I know it has been a very long time since my first post, and I promised that I would try to go and walk about the desert taking pictures of the random things and garbage that people leave around the outskirts here in Las Vegas, NV. Unfortunately, because of the amount of hours I work and the way my work schedule is laid out I don’t get much time to do exactly everything that I really want to. When the weekends roll around I really have to micromanage my time and what I choose to do with it.
Well…
As of now I am on vacation and one of the things I decided to do on my first day (which was two or three days ago, or whenever you are reading this) was to do a bit of traveling and adventure. I decided to make my way two hours and a hundred and something miles from Vegas to Goldfield, NV. A small town that was once a boomtown between the 1900’s and the 1940’s from gold that was produced from its mines.
I know it isn’t cool to ever admit that you went anywhere with your own mother, but I really don’t care. My mom joined me for this trip and we had some fun on our way to Goldfield, rummaging through the town, traveling to Rhyolite, and on the way back. Yeah, it would’ve been cool to have some friends accompany us, but everyone was busy plus this was a rather planned within the last few weeks.
I also decided on the way back that we would make a stop in Rhyolite. Which is another ghost town here in Nevada.
The credit for the idea to make the trek to Goldfield is credited with one of my clients who took a trip there with her mom and told me about everything she had seen on her trip up there. So if that person ever reads this; I thank you.
If you want complete info on the town check out the various links that I will post below at the end of this article. As well as information on Rhyolite
But first..
Let’s look at this!
The Desert Crapper
I didn’t want to disappoint anyone who knows me for writing about the various debris, furniture, and garbage that I stumble upon while traveling the outskirts of town close to the desert. I noticed this gem when one of the passengers in my van started laughing hysterically, when I looked in the direction of what they were pointing at I noticed that someone had left a perfectly unused, brand new, shining in the middle of the sand like a white gem toilet.
It looked so majestic I had to snap a picture of it!
I wasn’t about to inquire, nor investigate, whether or not someone had actually made the attempt to use it.
Goldfield
(Pamphlets and literature courtesy of the nice lady at The General Store. I am sorry I forgot your name!)
One of the first things I noticed when we arrived in the town of Goldfield is that it was really small. If you didn’t have a GPS or paid attention to the signs along the road you would literally miss. I always make sure to have my GPS handy or if the GPS craps out or freezes I resort to using my phone.
At first we weren’t sure where we were allowed to park and if parking anywhere would get us in trouble so we. Yeah, there isn’t much for paved parking lots or sidewalks other than the road, but I would rather be safe along with not wanting to be another rude out-of-towner.
Goldfield Gift Shop
The first place my mom and I decided to step into was the Goldfield Gift Shop. This place was cool! They had the usual souvenirs that is common to a gift shop but the nice thing was that their stock of antiques outweighed everything else. From knick-knacks to toys to old radios, etc. What was really cool was in another room that was sectioned off by a pair of windowed sliding doors was a recreation of the town of Goldfield with train models, a paper model of the town on another table. The various model sections even had plaques that gave information about a that particular area.
This picture was taken inside the Goldfield courthouse when we needed to find a place so we could use the restroom. I would’ve taken more pictures but I really wasn’t too sure since I didn’t want to go crazy without asking someone’s permission.
I’m not sure what the leather items in this display case are supposed to be but I thought they looked pretty interesting.
If I have it correct, this is a High School that was built in 1907. It was across the way from the courthouse.
One of the few buildings that was still in good condition…I think! It was pretty neat to see this old fire station along with its fire truck on the side of the building.
Goldfield Chamber of Commerce and Historical Society
When I first saw these two station platforms/entryways (I really wasn’t sure which they were) they reminded me of something out of the Fallout video games. I wondered whether super mutants would come out of nowhere or raiders.
Something that we noticed throughout the town of Goldfield that was kind of common was to see certain stores or buildings that were for sale. It kind of bummed me out because I feel at odds when I see building that is still standing, in really good condition with no life moving about it. Especially when it is a store.
