North to Alaska . . . But which way do I go?

Long before I retired, Le Anna and I had agreed that our first big trip would be to see the Inside Passage to Alaska.  We had talked about taking a normal cruise, which would be the easy way to do it, but we wanted to spend more than a few hours in each of the small towns along the Inside Passage.  So we had decided that the best way for us to go would be on the Alaska Ferry,  which stops at all the towns on a regular schedule.  Here is the link to the Alaska Marine Highway website http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/ .  Thus began our study of various options for the trip.

Alaska Ferry

I worked in Alaska earlier in my career, and we had both seen the Anchorage area and Kenai Peninsula.  Our goal for the next trip was to see Fairbanks, Denali, and more of the interior in addition to exploring the beautiful Inside Passage.  We also wanted to visit Whitehorse, Yukon, and possibly the gold rush town of Dawson.  The more we talked about it, the more options came up.

Our first preference was to load up our car and hit the road, driving up Vancouver Island, putting the car on the BC Ferry at Port Hardy, and going up the Canadian coastline, switching to the Alaska Ferry at Prince Rupert, BC.  Here is the link to the BC Ferry system -  http://www.bcferries.com/.  We’d take our time and enjoy getting off/on at the small towns along the Alaskan Inside Passage from Ketchikan up to Skagway where we could drive on the mainland again.  We could tour the interior as we liked, and return to the US via the Alcan Highway through the interior of BC.  What we discovered when we dug into details, was that advance reservations would be required for each leg of the ferry, and there was really no place to go with a car at most stops.  Then there was the cost, which would be over $900 for the vehicle cost on the ferry.  We concluded that this option would be too restrictive and expensive.

The Inside Passage

We thought about some variations, like leaving our car in Juneau and taking the fast foot ferry to Sitka, but that was only a slight improvement.  We also looked at driving through BC up to AK first, and coming South down the Passage on the ferry, but this was essentially the same trip with the same inflexibility and comparable costs.

after this, we started thinking that the better approach would be to just walk-on the ferry and rent a car in Skagway or Whitehorse to tour the interior, then fly home from Anchorage or Fairbanks.   Ideally we would prefer to return the car to where it was rented to avoid the one-way drop-off fee, but in this case it was very difficult and costly to fly home from Whitehorse.  We looked at every option we could think of – including taking the ferry straight from Bellingham, WA to Ketchikan, AK before starting our stop-offs at the small towns up the Passage.  

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Skagway, Alaska

At this point the engineer in me decided we needed to put the scenarios in a spreadsheet to do a proper assessment of the options.  I ended up with 5 different options, listing each day of the itinerary, with columns for all the different costs for the day.  Surprisingly, the total costs for each option did not vary as much as I had thought they would (although it was still going to be a pricey trip – over $6K).

It was time to consider making some trade-offs and setting priorities.  We gave up on going to Dawson but kept Whitehorse and Skagway on the tour, and put a priority on having a couple days in each of the Inside Passage villages that interested us.  We could skip Anchorage since both of us had seen it on more than one occasion.  In the end we decided on a fly, drive, and ferry combination, starting in Fairbanks and coming south.  It made a lot of sense, kept our travel time under four weeks, and was in the mid-price range of all the options.   

We will fly to Fairbanks from Seattle (cheap tickets), then rent a car to tour Denali and the interior, drive eastward through the Matanuska Valley to the St. Elias/Wrangell parks, over to Whitehorse and then drop the car in Skagway, hop on the ferry as foot passengers and come down the Inside Passage at a slower pace. There is a large drop-off fee for the rental car, but less than taking a personal car the entire distance on the ferry.  We decided to stop our tour in Ketchikan and fly back to Seattle in order to save a few days of ferry travel.  We plan to do the BC Canada coastline on another trip.

Denali National Park

Once we got the itinerary roughed out, we started looking at accommodations along the way.   This was another challenge since we were going in peak season for Alaska, and motels are limited in many of the places we wanted to see.  We ended up having to pre-book everything about 6 months in advance, including the ferry and the rental car.  This was contrary to our initial thought that once we were retired, we could take off at a moment’s notice and hit the road.  This trip required very detailed day-to-day planning long in advance of leaving.

We will start the Alaska trip next week, so stay tuned to our blog.  Thanks for traveling along with us!

The Homeward Stretch

Day 25 ~ Bend, OR to HOME!

