bodie a bit of snow started to fall....how bad can it be? Its JUNE!!



This is how bad it can be! Pic was taken this morning..JUNE 5th!!

And here's me, the ever prepared tourist in my PV Casual kilt and sandals in the SNOW....



I think the only reason folks didn't line up to ask if I was crazy was they were so fascinated by the snow. One lady did ask if I was cold in the sandals....yeah...I was....

The drive in and up to Bodie is beautiful. There were fields of lupines....I think that's what they were. Looked sort of like wild iris and were a blue/purple/lavender color.



Was just a brief time when the clouds let up enough to see a bit of the Eastern Sierras.



Made it in to Carson City finally. 761 miles and 15 hours on the road over two days for this olde man. Good to see family. My little brother surprised me and rode his Harley over from Sandy Eggo. Fun is tomorrow.

One second cousin kept saying, "I can't believe I have a cousin who wears a dress." Okay fine. We'll see what she has to say when I wear the Scott clan tartan tomorrow...that's our clan for the branches of cousins gathering.

Ron