Arboretum pics cont.

What's an Arboretum without an Arbor? Here is one of the first ones we saw.

Today we took doggies to the dog park and ventured over into the Big Dog area, as there were no big dogs there.
They loved the bigger space and ran and explored all around. It wasn't long until a woman arrived with an exuberant 6 month old part Lab, part Newfoundland, black bundle of energy.

Baby ran up to her and barked, letting her know who was boss, and the puppy (who probably already weighed around 60 pounds) loved her and Buster! She was very docile for a puppy, and very well behaved.

Her owner and I had a nice conversation, but my walk didn't amount to much.

Here is another pretty Arbor over a foot bridge.

I've got to quit stalling all over the place and get to walking.

The weather is perfect...no excuses!

Stacked Lenticular Clouds

When we stepped out the door to go to the Arboretum this morning, this wonderful example of a lenticular cloud formation was just over the hill.

Lately I've been noticing all the variety of clouds in the area. Now that Fall is nearing, there seems to be more unusual formations.

We drove over to San Rafael Park to go walking in the Arboretum there.


Unfortunately, the Museum was closed, so we'll save that for another day.

I noticed these trees were beginning to change color.

Kate took Sarah here when she and the kids were visiting back in July. We were going to see it on Labor Day, but thought it was closed.

I remember Kate telling me she thought the trees looked smaller than normal, which might be due to only 7 inches of rain annually, and a shorter growing season at 4,600 ft. altitude.

The place is huge...over 11 acres, and today we just scratched the surface.

There are many wonderful spots for restful contemplation. I must say our walk, was more of a stroll. I took around 50-60 photos, and will try the share a few good ones.

There are several dozen groves and gardens as well as a Labryinth. We didn't make it to the Labryinth today...another reason to return.




I loved the vast variety of trees! There were many unique pines I'd never seen before.

After I took several dozen photos, Dan suggested I take a pic of the plaque that showed the tree's name. Ha! Too late...but a good idea for identifying trees in the future.

As we moved through the trails, I couldn't help but think of the "tree leaf" projects my kids did in school. This would have been the perfect place for an A+ paper!


In "Kristen's Garden" we found this waterfall, and a perfect place for intimate weddings.

There was a two tiered platform made of stone in front of the waterfall. This would accommodate an officiant on the higher one, and the couple on the other.

Both raised above the arbor where people attending the wedding had a beautiful view of the ceremony.




Here is a photo of that arbor.

According to the literature, "A profusion of wisteria, iris, magnolia, and peonies bloom in the spring; opulent stands of Michaelmas daisies delight visitors for several months in the late summer and fall."

We did see a few daisies, but they were almost finished blooming.




More interesting clouds at the Arboretum.

I think this place is our new favorite place to walk. We have much more to explore here.

Of course we weren't able to tell how far we walked/strolled, but we were on the trails for about an hour.

More photos of the area tomorrow!

Ready, Set, Go!

The Reno International Air Races have been here all week, and it's quite the event. Pilots from all over the world have come to compete, and there are only a little over 200 that even qualify to fly here.

So...why the pic? Because as of Friday, I have the green light to go ahead and keep walking! Yay!
The Stress Test made me sick, and I was a little wiped out Thursday, and yesterday. But, today's another day!

By the way...the flag man in this photo is only the second man to have the job in 47 years of the event.

And just for good measure, here is a photo of the famous Camel Races in Virginia City. Apparently the fun is that the camels don't always go the way the rider wants them to.

So...I'm off to my race to get fit!

Doggie Park

We got the doggies out yesterday to the park.
Walked some...not much...it was a little warm.

The sprinklers came on while we were there, and Baby and Buster loved it!

Hopefully I'll get back to a mile a day soon!

Boot Hill

Otherwise known as the Silver Terrace Cemeteries, once described as the "Most beautiful burial grounds in the State of Nevada."

Dan and I have often wandered through old cemeteries around PA, and this was an opportunity to see a real western one while we were in Virginia city.

The boots pictured on the left are my new cowgirl boots that I wore yesterday.



This is a view of Virginia City looking southwest from the near top of the cemetery. Many of the plots were surrounded by beautiful ironwork fences.

This cemetery, like others around the country, were viewed as a place to go for a "meditative promenade". Cemeteries, in this period of history were places of quiet contemplation, to be out of doors and enjoy nature. The garden cemeteries were the forerunners of municipal parks. (from the Comstock Cemetery Foundation literature)


Here is another example of some of the beautiful ironwork. Back in the day, the cemetery was beautiful, with manicured landscapes, laced with soft grasses, planted trees and flowers.

The pioneers of the Comstock mastered the problem of water in the early 1870's, at the cost of over two thousand dollars. This kept the grounds lush and green, in contrast to the surrounding mountain landscape.

I was fascinated with the division of land for various groups of people. Some of the largest, and highest plots were for different orders of Masons, Oddfellows, Knights and other protestant Fraternal organizations. The Catholics were put in the back on the down slope of the property. Further down the hill were areas for Italians, Irish, Chinese and other ethnic groups. Waaaayy down the hill and far away, the Madams and their girls were buried. Supposedly because the women folks still didn't want them anywhere near their men!


As you can see by this last photo, the cemetery is no longer so plush. It's interesting that the caretakers have left this old dead tree next to someones plot. We noticed many trees like that, some inside the plot, but long gone. The monument at the top of the hill is for Captain Storey, for who Storey county was named. His is by far the largest monument.

Climbing the hill and walking the cemetery grounds was my "walk" for the day.

Virginia City, NV

We thought we'd go up there and see the annual Camel Races, but we decided inhaling the dust wasn't worth it. Instead we toured the old Historic Fourth Ward School which was built in 1876 for 1,000 students. It was open until 1936, then stood closed for 50 years.

The classroom sizes back then were around 60, and teachers made about $125 a month. No wonder they used corporal punishment!




The photo on the right shows a typical classroom, with the pot belly stove in the middle to keep the kids warm. The old maps were so interesting, as well as the narrow blackboards.
I got to ring the school bell which was really fun.
Most of the class rooms were set up with historic displays, some showing the mining in the area.
One room had the old typewriters and printing press the school used to print the newsletters.
There was also a Mark Twain exhibit in that room.


One thing I loved were the huge windows and high
ceilings. All the walls were done with 4" boards in a herringbone pattern. You can kind of see that in this
photo.

Here is a small pic of the front of the school.

We also visited the cemetery, but that's
a post for tomorrow!

While we didn't do continuous walking, we did do a lot of walking...and in cowboy boots!

Till tomorrow...

Labor Day

We had a little picnic at San Rafael Park, and I walked a small loop maybe close to a half mile. It was a gorgeous day, perfect temperature, light breeze.










Then, in the evening we took the doggies to the Marina. Not a whole lot of walking but a very pleasant end to a lovely weekend.