Tag: carsonvalley

There was some smoke coming over the hills around sunset last night, probably being blown in from California fires (or possibly from Tahoe). It made for a few striking pictures as the last rays of the sun pierced the hazy air.

Ryan Jerz on Wednesday took a glider up from the Minden Airport, and did a story for Travel Nevada about the experience. He went up for about 45 minutes, and flew over the Valley and Lake Tahoe. Looks pretty cool, and of course he has photos and video of the trip.

The last (and only) time I went on a glider was about 17 years ago. They must have changed a lot since then. We didn't go over Lake Tahoe, and we sure didn't do a loop!

This coming weekend is when all the various area ghost walks are talking place. Both Carson City and the Carson Valley are having their haunted walks this weekend. Four in all, spread over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

• Friday, October 24: Gardnerville Ghost Walk. Tour times are 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Guided tours will depart from the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center, 1477 Highway 395, Gardnerville. Tickets are $5 per person.
• Saturday, October 25, Daytime: Carson City Kit Carson Trail Ghost Walk. Tours depart every 30 minutes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meet in front of the Firkin and Fox, at the corner of Third & Carson Streets. Tickets are $15 per person.
• Saturday, October 25, Evening: Haunted Gardnerville Cemetery Tour. Guided tours depart every 15 minutes between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Meet at Gardnerville's Garden Cemetery. Tickets are $5 per person.
• Sunday, October 26: Haunted Genoa Ghost Walk. There are two tours, leaving at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Meet at Genoa Courthouse Museum. Tickets are $5 per person.

You can also read my report of the 2005 Carson City Ghost walk.

Last weekend we headed down to the Corley Ranch south of Gardnerville to go to the Carson Valley Harvest Festival. Much more than just a pumpkin patch, the Corley family transforms their farm into a public park every October. For a small fee, families can have the run of the place and partake in a number of autumn amusements, such as a corn maze, petting zoo, pony rides, wagon rides, food, drink, and music. There is a large pumpkin patch where you can search for the perfect gourd to take home. There are wooden cows and horses set up where young cowboys can practice roping cattle. The pig races take place every two hours. For the really little ones, there is a bounce house and a hay bale maze to keep them occupied while the bigger kids are getting lost in the corn. All together we spent over two hours there, and we had to drag the kids back to the car when it was time to go.

This is one of the advantages to living in an agricultural area, things like this. A couple of weeks ago we were in Las Vegas and we went to a pumpkin patch, It was held in a parking lot, with hay sprinkled down to walk on, and all the pumpkins were from out of state. At the Corley Ranch, it's a real actual farm, with three generations of Corleys manning the festivities. The land the ranch sits on was originally part of the Dangberg holdings, and has been a ranch for 140 years. The pumpkin patch you search through is actually where the pumpkins were grown, and as you're walking you're tripping over roots and leaves. You're also stepping on the rotted remains of the pumpkins that didn't make it, and even some of the pumpkins that look fine from the front are a little brown and gooey in the back. The animals you meet were born and raised on the ranch. The bunnies and goats were even for sale!

There have been stories about the Corley Ranch in the Douglas Times and Nevada Appeal. Another family also wrote a trip report about the festival, and I've written about the ranch on this site before, two years ago. There is one more weekend left for the Harvest Festival, so if you want to go you need to get down there this Saturday or Sunday, October 25th and 26th. The ranch is open from 11 to 5, then after dark on Saturday they open the corn maze for the "Night Crawler Maze Event."

See all the pictures on Flickr.

Barney's Flyfishing Ranch opened along Hwy 395 about three or four years ago, right next to Johnson Lane. A couple of acres of pastureland were bulldozed into a small pond, and stocked with trout. You could then pay to stand on the shore and cast your line into the stocked waters, and you were almost assured of getting a bite. One reviewer said it was "like fly fishing in a miniature golf course".

Barney's didn't last long. There must not have been as much demand as they anticipated, because soon the sign came down, the website shut its doors, and the pond was left to become overgrown with reeds. A For Sale sign went up on the property, and stayed there for over a year.

But now, it looks like there might be life at the old ranch again. The For Sale sign is gone and the Barney's sign is back in its place. Whether that means there are new owners willing to give it a shot, or the old owner figures he might as well do something with the property if it won't sell, I don't know. But it seems like Barney's is back. It's become less of a pond and more of an algae-filled swamp, and it's hard to say if any of the fish have survived, but it's back.

You can still buy Barney's sweatshirts, and I dug up this old commercial for the place.

Yesterday was the last day for the Minden DMV, which is moving to Gardnerville. This weekend they are moving all the equipment over and setting up shop at the new offices. In fact, about 30 seconds after I took these photos, a dozen guys with a moving van descended on the place to start moving the furniture.

Map to the new office

Department of Mot r Vehicles

The new office opens first thing Monday.

This weekend, the DMV in Minden is going to be packing up and moving into Gardnerville. They've been at the same location, on County Road right next to the library, for over 20 years. But they've outgrown that space and they're looking to move up in the world, so they have a new space being prepped for them at the Waterloo Center, across the street from Raley's in Gardnerville. This is the brand-new shopping center that is still in the process of being built next door to the Gardnerville Walgreens. I didn't think that center was ready to move into yet, but I guess they work fast. The DMV will close Thursday afternoon and stay closed Friday, and use the three-day weekend to move all their equipment into the new office. Then Monday morning they should be able to hit the ground running.

So what's to be done with the old building? That was a topic of some debate last year, after the DMV announced they would be looking for a new space. The county wanted to buy it, without any firm plan of what they would do with it, but they wanted to swoop in and get it while it was available. Some said that the purchase price of $800,000 was too high for the county to afford, especially for a building there were no immediate plans for. But the last I heard, the purchase was approved by the County Commission. That was in December, and I haven't heard anything new since, so I guess that's still the plan.

The Genoa Candy Dance is taking place this weekend, and instead of slow attendance due to a lagging economy, like they were expecting, instead they're having one of their best years ever.

Now when thousands of people descend on a town as small as Genoa, there are sure to be logjams all over the valley as people try to get their cars and their bodies into what is a very tiny town. Genoa Lane is the approved route to enter the town, but this weekend that intersection is heavily controlled, as you can see above. Hwy 395 southbound is down to one lane, and left turns from northbound 395 are prohibited.

But the hassle getting into town is nothing compared to the late afternoon, when everyone decides to leave and go home all at once. Traffic last night was backed up from the Clear Creek light way back up to Jacks Valley and beyond. My suggestion would be to stay away from Hwy 395 this evening if you can.

Travel Nevada has posted an entire photo tour of Genoa up on Flickr, which is also available as a slideshow on their website.

I caught this fellow last week cruising around the Minden Tahoe Airport.

As a bonus I also captured the landmark silos of the Milky Way Farm right by the airport.