I've lived in the Bay Area since 1986, but am originally from Carson City, Nevada. Though I still have family in the area and it really isn't that far away, it seems impossible for me to visit more than a few times a year. Last weekend I had the honor of helping my 26 year old son move his family into their first home in Sparks (just East of Reno). Fortunately, young families in rental houses don't accumulate near as much crap as folks my age, so the moving thing was fairly easy. Okay, so I only showed up for Sunday and the crew got most of the work done on Saturday. But enough about my son's new home, this post is about my old home.
I stayed at my brother's house in an older part of Carson City and since we didn't get in until late Sunday, I decided to take a mental health day from work Monday and hang out in my hometown for awhile.
These are three of the eight deer that were in the back yard when we were leaving the house.
Having resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be jumping in my car and blazing over the mountain, I decided to take a stroll down memory lane. Actually I strolled several streets, none of which were named Memory Lane, but you get the idea.
I can't imagine this treehouse has ever looked better. Some lucky kids live in this house.
The Governor's Mansion was being decorated for the Holidays.
Beautiful older homes like this fill the blocks on this side of town.
This unique planter is floating on a sea of leaves.
Carson City has a hearty urban forest, dominated by huge cottonwoods and elm. Many of these long-time residents are more than 100 feet tall and a century old. The trunks can be more than 15' across. I was fortunate to be here at this time, with plenty of colorful foliage still on the trees.
This Populus fremontii is just absolutely massive. It was so impressive that I had to post another photo with the branch structure backlit by the morning sun.
It was such a quiet and calm morning, it felt very surreal for me to be just walking around and soaking it all in. I really should do this more often. Here are a few more of the beautiful homes, gardens & trees in the area.
The next couple are of the Bliss Mansion. Built in 1879, it is currently a very nice Bed & Breakfast.
In the next post I will take you downtown to see some of the cool old buildings and more great foliage. TTFN.
Nice! I've never been to Carson City. But I have been to Reno-Sparks and I think it's safe to say that Carson City is much prettier.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think I've ever seen more impressive Populus fremontii.
Holy Cow! That Popular is mind-blowingly awesome (not sure that's even remotely grammatically correct...)
ReplyDeleteI've spent a fair amount of time in Carson City, as it's a favorite place to stop on my way to one of my very favorite places on earth (get ready for this - it's a secret I don't tell many people...) - Virginia City! I'm a die-hard VC fan, visiting a few times a year. That entire area is just wonderful - lucky you for growing up there and now you have a great reason to go back to visit now that your son lives there!
I KNEW I liked you!....