Hi. I'm Judy Norris.  I used to write a travel blog called Two Crazy Gringos which concentrated on the location and history of the places to which my husband I traveled - i.e., a travelogue. After writing that blog for a year I noticed little changes in myself when I traveled. I attributed these changes to the travel we were now able to do since I had retired from my high octane, high stress legal career. This new blog - Gringo With a Bag- will explore how travel enables personal growth with some travel highlights thrown in.

Genoa

Genoa is about an hour's drive from Reno and about a half an hour from Carson City, the capitol city of Nevada.  It is a small town nestled beneath the majestic Sierra Mountains.  The views from our balcony every morning and evening were spectacular (see throughout). 

My husband and I chose to visit Genoa with his parents in part because of the beauty of the place, the mineral hot springs, and the opportunity to just chill.  My husband and I are in our late 50s-early 60s and his parents, of course, are a bit older, although, as we learned, they are probably more energetic than we.  The land outside our resort was marsh land much desired by the Canadian geese.  The geese were new for me.  “The Texas Hill Country” (where we live) and "Canadian geese” are not often paired in the same sentence.  The geese would start stirring in their marsh-y bedroom about 6 am and take to the sky about 6:30 am. The noise they make was not the sweet cooing of dove we have at home, but I found the routine, the fog from the marsh, and the quiet of the morning broken only by the birds to be beautiful.

Genoa became a stop on the Pony Express route, in part, because of the mineral hot springs and the 180° water that flowing therefrom.  The wealthy customers tagging along with the mail and stagecoach appreciated the ability to soak and rest.  So did we.  We visited the hot springs at least 4 days out of the 6 days we were there.  There must be something to the chemical mixture analyzed and noted many years ago, because those aches and pains in our backs and legs were gone while we were there. As for personal growth, I now add “are there hot springs” to my checklist when looking for the next adventure.

Snowshoe Thompson/Kit Carson 

Carson City, the capitol city of Nevada, was named for Kit Carson.  But as we learned when we did some research, Kit Carson did not seem to do much in the area.  I think he must have just stayed over night there.  I am sure I am missing something here and I certainly do not want to offend any Kit Carson historians, but the best thing we found bearing his name was the “Kit Carson Blue Line Trail.”  [More about that later.]

On the otherhand, a man named John “Snowshoe” Thompson” contributed greatly to Genoa in his own quiet way.  He was from Norway and eventually came to live in Genoa.  He farmed and delivered mail back and forth from Genoa, Nevada and Placerville, California.  He is shown using cross country skis instead of snow shoes, but clearly “Snowshoe Thompson” has a better ring than “Cross-Country Ski Thomson.”  It is reputed that he saved at least seven people from death.  And he did all of this without being paid.  Our family agreed that Snowshoe was our hero. 

Kit Carson Blue Line Trail

As I mentioned, the one item bearing Kit Carson’s name that the family did enjoy was the Kit Carson Blue Line Trail.  We happened upon this map with the blue line when we found out that we had to wait for over an hour in Carson City for our lunch reservations.  The map took us through a residential area in Carson City, even taking us by the Governer’s mansion (quite beautiful and sitting unheralded in the middle of the block).  Some of the homes were painted in wild colors but almost all were very well maintained.  However we were never able to discover why Kit Carson’s name was attached to the trail.  Our affection for the trail, however, was attributed to a much more personal reason.  My husband was driving and his three passengers were his navigators.  The driver was clearly maniacal in his driving and the passengers clearly were unable to read a map.  We could not keep on that blue line if it killed us!  But we laughed more in that one hour than we did all vacation long.  It was a delightful way to work up an appetite.

Why No Clark Griswold?

I fondly remember the classic movie with Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold - National Lampoon’s Vacation.  That vacation did not go smoothly.  Just as happened in the movie, my motto used to be that “family vacation” was an oxymoron.  But I learned on this vacation it does not always have to be that way.  A few tips I learned:

• Do some research so you have an answer to the question - “What is there to see around here?”
• Don’t plan an outing every day.  And don’t fill every hour of every day.  Spending time enjoying the beauty of the resort and, in this case, the hot springs, can be enough.
• Little things, like the Canadian geese, can be a joy.  Take time to really enjoy them.  Enjoy them together.  Breathe.
• If someone has the energy to see more (like the elder parents, for instance), make arrangements for them to get into town while you take a nap.
• If you are inclined, make a memory photo book for each household so you all remember the good times.
• Always check if hot springs are nearby.

©judycnorris and Gringo With a Bag, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material, text and/or photographs, without express and written permission from this site’s author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Judy C. Norris and Gringo With a Bag, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.