sight – Catching Marbles

I slept at a rest stop in Tonopah, which looks creepy at night but is actually very nice during the day. I got up and fed the pigeons which came out of nowhere. There was also three doves too busy beating the crap out of each other to get any of the stale bread I threw to them. Little sparrows would often sprint by and snatch something from the pigeons. I was having a lot of fun that morning.

However, when I drove away I realized how odd a place Tonopah really was. Half the town was boarded up, or more of it really. In all of main street the only business still running was a tour guide’s office to go on a mule-drawn silver mine tour. Slightly up the road was the strangest looking McDonald’s I had ever seen. The bathrooms were imported from a post apocalyptic vision. Although it did have a toilet that flushed everything else in the bathroom appeared to be a prop. The sink was clogged, the soap was missing, and blow dryer had wheezed it’s last long before I got there. Just as well, who needs to wash their hands after a toilet paper-less experience in a dingy McDonald’s bathroom anyway?

But the bathrooms weren’t the crowning jewel of this place. No, that was the swarm of people. At ten in the morning this joint was hoppin’! Sooo many people! In fact I think some of the children I spotted at Joshua tree were here – either in the flesh or in the literally dozens of missing person posters hanging on every wall. Made one wonder what was in the burgers…. Quick Batman! Back to the Jeep!

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!

Congress Bridge is the home to the largest urban bat community in the world and every night four and a half million of the little beasties come flying out to fetch dinner. I battled the sun trying to get there before the big event. I parked a half mile away believing this was such an attraction there couldn’t possibly be any place closer. As it turns out there is a parking lot right next to the bridge that is pretty much for the bat people who gather every night. You have to get there early though because it was full.

I was thrilled to see people of all types walking towards the bridge and gathering both on the bridge and under it in a little park. I went under it and picked a spot on the grass to sit and wait. As dawn drew in a handful of bats, maybe 20 or so all together, started to file out one at a time, swooping down towards the crowd. After a few more bats came out the crowd suddenly got up and left. I wanted to stay and keep watching because the cacophony of squeaking was still overwhelming. More people left until there were perhaps ten people under the bridge still. I’d been having trouble with the camera which didn’t like the night photography. I got up to take a closer look and walked to the end of the bridge… now this is where all the action is! If you go to watch the bats go to the fence bordering the water. The bats were coming out of that little area like water, thousands of them swooping by in seconds. The people above this one particular location were also getting a show, and the only people left on the bridge. We walked up there and watched awhile too. It was amazing. I can’t believe how many of the little boogers were still pouring out. It made me so happy to watch them. I didn’t really think I’d get that much of a kick out of it but how cool is that, that these bats are living, in the millions, under a bridge, in the middle of a huge city, and people are gathering in support of them? It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I was practically skipping back to the car.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!

Tag: sight

Tonopah Nevada

Congress Bat Bridge – Austin Texas