Blood, History and Logan

This morning John and I drove into Carson City for a 9 a.m. appointment at Quest Labs for a blood draw. Then we went to the Nevada State Museum which is partially located in the old U.S. Mint building. The Mint only functioned in Carson City from 1870 to 1893, but they still have one stamping machine that they operate every Friday morning. You can buy the minted coins in the gift shop.

There was an interesting display of old slot machines, most of them invented by Charles Fey, "The Thomas Edison of Slot Machines." He differed from Edison, though. The only thing he got a patent on was the coin-operated scale on display.

I enjoyed the sign they had on display. Looks like it was from the 1950s.

Back to camp by noon then we left again at 2:30 with the Wards and Ralph and Sharon. We went to Claim Jumper in Reno, had a late lunch/early dinner (linner?) and were at the Bartley Ranch Regional Park by 5:30. Music was by HomeMade Jam, a great bluegrass group.

Each night you are handed a card to fill out that is used for a prize drawing at intermission. Young Chautauquans come by to collect the cards before the performances start. A third grader named Logan hit our row repeatedly and John told him to be sure his card was the winner. Each time Logan came by John reminded him. Believe it or not, John won a Reno Chautauqua ball cap. We enjoyed watching Logan as he did his job with great enthusiasm.

The presenters tonight portrayed P.T. Barnum and William F. Cody. The Adult Chautauqua theme is “Public Legends, Private Lives.” What is interesting is how much research they have done on the character to enable them to answer far ranging audience questions. One question Buffalo Bill couldn’t answer was how much it cost to send a letter by Pony Express. He had been a Pony Express rider at age 16. Amazingly, I was able to answer it because I had seen the information in the State Museum this morning. $5 for one ounce. Guess postage rates aren’t so bad today by comparison.