In Nevada, outhouse racers take the plunge

Virginia City, Nev.

Oct. 8-9: Virginia City is one of America’s largest national historic landmarks, but history takes a back seat to hilarity during the World Championship Outhouse Races, in which teams push wildly decorated, wheeled outhouses -- fitted with the requisite seat and toilet paper -- down the main street of this Gold Rush town. Heats start at 11:15 a.m. Saturday; semifinals and finals begin at noon Sunday. The weekend of festivities includes a parade (10:30 a.m. Saturday) with an appearance by the Plungerettes drill team and a display of the outhouses (10 a.m. to noon Sunday). The event even flushes out some California entrants.

Virginia City Convention & Tourism Authority, 86 S. C St., P.O. Box 920, Virginia City, NV 89440; (775) 847-0311, www.virginiacity-nv.org.

Wendover, Utah

Oct. 12-15: Each October, motor-heads descend on the Utah desert in a variety of vehicles, including roadsters and diesel trucks, in hopes of setting records at the Bonneville Salt Flats’ World Speed Finals. This year’s event promises a larger-than-usual field because August and September races were rained out. No need to pitch a tent in the desert: Wendover straddles the Utah-Nevada line, and the Nevada side of town offers a cluster of casino resorts.

Southern California Timing Assn. & Bonneville Nationals Inc.; (559) 528-6279, www.scta-bni.org. Spectators $10 per day, $40 for the week.

San Francisco

Oct. 15 (ongoing): The earthquake-damaged De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park was closed in 2000 to make way for a dramatic new building. Its inaugural exhibition, “Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh” (through Feb. 5), is the ticket for those who left the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s “Tutankhamun” show wanting more. Monumental sculptures, decorative arts and an abundance of precious gems and metals -- including a pair of gold sandals -- illuminate the life of a woman who, in a patriarchal society, rose to the status of king.

De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park; (415) 750-3600, www.thinker.org. $10, $7 seniors, $6 ages 13-17; additional $5 charge for “Hatshepsut” exhibit. Ages 12 and younger free.

Houston

Oct. 27-30: Fifty-thousand quilters and quilt lovers are expected at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the 31st annual International Quilt Festival-Houston. Those who make their way through the acres of exhibits, classes and demonstrations and past more than 1,000 booths selling fabrics, supplies, books and crafts will find quilting far from a sedentary activity.

Tickets available from Quilts Inc., 7660 Woodway, Suite 550, Houston 77063; (713) 781-6864, www.quilts.com. Admission $10 daily; $8 seniors and students; ages 10 and younger free. Pass $35.

-- Patricia Connell