Today, we went to the Nugget Casino, got our Players Cards and free $3.00 each to play with. Evelyn won $36.60 with her free $3.00 and I lost all of mine in short order. What we really went there for was their 2 for 1 buffet with Prime Rib and all of the fixings. What a great meal. So, we left about $20.00 to the good and so we can go back and still be money ahead. Maybe next time we will try another casino and spend some of their money. There are 3 or 4 casinos in town, so we will be busy checking them all out.


There are so many interesting things about Death Valley that you do not know which to go see next.

The story of the 20 Mule team wagons is one that is very intriguing. The wagons were built to hold 10 ton of Borax and the two wagons and the water wagon that had to go along and the other equipment weighed a total of 36 tons. All pulled by 18 mules and 2 horses on the tongue. The photo of the wagons does not indicate the size, as the wheels are about 7 feet high and probably 10 inches wide at the rim. It was a 165 mile, one way, trip to the rail head from the mine in Death Valley. It took 10 days to make the trip. There were three men that went on the trip, a driver and two men to operate the brakes on the ore wagons. You can only imagine what strength it took to hold back 36 tons when going down a grade.

You can read more details on the plaque dedicated to the Old Harmony Borax Works.