The Sierra's

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

Maybe it just

 wasn't

 meant to be a "traditional" vacation.

Playing Indians with my brothers & cousins

Every year since I was about five years old, I have always spent part of my summer in beautiful Lake Tahoe.

There is something so familiar and relaxing in those magnificent mountains, bright blue sky and clear lake.

But this year something was.....well.....amiss.

For starters, Mr. B developed an abscessed tooth and sinus infection and had to return to the Bay Area for a root canal and antibiotics.

But near the end of our vacation he was in fine form and even swimming his annual laps in the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe!

While Mr. B was gone there was a spectacular lightening storm with nonstop rolling thunder, a little rain & even some hail

Friends who were going to visit had to change their plans at the last minute but others came to visit and play.

Andy & Ashley

Some others were uninvited guests and tried to sneak off with our dinner!

Oh yeah, and there was the tragic Rim Fire near Yosemite that sent all of it's smoke our way.

 

Some days the smoke stayed over in the Carson Valley.

So for over two weeks we had little visibility not to mention ash falling on everything.

But the smoke did make for beautiful sunsets! 

And an eerie light most days.

You know the kind of light that happens when there is a eclipse?  

Well sort of like that only orange.

So not too many days were spent on the beach or taking hikes but I did manage to do a lot of painting, reading and even got in some Canasta hands!

Mr. B and I also happily celebrated our 34th Anniversary on the outdoor deck at Sunnyside!

One evening we went to the Ranger Station's Amphitheater to see McAvoy Layne do his incredible interpretation of Mark Twain. 

And there were more Bald Eagles than I have ever seen flying over the water, searching for fish in Lake Tahoe and then returning to their nesting grounds high in the trees near the beach.

All in all, we made the best of the situation and are glad to be breathing fresh air again!

 "At last the lake burst upon us--a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole world affords." -- Mark Twain