Pope House

The crown jewel of the site.  Come and take a tour.

Sunday Morn

It is Sunday morning, the last day of May.  Where has it gone?  The weather here has settled down to Tahoe normal.  Lots of sun, warm days, cool nights.  Memorial Day at the site was busy but not crazy.  We did not drive anywhere during the week-end so we had no trouble.  With Lake Tahoe being a resort area, there is lots going on all time and more in the summer.  Friday night was a relay race around the lake. Q&M walked down to the highway after dark to the reflective and lighted runners jogging by.  This week-end is also the Rennaisance Faire at Camp Richardson which is a mile away. It draws many people and their vehicles needspace to park.  This creates problems because there is not adequate parking nearby for the influx of folks.  There has always been a problem in this area during the summer and Cal Trans has made the problem even worse this years with road construction and adding bicycle lanes along Hwy 89 eliminating parking along much of the roadway.

4th of July will be very interesting indeed.   Above is one of the guest cabins Pope estate. 

Memorial Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  It was the first bright sunny day that we have seen for several weeks.  Of course the clouds gathered in the late afternoon and it rained Hard from 5pm til 6; the hardest rain we have seen since we arrived here.  The rain is messy when you live with dogs in a trailer, but rain is so needed that  I can't mind.
  
Mount Tallac had a clold cap as I walked Q & M at 7am.  The quiet is such a pleasure.  I had forgotten how busy Hwy 89 gets in the summer.  No one was driving as we walked down to the lake.

Later, in mid-afternooon, the three of us hiked the trail along Taylor Creek upstream to Fallen Leaf Campground which is a USF campground with over 200+ sites.  We strolled through the site.  It was only about 1/3 occupied.  The weather forecast probably kept folks at home.

The morning walk

The morning walk happens about 6:30.  The dogs, basically Quam, tell me that it is time to get up and go for a walk.  I hook Q & M up and head down the driveway toward the lake.  We cross Highway 89 and head for Taylor Creek which flows south from Fallen Leaf Lake into Lake Tahoe.  Early in the morning the sights and sounds are nature, nature, nature.  Water flowing around the beaver dam, mist lifting from the water, birds chirping.  The quiet of the creek in the morning is a great way to start the day. 

Spring Flower

End of week two

   It is Thursday night.  R and our next door neighbor, Lois are watching a recorded "Dancing with the (almost) Stars".  Help me please!  So I am on line and trying to ignore the blah - blah.

   Today was the last day of our two weeks of prep.  The volunteers have done a tremendous amount of work to get Tallac Historic Site ready for the Memorial Day opening.  All of the buildings have gone from wrapped up for winter to fully furnished, fully open in this time period.  Over 500 barrels of Jeffery Pine needles have been raked up and hauled to the burn pile.  The place is ready for opening day which is the Saturday of Memorial Day, in two days.

    The weather has not been the greatest.  Cold and rainy.  Makes me think of Oregon's winter.  I am ready for warmer temperatures, but looking at the forecast, I will have to wait for a while yet.  The rainy weather is making the mountains have a whiter look.  They definitely have more snow than when we arrived two weeks ago.

  

Day #4

It's Thursday morning 6:12.  The dogs let me sleep in til 5:30.  A bit earlier than I would have picked but better than other nights of 1am and 4am.  Our new dog Quam, is still in training.  He cannot be left alone yet because he gets too anxious and get into trouble ( tippng over the waste basket, getting up on the table), so we must put him in the crate while we are gone.  I hate to do it but as time goes on, he will realize we are not going to leave him and his feelings will lessen. 
  Quam adapted to our house fairly quickly, and I feel he will get this camping thing quickly too. There are many different proceedures when you live in a 30 foot fifth wheel.  However, he and Mollie are loving the twice daily long walks in the woods that happen here at Tahoe. 
  The weather here has been cool, with mostly sunny days.  We have been working hard at the Tallac site.  There are approximately 20 buildings that have been "put to sleep" for the winter.  Our job right now is to wake them up and get them ready for our summer visitors.  This entales removing shutters, replacing them with screens on some buildings, covering furniture, cleaning and dusting the rooms, "dressing" the rooms with furniture and nicknacks, and moving on to the next one.  The buildings were built about 100 years ago so maintenance and repairs are constant chores.  Right now there are 16 volunteers working like beavers four days a week to get the site ready to be open on Memorial Day week-end. 
  It's hard work but we love this place and the people who we work with.  We have been here 7 nights and have had social get-togethers at least 4 of those nights.  Lots of talking, eating, laughing, and getting reacquainted.  We come back for the people.
   