A permanently closed bank. Something that would make Mojo Nixon pretty happy about.
For some reason when I snapped this picture the book To Kill A Mockingbird ran through my head. I don’t know why, it just did.
For this who are familiar with what I write about; this pic kind of reminds me of some of the ones I have taken during my treks through the desert in Vegas.
The International Car Forest Of The Last Church
Situated on the east side of Goldfield is The International Car Forest Of The Last Church or just The International Car Forest as it was described to me. This is where dead cars and other types of vehicles come to put their heads in the sand.
Various bikes, motorbikes, and scooters.
The skull on this truck furthered the effect of feeling like I was in one of the Fallout games.
Dude! Peas and carrots!
My car trying to look badass as if Steve McQueen himself was racing through the car forest.
This headstone was in the middle of the car forest. I made sure not to walk on top of the mound in front of it so as not to be disrespectful. It was a bit hard to read the final year on this headstone as it was either damaged by someone or whittled away by the elements.
If that dude in the mask with the creepy voice from The Road Warrior steps out I am not hesitating to run him over.
They even had the kitchen sink.
These next set of pictures were taken when we went back in to town and stopped at The General Store. Unfortunately we didn’t snap any pictures of the store itself, but we did get some of these creative cars outside. When we went in to check out The General Store we were greeted by the proprietor who was really nice, very funny, and knew a LOT about the town. She has a really quick sense of humor that if you are not paying attention will go completely over your head because of how fast and sharp her wit is. When she was talking with my mom and she started talking about what she was doing and was injecting a lot of humor left and right I had to stop what I was doing because I knew I was about to witness something awesome.
My best analogy I could come up with to describer her is; if you have ever seen the English version of the old anime Tenchi (any of the older series) she talks like the character Washu. Her voice, wit, and humor was exactly like that character. It was odd but very cool. I did enjoy getting to talk with her myself, getting questions answered, and just soaking as much of the information she was telling me. It was cool to see someone light up and shine when they are given the chance to talk about something they know very well. She would say some funny things that if you didn’t catch it right away you would end doing a double take to make sure you heard her correctly.
I wish I could repeat verbatim the joke she made about “B.S.” and “Business Service” that released to what she does, but I know full well I could never do it justice.
After this awesome experience we decided to end our visit to Goldfield there because we felt nothing else could top it.So it was on to Rhyolite.
By the way. If you do plan on visiting Goldfield; the people are really cool and very nice, my best advice would to be as cordial and polite as possible because who knows what these people have put up with from an out-of-towner who has been rude.
Someday I will have to go back up and mill about taking more pictures of the various things that we missed.
When you come up the road that leads to Rhyolite, West of Beatty, you are greeted by the sight of the above statue. This isn’t my first time coming to the ghost town and when I first came up here I had to ask one of my friends who travelled up with me if I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, her answer was a resounding yes.
If you are traveling with kids you are probably going to be wondering why they are giggling and snickering before you look ahead and see why for yourself.
Shoe tree
I have no idea what the hell this thing is or supposed to be but it fascinated me the first time I came up to Rhyolite with some friends.
The Pink Floyd song about a bike came to mind when I snapped this photo.
A lot of the art, along with the pink, blocky lady was made by the same artist. Every time I come up this way there is always a new sculpture or piece on display.
This is the glass bottle house. The way it was explained to me that years ago a man built a house out of the various glass beer or liquor bottles laying around. It is actually fenced off nowadays because the house is pretty delicate.
The guy also made model of the town during the time he was living here.
After Rhyolite we decided to head home before it got too late, and then we ended up getting stuck in Pahrump along the way because of the construction they were doing in the street. Although we weren’t stuck for too long.
I hope you enjoyed this latest post. Below are some links to information about both of these towns that we visited.
Goldfield Links
Wikipedia
Classic Nevada
Rhyolite Links
Wikipedia
Ghost Town Gallery
National Park Service
Across The Desert Rim 