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| Does not appear in Lake Tahoe either |
Yes, THB took a few days to rest up (okay, 36 hours) and then hit the road again for a short trip to visit family and friends in Lake Tahoe, about 3.5 hours from E-ville. Maybe THB needs to come up with a new acronym that actually means something:
RWS: Road Warrior Supreme
ARAT: All Road All the Time
ABCD: A Boy Can Dream (can't he)
Sorry, THB got a bit sidetracked there for what seemed like a long few minutes.
Day 1
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| The bagels are excellent (can a bagel be excellent?); not too doughy or chewy, strong flavors and toasts up well |
First up: Beauty's (woodfired) Bagels and cream cheese and coffee for breakfast, $15, plus 18 more bagels for upcoming breakfasts (and since we semi-baked them again in the trunk of the car, maybe for housewarming gifts as doorstops).
An easy drive to Truckee, a walk through town and then a nice lunch on the back deck of Morgans for lobster roll (no mayo, just lobster) for DB, a fresh ground salmon burger with bacon for THB (THB took out the bacon as it was a bit too overpowering for the salmon and excellent on its own), two drinks, $53. It's getting warm, nearing 80.
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| Another shawl shot? |
From there to Northstar (between Truckee and Tahoe City) to visit DB's bro, sis-in-law (A&W), a friend of theirs from W's teaching days, and their two grandchildren, I and S. A relaxing few hours on their back deck (in the shade, very nice), and then it is on to a few nights with loyal blog followers, CYS and SAS.
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| Blog followers who know the game so well they have already got their initials ready for THB |
Back from the lake to enjoy cocktails and a dramatic thunderstorm rolling in from the east, complete with lightning and hail. Maybe this stretching the extremes is getting stretched too far
SAS and THB are reviewing our parallel histories with statin intolerance and realize we're soon to be sharing the same rheumatologist, Dr Dixit. She diagnosed THB, maybe there's hope for SAS.
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| Echo, one of Emma's buddies, resting up while SAS, CYS and THB chat up neighbor Charlie during the last-dog-walk of the day |
Between showers, the chicken gets bbq'd, the corn gets shucked, kernels de-cobbed and blended with garlic and peppers, a fresh salad, and wine, coffee cake for dessert...priceless!
A walk around the block with Emma the miniature dog, with a view of the stars in the post-storm cleansed air.
Day 2
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| Nope, THB doesn't see this one in Lake Tahoe either though the lake water is very clear |
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| Deck for dinner and breakfast |
Breakfast of bagels, lox, cream cheese, fruit, regular coffee (that'll get THB's motor running) and we're off to explore the lake in a motor boat and give paddleboarding a try.
We find a small cove and put down the anchor, pull out the paddleboards and see if THB can break the 8 second mark standing upright (aka a species known to scientists as thbhomerectis).
While not captured on film, THB manages at least 30 seconds totally upright - using THB's preferred method of accounting: round up! - and only falls off when he decides that paddleboarding means putting the paddle in the water and paddling, not just standing around.
Good news: the water is lovely! Clean, clear, no salt added, drinkable, refreshing.
The bad news: around this time a woman appears from a house 30 yards up from the water's edge; she's in her 30s (older?) in jeans and a t-shirt (and the ubiquitous smartphone sticking out of the back pocket). Then the shouting starts: we're on private land (well, not land, since we are floating in the water, on paddleboards in the water, or in a boat in the water). Back and forth we go, some of it civil, some of it not (especially the shouting part), about the lake being owned by the public and that we certainly qualify as public types (DJT hasn't changed CA citizens' status, yet, though we've been off-line for about an hour) and her shouting over and over about how evil we are for being in a cove owned by her family for generations.
As it happens, we're on the Nevada side of the lake, and it turns out the rules are slightly different in Nevada than California about low and high tide marks. On the water though, it's same-same:
Because Lake Tahoe is a U.S. Navigable Waterway, the public is allowed to navigate in a watercraft all the way around the lake, anywhere the water is navigable.
It's same-same but different if you're on land:
If you’re on foot, any land below the low-water mark is state-owned and you are allowed access. Between the high and low-water marks where the land is privately owned, the public can legally access it on the California side but not the Nevada side — and above the high-water line, the public is not allowed.
We agree that we'll leave our distraught home owner to her own anger (it's amazing, really, that someone would come down to a beautiful spot and spew venom...at people floating on the water; almost a definition of mental imbalance?), weigh anchor and slide a bit north to another pretty spot and have our picnic lunch on the boat: turkey on rye, water, plums, a bit of trail mix.
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| We're pulling out our lunch and right on cue a sea gull shows up for his lunch, too |
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| Zipline into the lake! |
After lunch, we do some sightseeing along the shore of the northern part of the lake (CA and NV) from the water. Lots of houses of various sizes and shapes, new and old, close or well above the high tide mark (or was it the lower water mark?).
It's well after 3 when we get back to the house and arrange ourselves in various states of resting up. Drinks on the deck at 5:30, and dinner at the nearby Christy Hill at 6:15.
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| Christy Hill |
This is one of SAS and CYS's local faves, the deck has a glorious view of the lake and dinner is nicely spaced out (though at one point, THB was thinking maybe our main courses melted in the rain).
Oh, and it started to rain even though the skies to the east and above us were clear. Last night's crowd got drenched in the rain and hail; tonight it is a few drops and then the big umbrellas are up (and not needed).
(Last year there was an infestation of wasp-like bees and nobody ate lunch on the decks or dinner on the deck in early evening, the attacks were too fierce...so, a little rain tonight is nothing. Even the storm of last night was a mild distraction in light of last year).
Very nice salads, gnocchi, pork chops, grilled scallops, a bottle of Sancerre, $137/couple.
Dessert is a bit farther away at Spoon: soft serve in cones or cups. THB is so generous he covers the entire $12 bill.
The night is warm, the sky is clear, and millions of stars are visible. For the first time in maybe 25 years, THB sleeps outside under the stars with just an unzipped lightweight sleeping bag for protection. Awesome!! Actually, it was a bit too warm, THB thinks it stayed above 75 the entire night.
Day 3
Breakfast on the deck: scrambled eggs (some with lox, some without), bagels and creamcheese, fruit, and for THB another thin slice of coffee cake!
It's been a great two days, THB and DB head back to E-ville...MANY THANKS TO SAS and CYS!!!!!!!!!
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