Franktown Cafe

Washoe Lake

Originally uploaded by RickC.

Have questions, comments or Concerns on the Washoe Valley Trails Master Plan or the washoevalley.org editorial on the subject? Post your comments here!

Bear Print

Originally uploaded by RickC.

I’ve received a couple of reports of a pair of bears doing what they do but in the vicinity of New Washoe City. It seems really odd that they would be over here in a desert environment but we took a walk in the area last week and it is one of the few areas that hasn’t been burned over and the sage and other brush is about 4 to 5 feet high giving good cover. We saw some scat (which looks like doggy-do only composed of nuts and berries) and prints in the sand like these. I guess they’ll go wherever they perceive food to be. Hopefully they have found somewhere to bed down for the winter and will be able to coexist.

I’m sure you’ve seen the “Indian Weather Station”. It’s a rock accompanied by a paper explaining how to interpret it. If the rock is wet, it’s raining, if you can’t see the rock, it’s nighttime, etc. I just bent down to pet our golden as I walked past and she is damp so it must be raining. It is one of the great things about life here in Washoe Valley that we get to enjoy the four seasons. The clouds moving in amongst the western mountains, the sun rays beaming down on the lake through rents in the clouds and the leaves falling like golden snow all are welcome signs of fall.

I’ll know winter is here when the dog is white.

That was the cry in 1860 as news of the silver strike at Virginia City swept California and that was ours yesterday as we left the bay area and headed home. Back then our whole area was known as “Washoe” after the local indian tribe. Reno wasn’t to exist for a few more years.

Sausalito was nice but its location is even better. At 50 we have seen all the tourist towns with high priced, low quality food and knick-knack shops so we weren’t impressed with that. The town, perched on a hillside that goes down to the water, is reminiscent of seaside towns on the French and Italian Riviera so that is fun to see. San Francisco is a short and cheap ferry ride across the bay and recreational areas surround the town so it makes a good base for exploring the Bay Area. We had a great time but there is no place like home and Washoe Valley and Nevadans.