Thursday 7 November 2019
Time for further exploration of the area. Today it's Carson City. We visit Kevins favourite, The Nevada State Railroad Museum, L.A.Bakery for lunch and after that the Nevada State Museum, followed by a shot walk through town.
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| the railroad museum |
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| the state museum |
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| beautiful autumn colours |
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| handy post for bike riders who need tools for repairs |
Friday 8 November 2019
If my memory doesn't fail me Bobbie and George have gone away for a few days. Kevin and I visit the seniors centre again and have lunch with the other seniors after which we go to Walmart where I find the only walk-in hairdresser so I can have my hair done. Not overly happy, it's Walmart after all, but I didn't have much choice.
One good thing came out of this visit, I found a cache at the Walmart parking lot. Not the first one I might add. An earlier one, in 2012, was also found at a Walmart parking lot.
#2132 - Grants Tomb (geocache)
Saturday 9 November 2019
After another visit and lunch at the seniors centre (cheap and so easy) we drive to Genoa. Genoa is a historic town. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest settlement in Nevada. The town also boasts to house the oldest bar in Nevada, opened in 1853.
We park the car and walk around the small town. I find a cache as well. Later we visit the bar, but there are so many bikies present that it is too noisy to hang around. We take some pictures and walk on. We stop at a a lovely shop with handmade rugs, pillows, teddy bears and other items made of alpaca wool. The shopkeeper, Cynthia, is a delightful lady and Kevin buys one of the beautiful 'ponchos'. I could not resist, but found a similar, but more expensive, item too much, so I bought a short stole-like jacket. That's not the end of the story, but the rest will follow later...
We drive home early, as it gets dark very early at the foot of the mountains. The sun is gone by 3.30pm. It's a weird sensation, because when you drive to the highway, away from the mountains, it's like someone turns on the lights again and there is full sunshine for the rest of the afternoon.
At home we settle in for happy hour with a nice drink.
#2133 - Carson Valley History 2 (geocache)
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| Marion, Cynthia, Kevin |
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| The oldest bar in Nevada |
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| Kevin captured a deer |
Sunday 10 November 2019
Even though I had bought a lovely jacket in Genoa, I regretted that I hadn't bought that beautiful poncho. In the end I decided that I want to go back. I rang Cynthia and asked if I could exchange the short jacket for a poncho. She was fine with that, so we drove back to Genoa (no hardship for us.... ) and once in the shop I went straight for the beautiful poncho, but.... when it came to swapping I couldn't part with the jacket either, so decided that I would have both!
Before our drive to Genoa we took the road to where we had seen the mustangs before, because I loved the plants. They had the real look of desert plants and I wanted a picture of them. Carson Valley is really beautiful with so many shades of brown (and yellow). I will always remember it as 'Fifty Shades of Brown'! ;-)
Not much else was done. We only went groceries shopping at Smith's and spent the rest of the afternoon at home.
Monday 11 November 2019
Even before my plans to go to Nevada I have always had Yosemite National Park on my bucket list and when I discovered that it wasn't all that far away from Gardnerville we decided that we would go for a short road trip and visit the park.
So, we left at 10am and headed for State Route 108 which would take us to Groveland, our airbnb destination for the night.
We stopped at Brownie Creek, Deadman Creek and Vista Point on our way to look around and take pictures. We visited Sony's Mini Mart for groceries and arrived at our airbnb at approx 3pm.
First stop on State Route 108: Brownie Creek
Next stop on State Route 108: Deadman Creek
And a bit further up the road: Vista Point
Climbing high near the end of State Route 108. Great views again.
Arrival at Groveland and welcomed by an unfriendly and irate 'manager' because on a trip of hundreds of kms we are 3 minutes 'late'! The owner is a 'no show' and the house (now called a resort on Google Maps) is a dump, never to be returned to...
Tuesday 12 November 2019
The drive into Yosemite Valley is about 60 km and takes roughly 2 hours because it is a very winding road, but with beautiful views.
During our stay we visit Degnan's Kitchen for lunch and the Village Store for some T-shirts for Kevin. On the way back we take pictures at the Stanislaus National Forest Vista: Rim of the World.
Back at Groveland we have a look at the 'Iron Door Saloon'. It's been said that it is the oldest continuously operating saloon in California.
At 5pm we are back at our airbnb.
Following are lots of photographs of Yosemite:
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| Half Dome |
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| The Bridal Veil waterfall |
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| You're looking at the ceiling here, full of banknotes stuck there by patrons of the saloon |
Wednesday 13 November 2019
The way back the following day is via Tioga Road, also an interesting trip with many stops for photo opportunities and wonderful views. We make a detour via Mono Lake. Read the information when you get to the pictures of it.
We cross the Californian border into Nevada at Topaz Lake. We must have stopped on the way for coffee, and/or lunch, but I can't quite remember. Most likely at a place where the young man gave us a discount because we were travellers from Australia. :-) I should have taken better note, but I didn't unfortunately.
We're home by 5pm and join Bobbie and George for a meal at Sharkey's Casino. Believe it or not, we've been surrounded by casinos, but I have not felt the need to gamble...
Tioga Road
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| View of Half Dome |
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| Yes, it was 'icy' cold! |
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| Ice skaters skating only on a shelf of ice |
Mono Lake
The formation of the tufa towers:
Made of limestone, tufa forms as a byproduct of the precipitation of carbonate minerals from surrounding water. When water from heated underwater hot springs rich in calcium meet with the carbonates in lake water, the result is calcium carbonate, also known as limestone.
Topaz Lake
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