We’ve been on the road for over three weeks and now it is time to head home!  Central OR falls behind us as we head NE through the small farming and rangeland towns of Madras, Shaniko, and Grass Valley, OR.  While driving we remembered the mid-1980’s scandal when the Indian guru Rajneesh and his followers settled in a commune not far from Antelope, OR.  This evolved into a high profile battle between the “Rajneeshies” and the locals.  Eventually the commune collapsed but the legal battles and the emotional upheaval lasted for a long time.  (www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_one_it_was_worse_than_we.html) The entire situation seems very unlikely when you pass through the tranquil wide-open spaces of this part of OR.

Eastern OR

The countryside was familiar to us and we kept our eyes open for the first glimpse of Mt. Hood to the west of us.  Soon we had also sighted Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier, both in WA, and we knew home was just down the Columbia River Gorge and slightly to the north in south central WA.

Mt. Adams & Mt. Rainier in the distance

We came up onto I-84 at Biggs, often considered the eastern end of the Gorge.  It's common to see barges on the river.

Columbia River at Biggs, OR

Looking across the Gorge are views of wind farms, vineyards and the landmark Maryhill Museum, an impressive art museum with works by Rodin, a large Native American collection, and a nice collection of glassworks. (www.maryhillmuseum.org)

Look carefully across the River and you will also see a war memorial, designed as a smaller replica of Stonehenge – very unique.  (wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryhill_Stonehenge)  Both of these are located in an unlikely location but worth visiting if you are in the area.  As an added bonus, Maryhill has an excellent winery just down the road which puts on great summer concerts in an open-air amphitheater overlooking the gorge. (www.maryhillwinery.com/)

Maryhill Museum across the river

Traveling east we decided to exit the freeway, take the old highway and go through the tiny agricultural community of Irrigon.  They have a nice marina park along the River and we enjoyed a nice walk and picnic lunch.

Marina Park at Irrigon, OR

 
Crossing the River we entered WA, just below McNary Dam.   Home was calling to us now!

Hills near the Tri-Cities, WA

We’d had a great trip, traveled safely, were blessed with good weather and beautiful scenery.  For years to come we would have memories of camping on the OR coast, the Redwoods, Napa Valley, San Francisco, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mt. Shasta, Crater Lake, and Bend.   Remember the rooftop carrier ~ Bob was ready to ditch it within hours of leaving on this trip but it had turned out to be useful and we’d gotten much better at packing up the carrier and car.  We’d learned a lot about ourselves on this road trip and hopefully we would take the lessons to heart on future travels.  We would not try to combine a camping trip and a conventional road trip in the future – it takes way too much “stuff”!

Home . . . we love our home and it felt so good to walk in the door and feel comfortable.  We’d traveled for 2976 miles over three and a half weeks and though we were “seeing new things and meeting new people” (that’s one of Bob’s favorite mantras) home was never far from our minds.

Home

When we set out to write this blog we wanted to approach all the challenges and rewards of retirement, and during the trip we had encountered both and hopefully gained some insight into our retirement.

Financially we had planned and paid for most of the trip in advance, either through advance bookings or having the cash to pay AMEX when the bill comes.  But we hadn’t planned on spending $1000 to replace a dishwasher two days before leaving on the trip.  We had not planned on spending $500 replacing our koi pond pump while on the trip.  We came home to find a broken icemaker to the tune of $300.  Life happens whether you are home or traveling, and I guess there is some synchronicity to “three broken things.”

Emotionally, part of our trip was spent with family, and sometimes that doesn’t go as smoothly as one would hope.  But at the end of the day, family is family, and again, life goes on. 

Physically, the trip had been harder on us than we had anticipated.  We were tired and we certainly could have gotten more exercise and  made better food choices while traveling.  The long days of driving, sightseeing, and visiting had taken a toll on our bodies and it has taken several days to begin feeling some energy.  There are more trips ahead of us and we need to pay heed to our health . . . if we are going to have a long life ahead!

We’d been good about building some “catch-up” time into our travel schedules but nothing quite prepares you for getting three+ weeks of mail delivered in one afternoon.  It takes time to sort through the junk, correspondence and bills.  There were chores to do . . . unpacking, laundry, house and yard work, groceries and we needed to prepare for houseguests who were arriving in a few days.  There’s always a lot to do and getting caught up makes everything feel like a priority.

