anaconda #2 08/19/08

We found a nice RV campground on the south side of Washoe Park where there were electrical and water hook-ups and nice bathroom facilities for just $20 a night. The weather was great for the three days and nights we were there; it rained one night with lots of thunder and lightening. After parking the trailer we were free to drive around. The town really hasnt done much in modernization. All the old buildings and neighborhoods are the same, just lots older. After a check on all the houses I lived in, I found them to be in good repair, but not changed. The city Common has been planted in grass, a live pine is permanently planted in the center. It is still flooded in the winter for ice skating, though. The Washoe Theatre has been re-vitalized, it is showing movies again. It has quite a history and is well-known for the gold-leaf from the 1920's. The library is one to die for. Compared to the dinky one we have in Smithfield, it is a wonderful 3-story building on 1/4 of a city block. The county courthouse around the corner form my home is still in use. My piano teacher's house is the same as it was way back when. Our old back yard is virtually gone. The big cottonwood tree was taken down years ago, and the garage was replaced by a really big building that takes up most of the yard. The old Victorian house on lower Hickory has been taken care of, and actually looks better than it has for a long time. The grade school across the street (where I stuck my tongue on the metal gate, and hit the wall when the swing broke) is all boarded up. It was old when I attended it. The high school looks old and faded, the hospital where Lori was born is now a business building for many different companies. On our way out of town we took a few detours. We tried to find the ski hill, but it has been replaced by a new ski area in the vicinity. I was happy to find Echo Lake. Driving past Silver Lake and Georgetown Lake, we headed for Phillipsburg. While stopped for a few minutes for construction, I jumped out and grabbed a good rock for my garden. It's shale. Downtown Phillipsburg has become a tourist place, with many little shops. One of them is a great big candy store with hundreds of types of candies, from fudge of all flavors to salt water taffy to "old fashioned candies you had when you were a kid." We had lunch at a 50's restaurant. (I had a pasty! pronounced pass-tee) We found the jail where I went with my dad and the Baptist minister. When I was just 11, we went fishing and the sheriff was waiting for us when we got back to our car. Apparently the place we went had been posted recently (then), and now it was illegal (trespassing). Well, the sheriff's living quarters were in one half of the building, the jail on the other side. I was taken to the living quarters where the jailer's wife gave me the funny papers and a cup of hot chocolate. It was the middle of July, I wasnt hungry, and I certainly wasnt going to cooperate while my daddy was in jail! After what seemed an eternity (probably 30 minutes) we were free to leave. It was never spoken of again. The sheriff brought out an old book that we searched, hoping to find a record of the arrest. On the third time through, Jay found an entry: 2 Anaconda fishermen. Fishing without permission. Fined $15 each. I didnt get fined. He made a copy of the page for me. I can use this for the Two Truths and a Lie!