Pacific Zone Fall Rally at Gold Point, NV
October 4 – 7, 2012

Wagon Masters: Bob and Hedy Downing, Joe and Leah Clark,
With Advice and Assistance from Dave and Bev Stomps

Thirty-four persons in seventeen rigs and one cabin participated in this interesting and educational rally. Many came several days early to secure hook-ups, (everyone who wanted was able to connect to electricity), to socialize, to explore, and to reminisce about past “Rock Roller” adventures. Dave Stomps and Keith Dindinger led us on a couple of “pre-rally” four-wheel drive runs to old railroads and mines. We saw beautiful wild horses, mules and donkeys, and collected old railroad spikes. The weather was perfect for the whole rally.

Herb Robins, aka Sheriff Stone, has been dedicated for years to restoring the history and buildings of this Ghost Town. He, along with our own Dave Stomps, shared a wealth of knowledge about the mining history, culture, and geology of the surrounding area. For more information, go to www.goldpointghosttown.com.

The rally began on Thursday with pot-luck Heavy Hors d’ Oeuvres. Wine and beer and nibbles were available each evening for Happy Hour. The Gold Point Saloon was open for other drinks. A campfire was enjoyed each evening.

On Friday we went on a run to Beatty and Rhyolite, visiting railroads built from 1905-1907. We feasted on Herb’s tri-tip dinner with all the trimmings and deserts.

Saturday began with Herb’s breakfast of bacon, sausage, potatoes, and eggs. Afterwards, we arranged car-pooling to visit the Hard Luck Mine Castle. Randy Johnston has been building this castle for about twelve years to house two large pipe organs. What he has done is just amazing! He uses no blue prints and all power is from wind and solar. Water is trucked in. Besides the technology, the artistic design is fantastic. We came back to Herb’s succulent steak dinner. After dinner we watched a video on the railroad history of the area.

On Sunday morning Herb served his famous chicken fried steak. Then Herb took us on a little walking tour of Gold Point. He showed us the original post office and other buildings, and we saw how he has been restoring the miner’s cabins. That evening we stuffed on a RVF Pot Luck dinner.

Dave made us his famous “Beer Batter” Pancakes for our get-away breakfast on Monday morning. We can’t thank Herb, Dave, and Keith enough for all they did to make this a memorable rally. Until we meet again at the next rally!