Our days at home were full; both of us had medical & dental appointments scheduled and we had made commitments to family and friends.  We were busy, busy, but also our wanderlust had been tapped again.  Three days after coming home we looked at one another and admitted to being a bit bored with the routine of daily life.  Five days after coming home I woke up and told Bob “let’s get out of here” so we took a day trip to Walla Walla, one of our favorite communities an hour down the road.

It has taken us some time every day to get caught up on the blog posts and our photos.  We’ve been discussing whether traveling while retired qualifies as being on vacation.  It seemed like a vacation because we were not home and yet we didn’t have a job and routine to return to.  This road trip was now a part of our daily life and there would be two more big trips over the next three months.  There is lots of adventure to look forward to!  Thanks for traveling with us.

 

Volcanoes and a Very Deep Lake

Day 21 ~ Lake Tahoe to Mt. Shasta, CA

It was time to move onto the next leg of our road trip.  Our goal for the day was to get as far as Mt. Shasta, CA but we intended to take our time and enjoy the drive.  Driving along the eastern rim of Lake Tahoe was just as beautiful as a couple days earlier.  This time we really paid attention to the ambience of Zephyr Cove, Incline Village, Crystal Bay and King’s Beach before turning north toward Truckee, CA.  On the “back” side of Lake Tahoe, we noticed a Ritz Carlton resort sign that might be interesting to check out on a different trip.  It appeared to be an all-year resort with lots of golfing and nearby skiing.

I had always wanted to drive over Donner Pass and maybe visit the museum acknowledging the tragic history of the Donner Party  (wikipedia.org/?title=Donner_Pass)  The scenery along I-80 was very pretty and we missed the signage for Donner Lake and Soda Springs and before we knew it we were getting to our exit for CA-20 toward Grass Valley, CA.  This was a very pretty mountain route, following the path of the 1850 Emigrant Trail, with expansive views of the Sierras.  We stopped at the Omega Overlook and took a walk out to view the old hydraulic mine works in the valley below. 

Omega Mine Works

Although we didn’t have a tight schedule, we regretted that we did not stop at the town of Downieville, which apparently has a nice historic district documenting its rich gold mining history.  Continuing onward we drove through Grass Valley, also looking like a pleasant community.  Lunchtime found us in Yuba City and one of the great temptations of CA finally got the better of us.  We had seen In & Out drive-in restaurants throughout CA but hadn’t eaten at one.  Bob tries to not eat beef so it didn’t seem a priority until we were hungry and there it was!  I have to say it is probably a good thing we don’t live in CA or we would become frequent patrons of this chain.  Yummy!

Bougainvillea

Lunch @ In & Out

We headed north on US-99 and were impressed by the stunning rows of beautiful white and red bougainvillea along the highway.  We were also noticing the beautiful orchards of walnut and almond trees.  Curiosity got the better of us and we stopped alongside a grove and picked one of the nuts trying to decide if it was an almond or walnut.  Later that evening we did some “googling” and decided we had stolen a walnut; my apologies to the orchardist!

Walnut Grove

Walnuts on the tree

Walnut cut open

 The road continued toward Chico and joined I-5 at Red Bluffs, going north toward Shasta Lake.  Once again we were struck by the extent and severity of the drought conditions in CA.  Shasta Lake is the largest CA reservoir but the water level is extememly low.  The situation is serious indeed.

Shasta Lake

Mt. Shasta viewpoint

Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta

 We began seeing views of beautiful Mt. Shasta, one of California’s most impressive mountains.  It is a compilation of four separate volcanic cones, the last eruption being nearly 240 years ago in 1786.  I hoped it wouldn’t choose tonight to blow again as we were staying at the charming village of Mt. Shasta at the base of the mountain.  The Best Western Tree House motel had a very pleasant mountain lodge atmosphere and we enjoyed our restful evening there. 

Day 22 ~ Mt. Shasta, CA – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Starting our fourth week of the road trip our last stop in CA was at Weed.  The town of Weed has a long history of logging and forestry but just a few months ago in Sept. 2014 it was the site of the massive “Boles Fire” a wildfire that damaged over 200 structures within four hours and resulted in an evacuation of the town.

Leaving Weed on US-97, we continued to enjoy lovely views of Mt. Shasta and also the lovely meadows of Grass Lake as we traveled toward Klamath Falls, OR.  Seeing the Klamath River had new meaning to us having been to the Klamath Overlook in the CA Redwoods area where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean. 

