Shari's Ranch Whorehouse Brothel

When we were in staying in Parump, Nevada friends and us went to Shari's Ranch Brothel Whorehouse and we took a tour (they offer free public tours to help educate the public), this is a very interesting and different tour.

From the outside the ranch is very unpretentious but inside it is very luxurious. This is a legal, high class brothel and each lady is an independent operator. The ladies get 50% of the fee and each transaction is negotiated individually with the ladies. It is a very lucrative business, the ladies work a maximum of 6 months, and make $500,000-750,000 a year. There are 24 ladies most of the time, with 18-20 in the summer. They work a maximum of 3 weeks and then leave for awhile before they come back. The lady who gave us the tour said she usually only has one customer a night and is going to university taking a degree, and this is how she is paying for it. There are men, women, and couples that use their services. They provide complimentary limousine rides from LasVegas.

Jacuzzi Rooms
They each have their own private rooms and there are private areas for them with dining room, lounge, etc. There are public rooms they can use with there clients, including a nice cozy dining room. They have 2 jacuzzi rooms, one is a NASCAR theme and one in Budweiser theme. The minimum cost to use these rooms is $500 and there is no sex allowed in the jacuzzi rooms. There is another room with a hot tub and bubble machine where sex is allowed. The brothel is open 24 hours a day.

Theme Bungalows

There are 4 luxurious theme bungalows each are 800 sq. ft, include fireplaces, stereo, bar, jacuzzi tubs, costumes appropriate for the theme, and meals. 1. Romantic: with Roman fountain, and Roman accents, 2. Safari: includes animal prints, mosquito netting on bed and plush faux animal rugs, 3. King Arthur: sword in a stone, and treasured "crown Jewels" 4. Disco-includes round bed, disco lights and wild colors. They are based on time and start at $5,000 and go up to $40,000 for one night (not for the poor.

Main lounge
This is where everyone comes when they enter the brothel, and at any time a line up can be called where all the ladies have about 16 minutes to be ready and show up in the line up for the customer to pick out the lady or ladies he wants.

S & M Room
There is an S & M (sado-masochistic) room, minimum cost $4,000. The room has brick walls with chains and restraints, there is a large chair with chains and restraints. Lots of things like paddles, and a stage with a pole. To use this room use have to hire 2 ladies, one is submissive or dominant and the other one is an observer. There is a code word agreed upon before they start and when the code word is used either by the lady or client the service is over. They do not allow beatings that cause bleeding. There are microphones in the room so that the manager can listen if she thinks there is a problem. There is 24 hour security and panic buttons in all the rooms. They have not had to use the panic buttons but test them monthly.

Medical
All the ladies are tested medically in Las Vegas every time before they come to the ranch and have to be clean with no STD or HIV. They have 24 hour medical care available and the ladies are checked physically weekly. Condoms are compulsory for everyone. The ladies check the clients physically before any encounter and if there is any kind of blemish or sore the contract is over. Since the ranch started in the 70's there have never been any ladies with STD or HIV. They have people come from other brothels all over the world to see how their operation is run to maintain a 100% disease free environment.

Laundry & Cleaning
They have commercial laundry facilities and before any encounter the ladies get a package with clean sheets, towels, and plastic container for condoms. The put the sheets on the beds and cover their own bedding. All the couches are leather and cleaned and sanitized. They have cleaning staff and everything is very clean.

Ladies
They have ladies from all over the world, Russia, Japan, Thailand, etc. They have 300 ladies on contract at one time have interviews weekly by the manager for new ladies. If they are from a long distance she does the interview by phone. They have be beautiful, but also smiling, pleasant, and a good sense of humour and good personality. All the ladies sign confidentiality agreements and they never give out names of clients. They get customers from all over the world, including rich, famous, and royalty, obviously most are quite well off, although some save up to treat themselves ones in a while.

Hotel
There is a hotel and spa beside the brothel that is open to the public and is not used by the ladies. There are suites in the hotel each with its own theme. One is a pirate one with a mast, treasure chest and skeleton, one is romantic with beautiful grateful ornaments, draperies over the bed and one is Egyptian including a sarcophagus. The prices are very reasonable.

Borax Museum Outdoor Tour Guide

I don't know what this is

Small Blacksmith's Forge
was used for repair and manufacture of simple and small iron items. Independent miners and homesteaders had to be able to d their own repair work due to their remote location. The accompanying power-driven blower for applying air to the forge was manufactured by the Champion blower Company.

I don't know what this is

I don't know what this is

Concord State Stagecoach
carried passengers across the Armagosa Valley east of Death Valley. The running gear was specifically modified for use in Ash Meadows. Named for its scattered ash trees, Ash Meadows is the sight of a number of perennial springs and seeps and was an ideal site for homesteaders. In 1907 Ralph Fairbanks Ash Meadows Ranch was the overnight stopping point for the Kimball Brothers stage that ran the fifty miles from the Las Vegas & Tonaopah Railroad to the booming copper camp of Greenwater.

