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!