Gardnerville, Nevada

Our first few days here at Fish Springs have been pretty busy helping our hosts get ready for their Happy Birthday America BBQ.

We took a day off yesterday and headed for the mountains around Lake Tahoe. We packed a gourmet picnic, complete with wine and beer, and enjoyed an easy hike along a trail our hostess had helped to build. It was a community project her company was supporting. The trail affords a great view of the lake.... photos to come! We had a great time visiting along the way and munching on the goodies at a premier view site.

On the way home we stopped at the Genoa Bar.

Genoa is the oldest established community in Nevada, and the bar, established in 1853, is the state's "oldest established thirst parlor". It's quite picturesque. . . filled with deer heads, old time photos, signs of all types, a few pool tables, and a little bit of floor space for dancing - which some of us did! The bar has been used in shooting a number of movies, including John Wayne's "The Shootist" , Clint Eastwood's "Misery" and several others. Follow this link for more information about this historic building.

Once back at home we launched into additional preparations - hanging lights and other decorations, planning the food and all that's required for the BBQ. Unfortunately, about 2 AM Steve was hit with the stomach flu, so he's missed out on the folks that showed up this evening for dinner. We're hoping he recovers enough to at least sit upright tomorrow. He also missed out on the wedding..... John's daughter decided (on 24 hours notice) to get married in Las Vegas. Since he was already in Nevada, couldn't he just drive down??? So he hopped on a plane Saturday morning, attended the wedding in Las Vegas in the afternoon, and will fly back tomorrow morning to attend the BBQ. The wedding chapel in which the event was held publishes the weddings via live feed, so we were all able to attend too, without having to buy a plane ticket!