We began to feel we were on the homestretch of the road trip, being familiar with the Southern Cascades.  Today’s destination was Crater Lake, the third National Park we had the pleasure of visiting on this trip.  (www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm)  We’d seen it from the air but never up close.  The scenic byway mountain drive above Klamath Lake was pretty and we knew we were climbing in elevation.  We stopped for a picnic at a pullout overlooking Annie’s Creek and were surprised by the canyon below.   

We parked at the visitor center for Crater Lake National Park and got our bearings.  The eastern rim road was partially closed a few miles ahead but we decided to go to the Sun Notch trail for a short hike for our first view of Crater Lake.  Stunning is an understatement. 

Sun Notch Trail

 

View from Sun Notch

The lake is the deepest blue water and actually the deepest lake (1945’) in the US.  It was formed by the eruption of the ancient Mt. Mazama, about 7700 years ago, and the collapse of nearly 5000’ of the mountain forming the caldera, which is about 5 mi by 6 mi.  The rim drive is a 33-mile loop with lots of scenic pullouts providing many opportunities for photos.  On average, the Lake gets nearly 44’ of snow a year but the Park is open year-around.

Returning to the Rim Village area we took a walk along the rim, enjoying the view.  There were lots of tourists and it was disturbing to see some of them blatantly ignore the “danger” signs and cross the barriers in order to take “selfies”.  The Park has done an excellent job of trying to ensure the safety of 482,000 visitors annually.  I don’t know why some people feel they don’t need to follow the rules; this is the rim of a volcano for goodness sakes!

Tourists behaving badly

Lodge Fireplace

Our big indulgence for this road trip was to stay a night at the historic Crater Lake Lodge, overlooking the beautiful lake.  (www.craterlakelodges.com/)  We loved the Lodge.  It is very basic with no TV, no phone, poor cell service, no spa, etc.  The Lodge offers first- rate service and an incredible view.  We enjoyed drinks on the patio and a wonderful meal.  It was fun sitting in the lobby and meeting different people as we waited for a table and especially meeting one of the chefs who was off for the evening.  He suggested we order our salmon cooked “medium rare” which was something we’d never known to do when ordering fish as an entrée. Following his advice, the salmon was perfect!  By the way, the meal portions are very large and you won’t go hungry at dinner or breakfast.

Day 23 ~ Crater Lake National Park – Bend, OR

Bob rose early to catch the sunrise over Crater Lake and some beautiful photos.  Visiting this Park is all about the view, any time of day or night, and anywhere around the Lake.

We continued the drive around the west rim of the lake, stopping at the Watchmen Overlook (superb!), and further around at the  Cleetwood Cove Trailhead where the trail leads down to the lake’s surface.  In the summer there are boat tours from the cove and fisherman can access the lake, which was stocked back in the 1880’s with Rainbow trout and Kokanee salmon.  Fish are not native to the lake so fishing is actually encouraged, if you want to walk down the long, steep, strenuous trail to the lake.

Culturally and historically, the Klamath Tribe of Native Americans believes Crater Lake is a sacred spiritual place.  One of the things I noticed while at the many overlooks was that tourists (exception already noted) were behaving reverently, speaking in hushed tones, and being respectful.  Remember, the Lake is a volcanic crater and the floor of the Lake continues to rumble.  What a blessing to be able to view it now.  Now that our retirement is not only insight but we are living it we need to remember to take time to enjoy our life and appreciate the blessings we have been given.  Our insight is taking moments to reflect.
 

Reflection

We departed Crater Lake National Park via the north entrance route, traveling through the alpine meadows and the forests back out to US-97.  Our destination for the night was Bend, OR, an area we hadn’t been to for many years.  Just outside Bend we stopped at Lava Lands, the interpretive center for Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  Mt. Shasta, Crater Lake, Newberry, and the volcanoes that continue up through OR, WA and British Columbia are all part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc.  It’s impressive geologically and scenically. (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Volcanic_Arc)

We did a quick run through Sun River, outside Bend.  It is a planned resort community of golf courses and homes, and a year around resort with skiing at nearby Mt. Bachelor.  We had visited many years ago and it is still lovely.  The community of Bend is located on a high desert plateau in central OR on the eastern edge of the Cascades.  Bend is an active community, enticing outdoor enthusiasts year around and in recent years it has become known for its brewpubs.  Tourism is its mainstay and it was obvious to us that the town has invested a lot of money into revival of older areas and providing trails, parks, restaurants, and hotels to facilitate tourism.  Our home for the next two days would be at the Hilton Garden Inn located in the Old Mill district, along the Deschutes River. (www.theoldmill.com)

Day 24 ~ Bend & Sisters, OR

We looked forward to driving around Bend and reacquainting ourselves with the community; it’s now grown to over 81,000, which was surprising.  It’s a lively place and is one of those places that feel good to be there!  In the afternoon we took off toward the mountains to one of our favorite places, Sisters, OR. 

