Lake Tahoe, The Good, The Bad, The Good

And it did! That's where I've been posting during my blog hiatus.

During my blog absence Mr. T and I took a long overdue week off from daily life and headed north to Lake Tahoe. Our first visit to this beautiful area.

We took one of the smaller highways which ended up being a spectacular drive scenery-wise. Timewise it was long-about 8 hours.

Heading out from Orange County with our bicycles loaded on the back of the truck.

It was totally worth the time. We stopped several times along the way and my "go-to California expert", Debby, from  the blog, "Just Breathe"   gave us a great suggestion for a lunch stop.

Take a look at the changing scenery we encountered on that drive:

Beautiful deserts

Open Road, big sky...

One of my favorite sights along the way!

We couldn't figure this one out.  It looked like a fault line.

 Debby, do you know what this is?

Yosemite is over that way about 30 miles.

 We hope to go THERE next summer.

Time for a stretch - it was cold!

We left temps in the 80s and 90s. Had snow by the time we reached Tahoe.

A very strange lake. I thought it was a salt lake,

 but these were calcium formations. Mono Lake.

A professional shot I found on google:

Then...

Lunch! A large bakery/deli. Has been there for a very long time.
I had two other people recommend it besides Debby.

Told you! Snow! At the end of April!

Guess who looking a the view of Lake Tahoe from the south end.

Here's a little panorama shot I took.  Please forgive the muttering in the audio...

The first day after we arrived we drove around the entire lake.

This was my favorite part of Lake Tahoe.

 Emerald Bay.

We got a little closer a couple of days later on a boat tour.

We waited for the snow to melt before using our bikes. However we can out to the truck one morning and this is what we found:

Gone! Lock on rack jimmied, steel cable cut.

We called hotel security and the police.  When asked if we had pictures of the bikes, I only had this to email to the police officer. I told him he would get his laugh of the day when he returned to the station and saw the picture I had sent him:

You can see the two black and whites back there in the trailer.

We aren't strange.

So that was the bad: our bikes were gone.

Put a pall on our stay and we weren't happy with hotel management's lack of response.

The good: Our Renter's Insurance covered the cost of the bikes in full!

More good: I wrote a letter to the hotel operations manager and explained how disappointed we were, not with our accomodations, but by the lack of concern showed by the staff we approached many times.

I got a phone call from the operations mgr and she agreed with me that we had not been treated as well as we should have been. They re-imbursed us for 50% of our stay, which we felt was fair.

So, I can now say in good conscience, Harrah's in South Lake Tahoe is a wonderful, reasonably priced (with Groupon!) place to stay. Excellent service, food, convenience. 

But don't leave your bikes in the parking lot!

Now, more good:

A castle-style 'cottage' built in the 1940s .

There it is from the boat. There are tours of it available in the summer months, but you cannot access it by boat. You must hike down. And then of course, hike back.  Maybe by my next visit I will be able to do that - I hope so!

The small turret on the island across from the house where

the 'lady of the house' had tea every afternoon. Accessible by boat only.

Trying to stay warm during our boat ride.

That beautiful, clear, blue water that Lake Tahoe is famous for.

There he is again!

Even I was cold!

A hardy young man and his best friend.

I thought I'd end with some bling. This picture was taken inside an old saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. This gorgeous chandelier is original glass dating back to the late 1800s. Teddy Roosevelt, Doc Holiday, Mark Twain and numerous others sat under it, 'in the day'.

So, there you have it folks: The Good, The Bad and The Good.

June! Time to Return to Blogland!

 Life has taken some twists and turns as usual over the last few months.  Just look at this drive we took!  That's pretty much how it's been as we've navigated our second year in California. Beautiful, unpredictable, but always somehow finding our way home at the end.

I'm not going to attempt to catch you up on EVERYTHING, but I will just go over some of the highlights today and then perhaps in later posts show you some more pictures of  Mr. T's and my adventures.

I got new glasses! They automatically tint in the sun. Yes, there is an official name for that, I forget it at the moment.

We've been to some fun and beautiful places!

Self-explanatory

Ski-lift ride down from Mt. Baldy - my terrified phone picture :-)

Drive to Lake Tahoe - Definitely a post in itself!

THEY are still the same...

 I'm almost 12!

Darcy and Dexter living the life with The Maven

I'm still teaching my Japanese students along with my able Teaching Assistant, Bumby.

Stanley took over TA duties for a few days went I went to stay with him after a scary incident - another post, but he's okay now.  And a good teaching assistant, although his Japanese is rusty.

See? Better!

I'm eating "clean". Trying to, anyway. Another post-worthy endeavour at some point.

