Ghost Town: The Bumpy Road To Bodie
Stephen Worth says:
When I was very small, I had one of those horses on springs. I would jump on it and bounce around furiously while my Dad would urge me on, calling out to me to "Ride that horse down the bumpy road to Bodie!"Ghost Town: The Bumpy Road To BodieBefore I was born, my family had taken a trip to the High Sierras and my Dad and Mom never forgot the potholes they had to navigate their 56 Chevy station wagon over. It was a memory they spoke of often. When I got a little older, I got a chance to visit Bodie with them, navigating a slightly more modern Chevy station wagon over those same potholes. Bodie became a lasting part of my consciousness as well.
On my personal blog, Late Night Coffee Shops, I just posted a documentary on Bodie (and its nine inhabitants) from the mid-1950s. If you love the otherworldly feeling of stillness in places like this as much as I do, this video will make your day and fill your dreams with the beautiful sound of wind blowing through sun bleached boards.
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Not long age we stopped in Tombstone on our way to Bisbee. It was a nothing weekday, so quiet you could hear the spurs of the ghosts. Boot Hill cemetary was even creepier. OoooOOOOooooh!
Went back a few days later, on a big holiday. It was so cool! Lots of locals dress the part and act out shootings, robbings, and the notorious OK Corral shoot-out. Lots of shops and saloons and cool cowboy stuff.
We don't have a lot of history out West, but no matter where you're from, you'll feel the ghosts of history in Tombstone.
The thing that struck me about Tombstone was that it had all the problems we associate with modern cities (drugs, prostitution, gang warfare) except with even less distinction between the gangs and the law enforcement officers.
I wonder if costumed actors will reenact shoot-outs between the Bloods and the Crips in the streets of Los Angeles some day.
Funny; I know the daughter of the couple that created those horses on springs so long ago. Hope you still have it!
I love Bodie! We also went when I was young and kept going for years. There are 2 ways in now, one being the bumpy road of old and the other is paved for the majority of the trip. It is kept up by the park service and there are self guided tours. You can still find remains of the old saw mill on the other side of Mono lake.
Bodie's pretty cool. In fact, everything in and around that mountain range is killer. But, hey, we Calis are particular: it's the High Sierra. Never plural.
2 years ago on Memorial Day weekend I got to visit a mostly empty Bodie still covered in snow. Magical. Must now go find those pics.
The Maxwell House shows are priceless. I first went to Bodie in the late sixties, then with my own kids two or three years ago. The state currently has guided tours with rangers who live there.
What a tough life, in the dry Eastern Sierra above timberline. Houses just with board walls. It's windy, and you can imagine the winter wind howling right through the walls. A visit to Bodie will stay with you all your life.
My name is Bodie. I was named after Bodie. Thanks for posting this.