Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie

And now my comrades all are gone;
Naught remains to toast.
They have left me here in my misery,
Like some poor wandering ghost.

On Friday morning, we joined Gramma, Grampa and my sister’s family (staying nearby in June Lake) and headed up to Bodie State Historic Park. Bodie is literally in the middle of nowhere, up a dirt road, north east of Lee Vining near the Nevada border. But it is so worth it! Only about 5 percent of the buildings remain from when it was a booming mine town of the 1880’s. Among them are a church and a store, and several homes, complete with furniture left behind. The twins became junior rangers, after running around the park after clues and answering questions to complete their task. Also still standing is the Hydroelectric building and power substation. We learned that the first motor to be operated over long distance power lines was initiated in Bodie in 1892, and many of the lines and poles still stand (in a straight line, as it was thought electricity couldn’t turn corners).
In the museum, Mikaela found the Bodie book of curses, which recorded several ghost stories and curses meant for those who desecrated or stole from Bodie. Bodie had quite a reputation in its heyday of being a den of wild, wicked men, and murders were daily and common. The morgue was still there, complete inside with caskets left from long ago.
We thoroughly enjoyed Bodie, and the views of the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains as we returned to Lee Vining.