[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]Our stop for lunch and shopping on our own would be in the charming little burg of Wallace.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]We had been given a list of suggested places to have lunch, such as this one --- which was closed.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]As it turns out, several places on the list were closed. But we survived, and shopped through little antique stores, and came to the town's big thing:[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]My sister seemed especially excited about it. It was a cute little place.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]You could shop for souvenirs, or take a tour of the actual brothel quarters, upstairs.... where cameras were, unfortunately, off limits.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]My sister was interested in one particular T-shirt.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]I personally thought Ms. Piggy and the books were fascinating.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]But it was the information gathered on the tour that was fascinating. Such as the fact that the women were supposed to 'entertain' 40-50 men PER NIGHT! (Sierra suddenly felt very tired.) And that, even in the late 1800s, they were given medical exams weekly to check for diseases. They worked for 3 weeks straight, then took a week off, and were only allowed to work there for 6 years.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff] There was also a list of services provided on a chalk board, with prices. The most expensive thing on the menu was the offer of a bubble bath. According to the guide, these prostitutes made $100,000 a YEAR, and the madame, Ginger, made $250,000. That's why they were allowed to stay in the city for so long, because the business built schools and soup kitchens, etc., and greased the pockets of local law enforcement. It was an operating brothel until 1988! [/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]After that eye-opening experience and lunch, my sister headed back to the condos on her bike. I elected to ride back in the sag wagon, because I was so exhausted from the morning's ride, and my arthritic knees were hurting....[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]... What I didn't realize was that the ride back to the condo was DOWNHILL!! I'd evidently brought the wrong wet-weather clothes, because I'd been miserably cold and damp all morning, and thought that the reason the ride was so hard for me was because I was so out of shape and under-trained. I hadn't even realized that, in actuality, it was because the entire way was a gradual slope uphill, with a mild head-wind. So if I'd been more hardy, I could have enjoyed another afternoon going downhill. Realizing that was pretty aggravating, until the guide pointed out that, for me to not realize the ride was uphill, I was a stronger biker than I thought, and was really building muscle. (At least I like that spin on it!)[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]So I was a little disappointed about missing the downhill part of the trail that day. [/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]But when we got to the condo, a[/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff] a friendly wave from our 85-year-old bike sister awaited us....[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]... as well as the view from the roof-top hot tub. [/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]The clouds were clearing, the warm water soothed aching muscles, and it was the end to another delightful day. [/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]We had been given a list of suggested places to have lunch, such as this one --- which was closed.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]As it turns out, several places on the list were closed. But we survived, and shopped through little antique stores, and came to the town's big thing:[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]My sister seemed especially excited about it. It was a cute little place.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]You could shop for souvenirs, or take a tour of the actual brothel quarters, upstairs.... where cameras were, unfortunately, off limits.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]My sister was interested in one particular T-shirt.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]I personally thought Ms. Piggy and the books were fascinating.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]But it was the information gathered on the tour that was fascinating. Such as the fact that the women were supposed to 'entertain' 40-50 men PER NIGHT! (Sierra suddenly felt very tired.) And that, even in the late 1800s, they were given medical exams weekly to check for diseases. They worked for 3 weeks straight, then took a week off, and were only allowed to work there for 6 years.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff] There was also a list of services provided on a chalk board, with prices. The most expensive thing on the menu was the offer of a bubble bath. According to the guide, these prostitutes made $100,000 a YEAR, and the madame, Ginger, made $250,000. That's why they were allowed to stay in the city for so long, because the business built schools and soup kitchens, etc., and greased the pockets of local law enforcement. It was an operating brothel until 1988! [/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]After that eye-opening experience and lunch, my sister headed back to the condos on her bike. I elected to ride back in the sag wagon, because I was so exhausted from the morning's ride, and my arthritic knees were hurting....[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]... What I didn't realize was that the ride back to the condo was DOWNHILL!! I'd evidently brought the wrong wet-weather clothes, because I'd been miserably cold and damp all morning, and thought that the reason the ride was so hard for me was because I was so out of shape and under-trained. I hadn't even realized that, in actuality, it was because the entire way was a gradual slope uphill, with a mild head-wind. So if I'd been more hardy, I could have enjoyed another afternoon going downhill. Realizing that was pretty aggravating, until the guide pointed out that, for me to not realize the ride was uphill, I was a stronger biker than I thought, and was really building muscle. (At least I like that spin on it!)[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]So I was a little disappointed about missing the downhill part of the trail that day. [/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]But when we got to the condo, a[/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff] a friendly wave from our 85-year-old bike sister awaited us....[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]... as well as the view from the roof-top hot tub. [/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]The clouds were clearing, the warm water soothed aching muscles, and it was the end to another delightful day. [/COLOR][/SIZE]