I don't know what this is

55 Ore Stamp Mill
was used to process gold ore at the Johnnie Mine in Nevada around 1905. This mill was probably gasoline-powered and was capable of crushing ore on a small-scale-basis. It operated in the same manner as 7. Stamp mills like this one were used across the west in single, double. and five battery units. Stamp mills were used in Europe as early as the 1500's.

56 Ore Skip
was designed to operate in an inclined shaft. I t ran on rails and was pulled upward by a cable. When it reached the top of the shaft, the rails would guide it to the ore chute where it would self-dump its load of ore. Ore cars in vertical shafts usually ran along guides, as well to prevent the car from twisting, striking the wall, or dumping some of its load while it was being hoisted.

Pack Saddle
is quite small and was probably used on a burro. The metal frame it sits upon (called pack bars) was looped over the pack saddle for carrying firewood. Large quantities of firewood were used to make charcoal in the Wild Rose Canyon kilns. Firewood was also necessary for the boilers that dissolved the borax into solution during processing at the Harmony Works.

Gold Arrastra
was introduced by Mexican miners as a means of crushing gold ore using materials readily at hand. Water power turned the central shaft and its radiating arms which were chained to large stones in the basin below. Ore that was fed into the basin was crushed by the dragging motion of the large stones. The fine ore particles were washed out of the basin by a stream of water and further processed to recover the gold. Originally, this Arrastra had a basin made of masonry with small side ports for the removal of the ore particles and water, and was used at a site in Nevada during the 1880's.

Mine Locomotive
was used in the Ryan mines around 1922. The most interesting feature of this Plymouth gasoline-powered engine is the friction clutch that operated by moving the wheel with the wooden rime sideways across the face of the larger flywheel. On one side of center, this drive would cause the locomotive to move forward, on the other side to move in reverse, and in the center to remain in neutral. The farther from the center the wheel was turned, the faster the locomotive would move.

(next) Side-Dump Ore Car
carried ore from the mine workings underground to the ore bins on the surface at Ryan. When the ore car passed over the ore bins, the latch was released and the ore spilled into the bin. In turn, the borax ore was loaded into railroad cars from the ore bins to be transported to the mill at Death Valley Junction.

(next) Conveyor
collected the ore scooped up by the mucking machine and lifted it into the ore car for transportation to the surface.

Railroad Crew Car
This was used for transporting members of section crews who did track inspection and repair on the Tonapah & Tidewater Railroad during its operation from 1904 to 1940. This was a gasoline powered model, probably used during the later years, and much more sophisticated than the hand-powered models formerly in general use.

Hand-operated Single Stamp Mill

this was used for crushing ore samples. As the hand wheel was turned, the cams lifted the vertical shaft and let it drop on the ore. Note the heavy replaceable iron show on the lower end of the vertical shaft inside the bell-shaped housing. The weight of the shoe did the crushing. This crusher operated in the same manner as the larger mechanically-powered stamp mills used extensively across the West to process hardrock ores.

Death Valley, Furnace Creek Area

Wayne, Judy, Ches and I spent a very pleasant day driving around and looking at the scenery of Death Valley. The diversity of terrain is amazing and some of the views spectacular.

Zabriskie Point
A short walk uphill and has a fantastic view, it is a very popular spot

Badwater is the lowest point in North America, is 282 feet below sea level. Badwater Basin is a surreal landscape of vast salt flats, you can walk a long way on dry salt.

Artist's Palette has rock of all different colors that looks like an artist's palette

Natural Bridge this is supposed to be a 1/2 mile walk but it seemed a lot longer, and is steep and rough walking, not really worth the walk. The bridge was interesting and there is a place where there used to be a waterfall. The view is great.

Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge

Wayne, Judy, Ches and I drove out to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge which was established in 1984. Warm water from underground bubbles up through sand into clear spring pools. This water comes from over 100 miles northeast and enters a vast aquifer system. This water, also known as "fossil water," takes thousands of years to move through the ground. Silvery blue pupfish dart between swaying strands of dark green algae.

a lizard on a rock, they are very tiny

Pupfish are tiny blue fish that can live in water as warm as 90 F

Devil's Hole
The entire population Devil's Hole live in a water filled cavern cut into a rocky hillside where they have been isolated for 10,000 to 20,000 years. You can not really see the fish

Parker Dam, Emerald Cove RV park. Lake Havasu

While we were at Emerald Cove we drove over to Lake Havasu to meet our friends. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a great time walking around the London bridge and looking in the shops. We took the boat ride over to Havasu Landing to the casino, did not win but enjoyed boat ride.

We stayed at Emerald Cove RV Park, by Parker Dam. It was quite a nice park, but not much to see close by. They had pickleball so I was happy.

Parker Dam was built between 1934 and 1938. It is the deepest Dam in the world; 73 percent of its structural height 320 feet below the original riverbed. Only about 85 feet is visible.