Carl's Blog

Welcome to the next installment of my travel blog for June 2024. As the title says, we will be exploring the Carson Range today and tomorrow, or at least we will be staying on the Carson Range side east of Lake Tahoe. I’m planning on exploring Lake Tahoe on Thursday and Friday, so keep coming back. On to today’s adventure..

Sunrise… well and attempt

First, I want you the reader to know that I almost needed a blood transfusion after trying to get these pictures. I should have realized that being so near a wetland the mosquitos would be a force to be reconned with.

Now on to the sunrise photos.

A morning walk to Genoa

Genoa is 1.5 miles north of David Walley’s Resort, where I’m staying. Along the way wild life was encountered both on the journey there and back.

Enjoy some lizards, bees, and birds. The bunny rabbit and squirrel were too fast for me to get a clear picture of them.

Genoa, Nevada

Genoa is the oldest permanent settlement in Nevada. It was founded in 1851; however, Nevada didn’t exist then, it was part of the Utah Territories. The original settlers were part of the Mormon Church and the settlement was originally called Mormon Station. You can learn more here at the official Nevada Historical Website.

You are probably thinking “why is there a statue of a woman holding a tray of candy?” Well, there is a story behind this statue. Back in 1919 the town wanted to install electric streetlights but didn’t have the funds. Lillian suggested the town hold a Candy Dance. Citizen danced and purchased candy from the local candymakers, and the funds raised went to purchasing and installing the streetlights. The city liked her idea and vola “let there be light”; however, there always is a however when it comes to city budgets. Who was going to pay the monthly electric bill for the lights? Well, candy will. If a Candy Dance worked once why not make it a yearly event, and the city did just that. The tradition lives on to this day. The city has expanded it to include an Arts and Craft Fair and the money goes into the Genoa City budget. Sometimes it pays to live in a small town.

Before heading back, I channeled my inner hobbit and went for 2nd breakfast at the Genoa Country Store. I enjoyed an egg sandwich with sausage on an English Muffin. Now being recharged, I headed back to the resort.

Onward to a Museum… after a short break

Honestly, I need another rest after walking there and back again; round trip was 3 miles or a 5K race. I did contemplate running the track tomorrow, but I’ve ruled against it. The weekend after I get back I’ve got a 5K. Too much of a good thing can turn out bad, hey, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. Back to the history lesson.

This museum is only open from 11 AM to 3 PM and is located in busy city building. The center room and the downstairs is the museum while the rooms on the side and front are for city business. The cost is $5 and I feel that is a reasonable fee. On the main floor the walls have murals. As you enter the wall on the left tells the history of the Mustang and Nevada’s push to create a safe place for wild horse herds to roam. I didn’t even know there are herds of wild horses, but 10 states have reserved areas for them. You can learn more here at the Herd Managment website.

Sheep, I want to now talk about sheepherding. Why? because I can… or it’s actually related to the history of Nevada. Sheep herding in Nevada began in the 1880s, when Basque families from Spain and France immigrated to the Western United States for better job opportunities. They supplied the gold and silver miners with mutton and wool. This was a solitary life for the herder who could only count on his dogs and the 100’s of sheep he was managing. You can learn a bit more here at the National Park Systems Website. What little is known about these men comes from the carvings they left on the Aspen trees in the area.

Now let’s take a moment to talk about the first peoples, the indigenous tribes of the Lake Tahoe area. They called themselves Wá∙šiw, or Washoe in English. I’m just going to copy directly from the tribes website, “The four directions of Wá∙šiw territory was occupied by different bands of the Wá∙šiw that made up the whole of the tribe. Although one tribe, each band was unique in its own area of occupation with subtle differences in cultural diversity and language patterns.” To get the full history I recommend following the link to the Washoe Tribe Website and downloading the PDF writen by the tribe telling their history. To quickly summarize, European settlers moved in for the gold and silver and destroyed the tribe’s way of life. The Wá∙šiw were always an adaptable people and they managed to survive and keep their traditions if not their way of life. At the museum there is a room dedicated to this tribe which was famous for its weaved baskets.

One last thing before we move on to more modern times.

As a fan of archeology and digging things up to learn more about the past, the statement here saddens me. I realize this happened before archeology became a solid science, but I wonder what history we could have learned if an archeologist had been called in to excavate the area. From what I understand about the Indigenous tribes of the area they didn’t do much with stone, because it was heavy, and they moved around frequently. Why did they take the time to carve this stone statue? We will never know. Which gives me the chance to stand on a soap box and preach for a moment. It is a federal crime to dig up, remove or relocate artifacts found in public parks and native tribal lands. If you happen upon something, record the gps location, take pictures don’t touch anything, and then report what you found to the state or federal government agency. If you want fame, I’m sure you will get more credit for reporting and letting the professionals do their job than making a TikTok or Instagram post about it. I’m now getting off my soap box. Let’s continue to more modern times.

Let’s look at some medical equipment and telephone equipment…

Isn’t that old water fountain cool? And check out all those phones? f

Wow, it’s taken me 2 hours to type, edit and upload all of this content. Time does fly when you are having fun. I’m having to remind myself to enjoy the collection of content as much as writing about it. That’s all for today, tomorrow there will be blue chicken eggs for breakfast and I’ve decided to drive to Virginia City myself and skip the guided tour. I honestly didn’t want to be trapped for 5 hours. Virginia City is only 45 minutes away and I can visit or skip the museums along the way. So until tomorrow, have a great day, enjoy a pizza. I had one for lunch.