My 60th birthday was on Sunday, June 9th! I reminded Mr. B that I didn't like big parties and at the last minute I decided we would head up to Tahoe which is the place I go to fill my soul. It was the best decision ever!
Thank you to my two cousins, Patty & Kari who now own the family cabin for sharing it with us! They recently had a beautiful new deck added and it was lovely to sit out there in the early morning and late afternoons.
I went up on Thursday with our two pups and the rest of the family came up on Friday night. I left a little later than I had planned.....you know how that goes.....just one more plant to water, one more load of laundry, oh yeah I should pay a few bills, got to pick up the dogs Rx before we leave, empty the garbage, and paintings needed to be dropped of at the gallery, etc.
But as soon as I smelled the pines in the Sierras, I was ready to relax and play.
I did my meditation out in the forest early Friday morning while listening to the various song birds and the breeze gently fluttering the Aspen trees around the cabin. There were millions of Spring wildflowers sprouting up all around.
At 9 am it was already warming up, which is unusual for Tahoe. I did some sketching and walked the dogs and did a little reading. By 3 I headed for the beach and stayed until 6. I brought some wine in an empty water bottle, which leaked out in my bag. The wine was floating around in a supermarket plastic bag and for one sec I thought about re-pouring it back into the bottle (as it was a rather expensive wine and one of my favorites - Frank Family), but as my son said later that that would of just felt desperate!! So I settled on reading and swimming.
The "boys of summer" were there to great me.
I headed home and cooked dinner for the family who arrived safely at around 8.
Saturday we spent the entire day at the beach and most of us returned to the cabin that night looking and feeling like red lobsters. Even those that used sunscreen, missed a few choice spots!
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| Ashley, Andy & Tyler with Mt. Tallac in the background |
Mr. B had make lakeside reservations at Sunnyside for dinner. It was an incredible evening of food, wine, family and glorious weather.
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| Andy & Ashley at Sunnyside dock |
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| Tyler hamming it for the camera |
When we returned to the cabin late that night we walked out to a clearing to look at the stars. Tyler and I saw a shooting star within a few minutes! Then we headed inside for a friendly game of Canasta that lasted until 2am!
Sunday we were all too "beached out" so we drove to the ranger station where they were having a festival around what is native to the Lake Tahoe area.
Apparently bats are native......
Then we drove up to Fallen Leaf Lake Lodge for lunch out on the deck.
But see that one little cloud up there?
Looks pretty innocent huh?
Just you wait!
After a yummy lunch we drove up to the falls and Lilly Lake.
The only photo I have of all of us together on my birthday and it came out blurry - sorry.
Can you see that a few more clouds are gathering?
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| Lilly Lake |
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| St. Francis of the Mountains |
The kids all headed back to the Bay Area from there while Mr. B and I went back to the cabin to read & paint and snuggle the pups.
Mr. B poured me a nice glass of Chianti Classico while I stared a new painting. To see the progress click HERE
While on the deck, the weather had turned to large dark clouds even though it was still warm outside. The rolling thunder was continuous through the afternoon and evening.
That evening we had a lovely dinner at Scusa, a wonderful Italian restaurant nearby.
Monday I set up on the deck to paint and got in a few hours before the rains came. We had a cozy day inside the cabin and around 3 decided to head home.
I always have a hard time saying goodbye to Tahoe but I am hoping we will be back in September!
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| Before the rains |
"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." - Frederick Keonig
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