Smoke On The Water

SONG - Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple

Day 3 - Thursday May 2 

We awoke to hotel fire alarm testing at 8 am that continued for hours, we had thunder and lightening throughout the night which woke us up and we were both totally exhausted due to jet lag. But we have arrived and we are so happy to be here!

The hotel that I picked out months ago at home turned out to be perfect for us - it is Hotel Indigo. Its location is excellent, it has a great bar & restaurant- The Elder and friendly staff. 

At breakfast we sat next to four (80 plus year old) ladies who were traveling together and it was fun to listen to their discussion. Husbands that don’t pick up after themselves, kids who rarely visit, how high the price of food has gotten (it’s so bad that one of them doesn’t even look at the prices anymore) and how important it is to have proper high eyebrows to make one look younger. And why does god take hairs from your eyebrows only then to grow them on your chin!

Afterwards we went shopping for a few items for our mini-fridge and the correct international plugs - apparently my French plugs don’t work in the UK….oops!   We spent the rest of the day relaxing and strolling around Bath. 

We dined nearby at the Huntsman and even stayed up late enough for Mr. B to join in Quiz Night with the locals which was hosted by Grace from Bristol. 

By 8:30 they weren’t even close to being done with the quiz but we were toast so off to our hotel to get some sleep!

See you tomorrow!

The Balance of Mother Earth

Song - Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple 

 

 After a long and crazy year, 

Mr. B and I were ready 

for a relaxing vacation in Tahoe.....

.....or so we thought!

The first day in the Sierra the skies were fairly blue. I could see a little haze down low.

By the next day the smoke was getting a little thick. I could just barely make out Mt. Tallac in the background from Baldwin Beach.

 

 

By the third day things were looking pretty bad so we hung out at the cabin with my new best friend - an air purifier and played some Canasta. Mr. B had to head home for a few days so I had some time on my own to paint, go to the beach, read and work on some needlework.

 

 

By the time Mr. B returned a new fire (Caldor) had begun to burn and it was blowing smoke our way.

We went to the beach to retrieve our emails and phone messages (no WiFi at the cabin). 

There was no one around and it all felt rather eerie. 

It was snowing ash....

We packed our essentials and headed home for a few days while things cleared up.

I hope the earth can find her balance again.

 

 

And now for a little excitement....

 

One afternoon while sitting on the cabin deck enjoying a glass of wine with Mr. B, I noticed a large brown dog playing at the cabin next door.

It was a baby bear playing with his mama above.

Mr. B grabbed the air horn as I grabbed my camera just as they were coming our way!

They were walking behind our cabin.

 

Junior doing a tough guy pose

 

 

 They walked all the way around the cabin and when Mr. B fired the air gun, Junior scrambled up a tree and Mama went to see if he was OK.  All was well so they continued their walk.

 

They crossed the street in front of the cabin and Mama decided something smelled mighty good in the "bear proof' garbage box.

Meanwhile Junior decided that he wanted to check out the "greens only" dumpster.  Well, it really is brown in color but it is for depositing branches, sticks, pine cones, yard waste, etc.  He found a nice pine cone to play with until Mama went in to retrieve him.  

 

 

I kept imagining if someone came by at this point to drop off some material into the dumpster - what a surprise they would find - two bears inside!

 

 

 Mama finally wrestled Junior into following her down to the creek 

to hopefully find a sip of cool water!

Ahhh....life in the mountains!!!

 

 

 

"Love, like fire, goes out without fuel."

--Mikhail Lermontov