Memorable....

 6:57 am - Thursday - August 31st - Tahoe City, CA - 41° F, humidity 77%, wind 1 mph out of the south by southwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 74° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were having dinner over looking the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, ID......↴

.....the view this morning.....↴

The desiduous trees are already changing colors here at 6,500' elevation

I tell everyone with whom I discuss Lake Tahoe that the Tahoe Basin has its own unique bouquet.  It must be the sugar pines, which dominate the local flora from which that wonderful aroma emanates, but every time we drive up the Truckee River drainage to Tahoe City from Truckee you begin to smell it as you pass Squaw Valley (home of the 1960 Winter Olympics).  Smells bring back memories, and in this case, wonderful memories of time spent with my family growing up, and time with TLE, and our kids as they grew into adulthood.  We sleep with the windows open here at the Pepper Tree Inn, and it is hard to convey the feelings of warmth, contentment, and happiness that come over me as I awake each day to that sugar pine aroma, just as I am doing now as I write.

That's TLE on the 7th floor in front of our room

The anniversary three (TLE, Meredith and moi) began our day Wednesday by taking the elevator down to ground level, and walking over to Syd's Bagelry for some coffee, and, you guessed it, bagels....well, at least a bagel for moi....

.....I love the proximity of everything to the Pepper Tree Inn....Syd's is directly across the street from the hotel.....

.....after our coffee we walked down to Commons Beach where we sat and talked for a while, then strolled along the bike path back to the marina area.....

....where we found a bench out on the gangway to sit, enjoy the lakeview, and talk more.....

.....from there we walked back to Rosie's Café (breakfast and lunch kind of place) where we had a late breakfast alfresco around 11:30 am.....I neglected to take pictures at Rosie's.  I had their Huevos Rancheros (you know me) with a pint of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale....lol.  By the time breakfast was over I was ready for a nap, so we headed back to the hotel where I did just that. The Huevos Rancheros was very good, and has moved into my top 5 ever.  Rosie's is about 1/2 block from the hotel....there's that proximity thing agian.

The basin had filled with smoke from forest fires to the north for a few hours, but by 4 pm when we went out on the deck to enjoy the lakeview again, the smoke had dissipated somewhat....

....our anniversary dinner reservation at Christy Hill was for 7 pm, so around 6 pm we began to get dressed.  It is only a 3 minute walk from the hotel to Christy's....that proximity thing again.  We were seated just before 7 at a corner window table with a lovely view of the lake....

....a number of months ago TLE and I had purchased a bottle of Chateaunauf-du-Pape for a special occasion, and we both deemed this 52nd anniversary of our wedding vows to be just such an occasion, so we brought our own bottle of wine for dinner.  They have a $35 corkage fee at Christy Hill, and are more than happy to decant your wine for you.....

.....my usual 'go to' entrée for such occasions is usually a Filet Mignon, and Christy's has a wonderful one, but on this night I chose the Moroccan Spiced Lam Loin for my main course, and there was NO regret.  Meredith chose it also, whilst TLE had their Pappardelle Pasta with King Prawns......

.....as we ate, and talked I spied a sailboat coming back to the marina after an afternoon of sailing.....

....and a few minutes later the Super Moon made its appearance just cresting over the Tahoe Basin mountains, and casting its gleaming reflection across the lake.....

.....we had advised the hostess that we were celebrating our 52nd anniversary, so they comped us dessert, and Cappuccino coffees....the dessert is a Chocolate Tort.....very yummy!  And so were the Cappuccinos.....

.....after paying our tab we walked slowly back up the hill a little after 9 pm to the hotel with collective smiles upon our faces.....what a great, memorable evening.  As I walked in the door of our room I turned and took a picture of Christy Hill all lit up.....if you are ever in Tahoe City check them out....amazing food, ambiance and service......

....thanks for stopping by!

We live two lives......