 It’s a beautiful drive along the Deschutes River with expansive views of range land reaching right up to the mountains.  The volcanoes dominate the landscape with views of Bachelor, Broken Top, the three Sisters (aka Faith, Hope & Charity), and Mt. Jefferson.  We enjoyed a walk around Sisters (it has also been revitalized) and a drive up to the mountain residential areas of Black Butte and Camp Sherman.  We returned to Bend via the northern community of Redmond and decided to drive up toward Mt. Bachelor.  Many years ago Bob and the kids had gone skiing at Mt. Bachelor on what had to be one of the coldest ski trips ever.  We shared a lot of good memories of raising our family during those years and exploring the greater NW together.

Broken Top & Three Sisters

Mt. Bachelor

Mt. Jefferson

Dinner was at 10 Barrel Brewing Co. and totally delightful!  (www.10barrel.com)  We followed the lead of the folks at the table next to us and shared salads and an entrée.  The food was excellent, Bob enjoyed the brew, and the service could not have been better.  It was a perfect way to end our travels, as tomorrow we would head home.   We are ready.

A Lake for All Seasons

Week 3, Days 15 - 20 ~ Lake Tahoe, CA

Having arrived in South Lake Tahoe (SLT) late yesterday afternoon we were exhausted from long days of driving, lots of sightseeing, and too much packing and unpacking.  If you have followed the posts on this trip you will know that we have camped a total of six nights in four different locations, stayed in a houseboat for 4 nights, and have had four nights of motels in three locations.  We are tired!  But now we are looking forward to staying in a nice timeshare condo for a week, hopefully to rest and relax. 

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

One of the things we have learned from this trip (call it our insight into our retirement) is that we can go camping or we can go on vacation.  But doing both on the same trip doesn’t work for us.  We have to bring too much stuff, starting with the rooftop carrier!  We packed both camping stuff and normal vacation stuff; we brought all sorts of gear, coolers, bags of food, clothing for all sorts of weather (except I was cold in San Francisco), and we had our books, camera, laptop, iPads, iPhones, and all the chargers, etc.  Just too much stuff!

So we decided to spend our first day in SLT reorganizing and shipping some things home in boxes that we no longer needed.  We easily filled two boxes for shipping and felt much better having lightened our load.  The rooftop carrier is still with us, filled with the large camping gear, but at least all the rest of our belongings will fit more easily in the back of the car.  My mood improved immediately.

We had booked a timeshare through RCI at the Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort.  (www.diamondresorts.com/Lake-Tahoe-Vacation-Resort)  My brother and sister-in-law (L&D, I'll protect their names) who live in CO will join us for the week.  They have a smaller unit on the same floor while our unit is a 1 bedroom with a full kitchen.  Our unit will become the gathering place for family time.  The resort is right on the Lake and conveniently located for walking to restaurants and to Nevada (translation, the casinos) along the main drag.

After settling into the condos and getting caught up with L&D, we all headed over to McDuff’s for dinner, an Irish pub not far from the resort.  After a great meal, it was early to bed for all of us. (www.macduffspub.com/tahoe/index)

The next morning we invited L&D to join us in our condo for breakfast since we had quite a bit of food left from our camping days.  This became the routine for the week, and one of the more enjoyable parts of the time together.  L is my younger brother (another brother and sister between us in age) and we hadn’t seen them in nearly a year since our father’s passing.  There seemed a lot to get caught up on.

After visiting we walked up the street to check out the casinos.  There are four majors in town, Harrah’s, Mont Bleu, Harvey’s, and the Hard Rock.  None of us are very big gamblers but it’s interesting to people watch and once in awhile follow our son’s advice and “put it all on red.”  Actually, L & Bob enjoy playing craps so they did try their luck for a few hours over the week but there were no big winners at the end of the week.  D and I enjoyed shopping; what else are two girls to do?

