Emerald state of mind.......

Wow...a third straight day of cloudless skies....I can get used to this pretty fast!  Even though it was cloudless and windless there was  still a distinct chill in the air......I wore short pants again, but had my jacket on most of the day.

I clocked in by 8:30 am in order to give Miguel, our head Ranger, a 'ride along' as I went through my site check rounds.  He wanted to know exactly what I do as my routine has apparently become the standard the corporate owners are trying to simulate at all their parks.  He came prepared with a pen and notepad and took copious notes.  As I said, Miguel is the perfect head Ranger.....he is retired Army where he worked as an MP, as well as a bodyguard the entire time.  Just as we learned last year when Merlin (retired Stockton, CA PD) was head Ranger, it pays to have someone on staff if, or when things 'go south' with a customer, or intruder.  We prefer to call the local Sheriff as a last resort.....in prior years we had no Ranger program, and called the Sheriff way too often, however, last year we only had to call them once.

Once I finished my rounds I dropped Miguel off at his golf cart and then.....at least it was my intent....went to finish cleaning Section F, however, my bucket and 'picker' were both missing from my cart.  I spent the next 45 minutes chasing down leads given to me by others, and finally recovered both items, both of which have my name written on them.

I finally got around to cleaning sites and by 3 pm had just about finished section F, but since I had hit the 6 hour mark it was time to clock out for the day......on my way back to the coach I decided there was not a single reason/excuse for me not to go for a bike ride....my first ride of the season up to the Emerald Bay Vista Point.

I was on my way by 3:45 pm up CA-89 and within 1.5 miles entered the bike path........

......the bike path runs about 4.5 miles paralleling CA-89 before you are dumped back out on to the highway for the final 3.5 miles to the top, and this is where the real climbing begins.....as is often the case there is construction in progress, but using the bike path took me past most of it, however, when I merged back on to CA-89 I saw a sign saying there was construction for the next 5 miles......uggggh!  Nevertheless, I was able to make it to the top without having to stop.........

.....once again I made it to the Emerald Bay Vista Point and was treated to wonderful views.....

......on the way back down through the switchbacks I got stopped at one of the construction zones for about 8 minutes before the flag person gave us the signal to continue......

.....I was back to the coach a little before 5 pm with my first Emerald Bay ride under my belt....even though I'm in pretty good shape, I'm not in 6,300 foot elevation shape yet....that will take a few more rides up to Emerald Bay.  My goal this summer is to successfully complete a circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe in one day......you may recall I was half way around last summer before my unfortunate accident (click here for that story) cut my ride short.

Wednesday will be our 'Friday' and then we are off for two days....thanks for stopping by!