 7:09 am - Wednesday - August 30th - Tahoe City - 37° F, humidity 59%, wind 2 mph out of the east by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today in Tahoe City with a forecast high of 80° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary at Georgie's Beachside Grill in Newport, OR......↴

....the view this morning...↴

I awoke during the night sometime after midnight, and realizing it was officially our 52nd anniversary, thought of whispering 'Happy Anniversary' to TLE, but she beat me to it.  The longer we are together the more in sync we become.  Later in the day after we arrived in Tahoe City and were having lunch at The Bridgetender she reminded me of the quote from 'The Natural' when Glenn Close was visiting Robert Redford in the hospital.  He was expressing remorse about the mistakes he made early in his life when she said....."We live two lives....the one we learn with, and the one we live after..."....a very pithy, and relevant way of looking at life for those who engage in occasional introspection.  I believe I have inadvertently lived that advice over the years.  Nevertheless, I believe I get ahead of myself once again.

TLE and I were up around 7 am on the day of our 52nd wedding anniversary.  I wrote my blog, then headed outside to wash the Beetle before we began our 3.5 to 4 hour drive to Tahoe City.  By 9:30 am we had packed, and were in the now clean car heading south on US-395 for the first time since we arrived back on April 13th.  The wind shifted overnight, and the smoke from several fires to the north of LPG&RVR had filled the Pitt River Valley.  As we motivated southward the smoke began to clear, and by the time we hit Litchfield the skies were blue, and clear again.

Instead of driving all the way south to Reno on US-395 where we could pick up I-80 we exited on highway 70, which took us to US-89 through Loyalton, then Sierraville, and eventually Truckee where we then merged onto I-80 for a couple of miles before exiting to drive the final 15 miles to Tahoe City along the banks of the Truckee River which is the sole drainage for Lake Tahoe.  We really didn't want to drive through the congestion of Reno, and really enjoy this secondary road path to Lake Tahoe.

We arrived in Tahoe City at the Bridgetender around 1:00 pm, and were seated at a riverside table a few minutes later.  This place, in general, and Lake Tahoe specifically are literally filled with thousands of wonderful memories for me before I met TLE, and for the two of us since then.  We've eaten at the Bridgetender dozens of times over the years. and have camped, and stayed in hotels, and condos at locations all around the lake over our 52 years together.

We decided to order a couple of appetizers to share (chips and salsa, and onion rings) and then two Patti's Bloody Marys (with a stick of bacon for good measure), and settled in to enjoy the afternoon until we could check into our hotel.....

....after lunch we walked around town, and did a little 'junking' at a local thrift store we have frequented many times over the years.  Neither of us found anything without which we could not live.  At any rate, by the time we finished window shopping, and picking up a couple of things from the local Safeway supermarket we were able to check into our room around 3:30 pm.  The Peppertree Inn has 7 stories, and all the rooms face the lake.  We've been trying to get a room on the 7th floor for years, and finally succeeded this time around......

Still a little snow left at Heavenly Valley (South Lake Tahoe)

Christy Hill where we will dine Wednesday evening (they are not open on Tuesdays) to celebrate our 52nd

The top floor has vaulted ceilings, which gives them room to hang the occasional tapestry

My happy place....any place with a view of Lake Tahoe

.....as you know, we worked 3.5 summers (midway through the summer of 2017) at Tahoe Valley Campground, but didn't visit again until last year (2022).  Instead, we traveled to places on our bucket list not yet seen the next few years, but we are so happy we can now visit Tahoe at least once a year again!

Our oldest daughter, Meredith, decided to join us this year, so she drove up from Claremont, CA, where she lives, arriving at the Peppertree Inn around 7:45 pm while we were having dinner at Jake's On the Lake, another of our favorite dining haunts in Tahoe City.....

......our dinner reservations were for 7 pm, and we were able to get an alfresco table.  I ordered their White Chocolate Espresso Martini, and TLE a Greyhound (vodka with grapefruit juice).....

....and for our entrees she had the Mandarin Orange Miso salad........

....and I their Chicken Caesar salad...both were well prepared, and served in a very timely manner....

....while we sat talking about life, and the imminent arrival of our daughter I saw the moon rising over Lake Tahoe.....this one is about 1 day from being a 'Super Moon'.....