Lunch was on the patio at the Hard Rock and we decided to walk back to the resort and drive the southwest shore of the Lake.  It’s beautiful!  The water is multi-colors of blue and green, the mountains circle the Lake providing stunning views in every direction.  There are a few turnouts, and in particular a very nice viewpoint at Emerald Bay.  We drove up to Tahoe City on the west side of the lake, walked on the beach, and returned to SLT.  It was a nice afternoon.  

Emerald Bay

Emerald Bay

The next day D suggested a drive to Squaw Valley, about an hour away.  Squaw Valley was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.  (squawalpine.com/events-things-do/olympic-museum) The tram was open so we decided to take a ride to the top.  The views were beautiful from the top of the mountain and we enjoyed visiting the Squaw Valley museum; Bob and I are both old enough to remember those Olympics so it was meaningful.  The village had several shops and we enjoyed lunch at Fireside Pizza - wonderful!

Village view from Tram

Looking up to midway of tram

 

Flags @ Olympic Museum

Olympic Rings

Sierra View

Squaw Valley Peaks

Lake Tahoe View from Squaw Valley Tram

The day had been long and we called it an early evening.  I thing we are all getting old; our routine seems to be early to bed and early to rise.  No wild nights on the town for us!

The next morning at breakfast, the phone rang and it was my Mom and my sister with news about a death in the family.  They had gone to Denver to support my aunt whose 37-year old son had passed unexpectedly, and there were a number of details to tend to.  They needed some emotional support and reached out to us.  A couple hours of phone calls and text messaging consumed our morning and put a damper on the day.  We did head to the casinos that afternoon, and hoped to win some money to send to my aunt for funeral expenses.  That didn’t work out but I’m sure we will all support her however we can.

Dinner was simple; across the street was one of Tahoe’s long-standing, family-owned restaurants, The Red Hut.  Their specialty is all American burgers, dogs, fries, and malts.  Yummy!

The next day was all about exploring the Lake.  We booked a scenic lake cruise on the Tahoe Queen, a sternwheeler that departs from Zephyr Cove.  (www.zephyrcove.com/cruises.aspx) The two+ hour cruise provided some limited narration about the geography, geology, history and culture of the Lake.  The cruise was very interesting and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon of scenery, sunshine and clear blue water.  Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the US behind Crater Lake, and the colors of the water are brilliant blues, greens and turquoise.  The water is cold, but the lake never freezes over completely in the winter.  Because of the cold water it has some nice lake trout and kokanee salmon.

Everyone was in the mood for pasta so we sought out Primo’s, which was highly recommended by TripAdvisor.com.  (www.primositalianbistro.com/) Wonderful!  Every detail of the meal was enjoyable starting with the excellent service provided by the personable waiter and very good food.  Among us we had Marsala, Picatta, and lasagna; all of it a meal to remember.

All of us were feeling a bit lazy and in need of some exercise the next day.  So off we go golfing at the community nine-hole, par-three/four course.  Everything at SLT is beautiful and this course is very pretty and also challenging, especially since neither L or D, or myself, are not really “golfers.”  Bob can hold his own at golf.  It was fun and easy to spend a couple hours enjoying being outside and occasionally making a good shot. (www.tahoeactivities.com/bijou-municipal-golf-course/)

Bijou Golf Course

I think the week and “family” were catching up with us, or at least with me.  I decided to hang out at the condo and take it easy.  It was nice to get caught up on some personal business, do some blogging, write postcards and relax.  D did some of the same, and L and Bob walked over to the marina and enjoyed looking at boats and having a beer.  A relaxing afternoon!  We continued the "keep it simple and relaxed" attitudes by having dinner at the resort restaurant and called it an early evening.

Our last full day in SLT and the weather changed to a drizzly, overcast day.  Knowing we still needed to get some exercise we all took a walk on the shore and enjoyed frequent stops to admire lakeside homes.  All of us agreed that Tahoe would be a good place to own a property; it is a year around resort with boating and golf in the summer, skiing and other snow sports in the winter.  If only . . . that was the mantra for the morning!

Having done all the sightseeing and gambling we wanted to do, and since the weather was rainy, it seemed like a good afternoon for a movie matinee followed by delivery pizza and cards at the condo.  It was our last evening together and we would each go separate ways tomorrow.