Oh yeah... I have a blog!

Sometimes I sits and thinks.. sometimes I jes sits!  Great way to start a "catch up" posting - by stealing a phrase penned by someone else.  And I can't even give proper credit for it - again.  Now that we have established the fact that I am a crook, I'll get on with this thing....

The last original post was back around the first of February.  It was actually January 21 but "around the first of February doesn't sound nearly as long ago as January.  Beck and I had just landed in Southern California (Lake Elsinore) about a month before and were settled in for a four month stay.  We only stayed there for two months and moved to another SoCal town (Hemet) for a couple months.  For whatever the reasons my blog faded from memory and here it is, May 22 and we've been in Reno, NV for almost a month now.  The original plan had us headed to the Oregon Coast direct from SoCal but a closer look at the weather history showed plenty of rain during the month of May up there.  So here in Reno, we met up with some long time friends of ours who are also full timing.  Ron and Inge M will caravan (RVavan?) with us up to the Oregon Coast for a couple months stay before Beck and I continue our trek Northward to the Seattle, WA area to visit with our Son Al and some Northwest Territory explorations for a few months.

Here in Reno we are staying at The Grand Sierra Resort.  The GSR is the largest casino / hotel / convention center / shopping and fun center in the area.  They own and operate a fairly large RV Park right on the casino (etc) grounds.  The park is very well designed and even with RVs occupying every single site, we still have a remarkable view of the Southern Sierra Nevada  Mountain Range - right from the "living room and dining room" in our trailer.  I'm not going to even try to describe the majesty of those snow covered mountain peaks and this picture sure as hell isn't very convincing of it.

That's Donner's Summit to the left and the famous Donner's Pass associated with it.    On one of our rare "commercial pay to see" excursions, the four of us headed over the mountain to Lake Tahoe and went out on the MS Dixie II pictured below - and by the way, the weather was fantastic, the lake surface almost like a mirror, and the lunch on board was excellent.   There's something about being on the water that makes me hungry.

Did I mention that the MS Dixie II is a Stearn wheeler?  Pretty cool vessel, 3 decks, twin diesels, 4 screws and bow thrusters.  The paddle wheel actually only provides about one third the total thrust but it is impressive and when viewed from the poop deck three stories up, its colorful revolutions and the rhythmic sounds it makes cutting into the water are quite hypnotic.

The two hour trip begins at the boat's home port in Zephyr Cove and traverses the lake to the Western shore and into Emerald Cove.  If the lake were a circle which it's not, then Zephyr Cove and Emerald Cove would approximate the ends of an East to West diameter.  Raise your hand if you have never heard of Emerald Cove on Lake Tahoe!  If your hand is raised I herein command you to visit Lake Tahoe, rent a boat, take a guided tour, or drive Hwy 89 which will give you a birds eye view of Emerald Cove.

I have to tell ya, I have been to dozens of countries, have been on every continent except the Anti Arctic, and have logged thousands of hours looking out airplane windows - Emerald Cove on a crystal clear Spring day should be on every one's "bucket list"!  This is where I usually insert a comment regarding the quality of my camera, the lack of clarity and lack of depth of field of my pictures, or if the shoe fits (as it does in this case) - the inexperience of the photographer.  In all cases however, taking, and including them helps me weave whatever story it is I try to tell.

And if you have been reading my posts, you'll agree that I am not trying to make this blog some sort of historical or educational chronicle but having said that, I do insert a couple of facts every so often without claiming any relation to accuracy - so here goes my version of a few facts about the lake.  Lake Tahoe is the second largest alpine lake in the world - second only to Lake Titicaca (however it's spelled).  No rivers flow into the lake.  There are a handful of streams that empty into the lake but most of the water comes from snow melt off the mountains that surround it.  The water is alpine clear and is some 1800 feet deep.  Since no appreciable amount of water enters, as would the waters into a lake fed by rivers, there is very little sediment to discolor the water.

 

Before leaving the area we took a drive down to South Lake Tahoe, CA to witness just how much the town had grown up since Beck and I were married there some 27 years ago - my my how time flies etc etc.  And it has grown in those decades.  But the good ole "Chapel of the Bells" remains as it was.

Well... that's all I've got to say about the MS Dixie II, Lake Tahoe, and Emerald Cove.  Stay tuned for my NORTH TO ALASKA post coming to computer screen (s) soon.