It’s been a whole week since I got home, and here, finally, is the last chapter of My Nevada Experience. We begin on Day 15 at the National Automobile Museum. And y’know, it’s places like this that make me re-consider my personal no-cameras-in-museums policy – there were several cars in here that I would love to have pictures of. Not only did they have early cars from the big manufacturers that most folks are still familiar with (Ford, Oldsmobile, etc.) and brands that I’m familiar with despite them having gone out of business before I was born (Studebaker, Packard, etc.), they also had several cars from makers I’d never even heard of! This included cars made by companies called Essex, Harvard, Thompson, and White (among others). Even more interesting was the car built by a company I *am* familiar with, but had no idea they’d ever marketed a car: Briggs & Stratton. That’s right, the lawnmower engine builder actually produced a VERY no-frills car they called the Briggs & Stratton Flyer. Truth be told, it looked more like one of those old Flexible Flyer sleds than a car. My favorite car, though, was this 1930’s concept car built by Chrysler. This thing could pass for the Batmobile in modern Batman movies. And there are SO MANY GAUGES. The gauges extend ALL the way across the dash, so that some of the functions can be monitored by the sidekick, I mean, passenger. The gauges included a barometer and an altimeter.

For lunch, I wandered across the street to Bertha Miranda’s. Not based on any recommendations; just because it was there. This turned out to be an excellent find! I got a ground beef chimichanga that was absolutely wonderful. Not surprisingly, it came with rice and beans. The beans were average, but the rice was quite flavorful. It’s rare for me to eat all the rice that comes with a Mexican dish, but I done et this stuff up!

After lunch, I went back to the car museum. I could easily have spent the whole day here, but for one thing: The information placard for each car is on the floor. The font size is large enough that I could read them with no vision-related problems, but shortly after lunch, my neck started cramping from all the looking down. I tried squatting, but that led to Neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension (feeling faint when rising to a standing position. I buzzed quickly through the galleries I had not yet seen. They include several race cars that were driven by Paul Newman, DeLoreans from the Back to the Future movies, and THE FRICKIN’ BLUESMOBILE! Well, one of them. There were actually 13 cars used as the Bluesmobile in the filming of The Blues Brothers.

Once I had finished at the museum, I wandered around town, doing a little shopping and a little reconnaissance for the photographing of the massive bridge I mentioned at the end of the previous post.

---

Day 16:

It seems I was right about the size of that bridge that’s been bewitching me. According to Wikipedia it’s called Galena Creek Bridge and is the largest “cathedral arch” bridge in the world! Completed in 2012, the bridge is over 1700 feet long and nearly 300 feet high. Here’s what the beast looks like:

---

That, my friends, was Nevada. From the Galena Creek Bridge, I made my way to the Reno airport and flew back home without causing an international incident for once. So long, and thanks for all the fish!