....after dinner we both ordered coffee, and sat watching the moon rise ever farther into the evening Tahoe sky.

From Jake's we walked back to Safeway to get some 1/2 and 1/2 for my coffee in the morning, and as we were walking back to the Peppertree Inn Meredith called to say she had arrived and was standing on the sidewalk watching us walk toward her.....

.....we helped her take her luggage up to her room, then moved up to our room on the 7th floor to sit outside enjoying the evening air, and talking about everything under the sun (or, in this case, the Super Moon) as we always do...

.....around 9 pm we decided to walk a block down the street to Truckee Creamery for some ice cream....a great way to end the official day of our anniversary.  We  sat in our room talking with Meredith until almost 10 pm before bidding her adieu for the evening.  My heart is full, and overflowing.

Thanks for stopping by!

52 of them......

7:07 am - Tuesday - August 29th - 52nd wedding anniversary - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 38%, wind 0 zero mph out of the northeast.......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 80° F....that's right, you read correctly.....80° F!  Twelve degrees cooler than Monday, and with that we say goodbye to the 90's.  The trees are beginning to change colors, and Fall is in the air!

On this date in 2017 TLE and I were celebrating our 46th wedding anniversary with good Yellowstone friends Roscoe, Geni and Dodge (Kristen).  One of our most cherished, and memorable anniversary celebrations ever......↴

For the next to last time I began my workday at 6:30 am....when will be the last time?  Saturday, September 2nd.  Why?  Well, it is a Saturday and I want to be off work in time for the weekly putting contest.  September 2nd is the last time I will be working on a Saturday this season. Otherwise, there is really no reason to go into work early from this point forward as the temps will be mostly in the 70's, with an occasional dip into the 60's, so a big 'YAY!!!' for us.  Monday was our annual 'anniversary eve', which I mentioned to TLE when she awoke around 6 am.  Fifty-two years is a big number that I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around.  No matter where we are on our anniversary we always make it a point to have dinner at a fine dining restaurant, with no limit on the cost.  This year, once again, we will travel a couple hundred miles to Tahoe City for that occasion.

It was very cold Monday morning, and for a few minutes I wished I were wearing pants......

.....as I washed the 6 Yamaha gassers left over from Sunday.  Once they were washed, and I had staged them, plus the other four for a total of 10, I headed out to do my daily first round of the course.....

Another Warner Mountains sunrise

.....one of the things I look for as I travel around the course is for flags which have been blown out of their holes overnight.  There is almost always one, as there was this Monday.  I've found as many as three in one morning earlier in the season.  The wind patterns are kind of weird around the Pitt River Valley.....I don't remember any wind Sunday night.....

Flag down on the 15th hole

.....at any rate, depending on the wind direction the flags which I usually find down are #5, 15, 6, and 14.  I think one time I found the flag at #7 down.  Monday we usually clear the driving range of golf balls so it can be mowed, but the grass is growing more slowly, and we didn't sell a lot of range balls over the weekend, so DeWayne will mow on Thursday this week.  I don't think I've had to clear the driving range for about a month now.  It always seems to fall to Walt to do that lately.

I did mow the employee grass (there are four of them), and the #21 pull through site, which was the last of the grass to mow this week.  I then retrieved one of the Stihl string trimmers to clean up the areas I mowed, and that was the extent of any physical labor, other than washing and stowing golf carts, which is not really that difficult.

The temperature on our last day of 90's temps fell short of the forecast 93° F by two degrees, but it was still a hot one.  I was off work by 2:30 pm, and already beginning my four day weekend.  I picked TLE up around 5:05 pm, and then we were both on our four day weekend.  We'll leave LPG&RVR around 10 am Tuesday morning for the 3.5 to 4 hour drive to Lake Tahoe where we will meet up with our oldest daughter, Meredith, who has decided to join us for our anniversary weekend.  Haven't seen her for about 5 months, so we are looking forward to that!

Thanks for stopping by!

Our 51st at Christy Hill in Tahoe City...we're going there again this year!