Franktown Cafe

Sausalito Group 2

Originally uploaded by RickC.

Here’s a view from the top deck of the floating home. We went to a famous restaurant in Sausalito (Scoma) last night for the views and the seafood. I had the stuffed cod which was really good but Andy had the sea bass and said it was overcooked, although still good. She said the same dish at Ciao on South Virginia in Reno was more excellent there as they cooked it to a buttery doneness that was perfect. At Ciao, they also serve gourmet pizza in a neat contemporary setting. I’m not a contemporary type but it is fun for a change of scenery.

As much as we love the valley, sometimes you just have to do something completely different. We rented a floating home in Sausalito, in the north bay across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. In the sixties, hippies, artists and other oppurtunists discovered this picturesque bayside town and especially the abondoned boats and ferries on the docks. Now, these shanties are legal and some have been rebuilt into 3 story behemoths worth 1.5 million and more. The one we rented is much more modest and therefore mor fun for us. “Sittin on the dock of the bay” (written here by Otis Redding in the ’60’s) is a great way to relax and sample another lifestyle. We happened to hit great weather, as a matter a fact we think it was too hot as it got up to about 80 and we are getting used to the 20’s at night in WV with the windows open still. Taking the ferry to SF to see the International Poster Fair at Ft. Mason. See you later….

When we drive through Pleasant Valley I like to wile away the time not by cell phoning, eating or arranging my paperwork, but by contemplating the traffic. This goes along with my habit of always taking driving seriously ever since 1. I found out in high school I couldn’t get away with doing things with cars my friends could and 2. I got married and started a family.

Anyway, I usually set the cruise control to 60 as I think the speed limit plus ten is a reasonable amount when breaking the law. At that speed I shouldn’t be holding up too many people as 65 in a 50 is really blatantly speeding, right? Even those guys, who I figure are rushing to diffuse a bomb or deliver a baby, have that right so I try to stay out of the passing lane except when passing, which, is really rare as I only do 60. Plus, the economy needs those type A personalities to keep the economy going.
There seems to be a contingent of locals like us or just plain old fashioned law abiders who keep it a 60 or less, but most seem to go 60 plus. Especially those with California plates. My guess is they are unfamiliar with the area and figure since it looks like a freeway, sounds like a freeway and smells like a freeway- its a freeway.

Other speeders are pretty unlikely though. One day it was two black SUVs, one of which had the license plate NV-1. Another was a Lyon County police car, some tribal police cars, NDOT cars (although only about 50 percent go over 60), fire vehicles, all without emergency lights on. You would think they would be interested in setting good examples. But that is naive thinking, I guess. They are just employees like everyone else trying to get somewhere.

Type of vehicle seems to matter. Older cars driven by young people, company pickups and newer luxury cars and SUV’s seem to go fastest. Big company trucks, old pickup trucks and forgettable sedans the slowest. Maybe cars, like dogs, resemble their owners.
The funniest thing is at the bottom of Washoe Hill, going north and just entering Pleasant Valley, everyone slows way down to 50 and then speed up again to 60+ a quarter mile further up the road. Why? I would think the extra anxiety caused by driving 15+ over the limit would not be worth the trouble.

What do you think?

My dad used to say, “When they talk about the “good ole days,” they weren’t so good.” Trish reminded me of that in her comment on my last post about the duck hunting in the valley. We are worried now about the future of the valley and how an increasing population will reduce our quality of life here. Or, maybe we are just trading some “quality of life” issues for others. When Washoe Valley was really rural, hunting was even more prevalent, I have heard, with not only duck hunting throughout the valley but also quail and deer hunting in the nearby hills. A pastime in the 1940’s was barreling through what is now New Washoe City and taking postshots at jackrabbits from the back of a speeding pickup. Even the worst yahoos don’t combine fourwheeling with gun hobbies now. Livestock, burning, all kinds of things that didn’t really affect too many neighbors then would be a real nuisance now.

So rather than taking on new nuisances that our neighbors dream up for us to contend with, like traffic, loud music, dogs, “outdoor collection storage”, etc. maybe we are just slowly trading the old ones for the new ones.

In terms of things that bug us, it is up to us as current residents to think about the old and new valley and which we want to have.

If you read the above mentioned piece on the homepage you might of thought, “Well, dummy, IT IS the first day of hunting season”. Luckily a resident emailed me with that info (leaving out the dummy part) and I was able to pass it along. I was talking to another neighbor about it and commented on why we have lived here for five years and never heard it before. He mentioned that this is the first year since that there has been a decent marshland. Oh, that makes sense. They should have a season at the Carson Landfill to see who can get the most seagulls with one shot!

With our “One Year Anniversary” coming up in two months, I think washoevalley.org has had a good beginning. At least we are coming up on a one year anniversary! You can’t say that about every website. Scott, over at aroundcarson.com sent me some links regarding “citizen journalism” and that is what we are doing here even though I had never heard of it. Apparently it is a growing phenomena around the country as local, community oriented websites are springing up. The web can be used for evil, or good depending on the person wielding it (like a gun) and there are those that see a need for the  local exchange of information that can be provided by the economics of the web.

So, we are looking forward to another year of providing access to common ground. We are going to strive to make it even easier to share information with the addition of some new features and improvement of others. I started and election section but really haven’t used  it to its full potential as, like with all, I haven’t had the time. Hopefully as time goes on, others will contribute and “flesh out” these areas of interest that one person can’t cover by themselves. Any takers?

Our”local” high school (its not here but its where our kids go) is hosting a seminar on the candidates and issues on the 24th of October. See the hoe page for details. This is a great thing they are doing and I hope enough voting age residents turn out to make it a success. They say they are inviting the candidates so you may get to talk to some one on one. I’ve been wanting to open up the site for input from our younger residents as they are a vital part of the community and it would be a good oppurtunity for those interested to “get their feet wet” with journalism or sharing their interests and talents with the public. Hopefully, since the student council contacted me about the above event this will be the beginning of their involvement with the site and letting us know what our kids are up to.

Deadman’s Creek Hike

Originally uploaded by RickC.

Actually, I’m just testing the photo uploading feature of this blog. This shot was taken, surprisingly, on the east side at the Dead Man’s Creek trail just south of the main entrance to the state park on Eastlake Blvd in September.

Just got back from Hope Valley and the color is “in full flower” there. although this year doesn’t look like a banner year for aspen. Many have a dried-up appearance. We continued on to Monitor pass and while the distant views of groves on the far mountains were beautiful and the color at the base of each side of the mountain was good, the huge groves at the top have long since peaked.

Is this the land of two seasons-summer and winter? Last spring, as I recall was about a week long. We went from snow one week to 90 degrees the next and stayed there. This fall seems like the opposite. A couple weeks ago it was summer and now this week we wake up to snow on the Carson Range on the west side of the valley! Some of our trees are turning color but on others the leaves are just drying up and dropping off. Just our luck- spring and fall are our favorite seasons.