Arrival at Tallac

Left Canby Wednesday morning.  Klamath Falls by 5pm.  Left KF about 9am.  Lunch at a general store in Litchfield , CA.  Fueled at our usual spot a Maverick store on the north edge of Reno and then through Reno and to the new elevated highway onto Carson City.  Highway 50 goes partially around Carson and ends adbruptly forcing drivers to travel local streets to get to old Hwy 395/50 which runs thru the city central.  Carson City is nice sized; not too big but possessing all the necessary big stores that we feel we need.
  From Carson Hwy 50 turns west and immediately climbs the mountain to get to Lake Tahoe.  After about 8 miles of 5-6% grade, the summit of the pass is crested at 7100 feet, then you descend to get to the lake which is at 6300.  The drive along the east side of the lake has lots of views of the lake with the snow covered mountains on the west side.  This year the snow level is markedly less, signaling trouble to come this summer.  The edge of the lake is almost entirely inhabited so progress around the lake depends on the time of day and the time of year.  Summer can be slow.
   We made good time and arrived at our rv site about 4:15.  Part of the set-up was done in a snow rain mix which seemed totally appropriate.  But we are here, and set up ready to go.
    This morning I took the dogs on a morning walk down to the stream that flows from Fallen Leaf Lake into Lake Tahoe.  Mollie knew the way.  Quam enjoyed learning the new sights and smells.
We listened to a woodpecker playing bongos on a tree trunk.  The mountain chickadee sang his "Cheese Burger" song in the distance.  The sun shown on Mount Tallac.  It was a great way to start the day.

  

Yipes! It is tomorrow.

It is Tuesday afternnon.  All that is left is the final loading.  The frig in the garage is empty.  The frig in the house is nearly empty.  We will be throwing a few things into a cooler and a few items of clothing will be grabbed as well. 
   The dogs know that something is up but they are not sure what it is.  Mollie will be ok with it, because she has sone it many times before.  This will be a totally new thing for Quam.  Today is his two-week anniversary so I am sure he has never before done the traveling he is about to do.  From his pattern of his actions we have determined that he was fed from the table ( not any more). He was several puounds overweight as well, with smaller portions of dog food and regular walks his weight will come down. He was allowed onto the furniture (not any more).  For the next two days Quam and the rest of us will be confined to the truck for multiple hours.  He will adjust.  Mollie and her sister Peaches adjusted quickly.  He will too.
    So it is just checking on the small stuff.

Wednesday night will be in Klamath Falls.  Thursday night will be 3 miles west of South Lake Tahoe.  "Road Trip !!!!!"

Leaving soon.

We are starting to get ready.  I turned on the frig in the trailer this morning.  Time to wash the clothes that are going with us.  Putting finishing touches on the lawn to allow it to be ok while we are gone. Thinking about what items we took out of the trailer that need to be reloaded.  Hmmmmm.....

Vets Visits

Three trips to the vets in three days.  Thursday Mollie had a growth taken off her tail. Friday, I had visited the Vets Hospital in Portland for a visit with a cardiologist, Saturday Mollie went back to have her tail checked.  It was still there.

More car pics

From Sandy

Saturday

Yesterday I spent the day with my son on a warm sunny day amid lots of cool cars.  It doesn't get much better than this.  The location was Sandy, Oregon just east of Portland.  Like I said, lots of cars and trucks, lots of people, burgers and brats cooking on a giant grill, oldies music on the loudspeakers, and car guys (and gals) showing off their pride and joys.
 

 The fleet varied from new or almost new, to old and many, many in between.  A few of my favorites were a car that belonged to the current owner's grandmother.  It was a 57 Chevy 4-door hardtop that showed her thriftiness.  Six cylinder, no radio, no clock.  I was surprised that it wasn't a two door sedan but otherwise it was the car that a gramma would buy.  New belts and hoses were purchased before it was driven back here from Indiana.  Otherwise, it was as gramma owned it.



  Another standout was the 37 Mercury Zepher coupe with a V-12.  I heard that it was found in a barn.  Imagine finding something like that !

   How about the Austin Healy 3000 that the guy has owned since 62.  British Racing Green of course.

A great day !