Trying to improve the looks and comfort of 'the old place'. Love these 'Poofs!

Still visiting Vintage places and dreaming...

Best twist and turn?  This, hands down!

One year out from surgery! Doing great. Recently took training to become a Peer Counselor/Advocate within the California Mental Health system. Passed with flying colors, is applying for jobs in her exciting, new field and has an interview next week!

What a difference a year makes!

I'll take those twists and turns as long as they lead to something better ahead.

Big hug to my special friend, Sandie at Chatty Crone.  Hope you get to read this because it means I'm thinking about you, my blue, Ball Jar friend!

And a big hug to all my friends and family who have been patient while The Boston Lady learns her new computer, adjusts to life and keeps on, keeping on.

(Oh, and I had to quit the dog walking job. Hated leaving those hounds, but something had to give!)

Thursday Thought: I'm a Liar....

I lie like a rug.

A red carpet, to be exact.

I'm not doing a follow up to my Boscar's Rain Delay.

I just can't!! 

I want to, but I just can't make myself do it.

I usually compile lists of the movies I've seen throughout the year and have comments to make.

The day before the awards I realized that my procrastinating ways were going to keep me from being on time.  I had every intention of doing a follow up post with my reaction to the show, but I....just....can't.

Monday through Wednesday I spend about 7-8 hours each day looking at the computer screen and talking to avatars that talk back to me. It's not a hard thing to do, but in it's own way it is exhausting.  I don't know if it the fact that I appear on camera (see? I'm in show biz afterall) to my students and must maintain a certain level of enthusiasm and cheer, (yeah, sure, and Cate Blanchett thinks she's a great actress). 

Or. If it is the 5am classes I have to be perky for. Or. The fact that I go back to sleep for an hour after my morning "performance" and then revive for my afternoon "matinee".  Sometimes I really lose my mind and throw in an evening performance just to test the boundaries of my sanity. 

All I know is that it is tiring and I've got to figure out a new way to get "real life" things done. Grocery shopping, laundry, housecleaning (what's that?), cooking (again, huh?) and blogging, of course, which has taken the low spot on the list of things to do.

This is the first week of not doing the dog walking. I thought I would have all sorts of extra time on my hands! Nope. And I have no explanation for why that is. It evaporated!

This is not hard work, people. But it's been an adjustment for me. It has disrupted my "engraved in steel" habit of grocery shopping on Mondays. My "I took having a washer and dryer in the house for granted and could do laundry anytime I want" laundry habits.

I grocery shop in spurts now.

 We are on an "as needed" basis with all food groups including the feline and canine food. I patronize five different grocery stores depending on the day, the need, the time available. I know, I know, my Orlando friends. Shocking. You used to be able to set your clock by my appearance in Publix on Monday mornings.

I've gone rogue.

And not by choice.

So, I'm going to change. 

I will cut myself some slack from Monday through Wednesday and save necessary real life chores for my two lighter days, Thursday and Friday. I only perform for the avatars in the morning those days.

So. New schedule. New Plan. No dogs. Piece of cake.

Until the clocks turn back on Sunday.

 I will have to learn the time difference all over again between here and where the Avatars live, Japan. I was just getting used to the way it was. 

I believe these issues are all called "First World Problems".

I'll get used to it.

By the time the clocks "fall" back.

Vicious cycle.

As for the Oscars....short version:

Loved Ellen

Happy with all winners

John Travolta made me feel better about myself

Loved Lupita's dress and speech

Loved Jared speech and Matthew's tux

What happened to Kim Novak

Pink rocks

I wish I was in that Selfie

Next year I will do a proper Boscar's post.

I hope.

"Boscars" on Rain Delay!

Boscar Rain Delay!

See The Boston Lady's Post-Mortem Reactions to

the Wet Results!

Special Extra-Edition Coming to a Blog Near You

 Later This Week!

(If anyone really cares...)

Although it's not really the rain that has kept me from doing my annual "Boscars" post, it does give me a special thrill to say 'rain delay', since it's such a rare event in CA.

It has rained for four days! Not constantly in our area, but enough to wreak some havoc on the roads and bring down some mud into neighborhoods.

The Oscar organizers in Hollywood have been struggling to get ready for tonight's show. Plastic has been their friend as they put it over everything.

 Hollywood Boulevard has been closed for about two weeks as they prepare the red carpet area and it will be interesting to see how they manage it all by broadcast time.

I will have to do a "Boscar Autopsy" later this week (for those who care about such things) - My last week wrangling dogs and training new walkers was really busy and I couldn't get organized for a proper post.

I will say that my hopes for best picture are long shots:

I always root for the low-budget, smaller underdogs.

What were your favorites this year?

Happy watching!