Summer Adventure 2011: Authentic Stagecoach Ride

This was my Adventure du Jour: an authentic stagecoach ride with  TNT Stagelines in Virginia City, NV.  It only lasted a couple of minutes but it was both more exciting and scarier than I thought it would be.  Cowboy Gary gets those pretty painted ponies up to 24MPH just inches from a sheer drop-off into the canyon there.

This is the last authentic stagecoach ride in the world, says Gary... the word "authentic" being key.  Hollywood westerns have romanticized stagecoach rides as calm and classy.  But the original stagecoaches rode hard and fast over bumpy terrain for days at a time with stops every 8-10 miles to change horses.  Sure, they didn't go 24MPH all that time, says Gary.  Only if "the bad guys were chasing them."