More views of the Lake and Eagle Falls

We woke up early and walked across the street from our campground to the marina. There were a few people sitting individually at picnic tables taking in the beauty of the Lake and contemplating this peaceful view.

We drove down Hwy. 89 again to the south shore and visited some beautiful beaches.

Inspiration Point.

Upper Eagle Falls is visible from Hwy. 89.

Of course, we had to go in for a closer look. You can't see this, but John is behind the camera coaxing me to get closer so I can take better photos.

Okay. That's close enough.

After a full day of exploring the Lake and climbing over rocks, we headed back to our camp site where we built a fire, roasted marshmallows and made smores.

Da ow a ga

'Da ow a ga' is what the Washoe Indians call Lake Tahoe. The lake has been a sacred summer gathering place for the Washoe for thousands of years. When the first pioneers arrived, they mispronounced the name which eventually morphed into Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe is one of our favorite places to go in California, and only an hour and a half from Sacramento. It is a special place for John and me because this is where we got married. And so, when he suggested we plan a trip there for Memorial weekend, he didn't have to suggest twice.

We got a reservation at a campground outside of Tahoe City which is on the Northwest side of the Lake. Our campsite looks messy right now because we had to pull everything out of the bear locker before we could start the fire and prepare breakfast. I guess we looked pretty cold (it got down to around 37 degrees during the night) because the couple that were in an RV across from us brought over two steaming mugs of coffee to tie us over until we could make our own. We thought that was the most thoughtful gesture ever. I don't normally drink my coffee black, but I did that morning and I do believe it was the best tasting coffee ever!

By the time everyone rolled out of their sleeping bags, John had a nice, roaring fire going.

Interesting Facts

Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S. with a depth of 1,645 ft. (501 m).

The shoreline circumference is 72 miles (116 km).

At its longest and widest, it measures 22 miles (35 km) by 12 miles (19 km).

The average surface elevation is 6, 225 ft. (1,897 m) above sea level.

The lake is two-thirds in California and one-third in Nevada.

Lake Tahoe is fed by 63 streams and 2 hot springs. According to research, with a volume of 39 trillion gallons of water, if the Lake was ever drained it would take around 700 years for the streams and hot springs, snowmelt, and precipitation to fill it again entirely.

John decided that we needed to work off our breakfast and took us to the trail head for Eagle Rock -a short hike from Hwy. 89. The above two photos and the one below were taken from Eagle Rock.

After our hike, we continued our drive down Hwy. 89 toward South Lake Tahoe.

The above two shots were taken at high noon near Inspiration Point above Emerald Bay.

We ended the day by taking a short drive to Echo Chalet where there was still plenty of snow on the ground. John spent a lot of time here during the summers with his best friend Jim when he was in high school, so when we go to Lake Tahoe we always have to check on the place - just for old times sake.

This is Echo Lake. The water is crystal clear here and there were a few fishermen who were having a good fish day.

We hiked up to Echo Summit where you get incredible views of the Tahoe Valley. Lake Tahoe is off in the distance. If you look closely, you can see off to the upper right a large shadow - that's where the casinos are located. We didn't go to the casinos this trip - this was just a camping, hiking, exploring trip, but we have been to them in the past and they are great fun - just a whole different Lake Tahoe experience altogether.

Our Memorial weekend adventure continues tomorrow.

May Flowers

We had some April showers and even some May showers, so the garden is just bursting with blooms right now. Okay, well this picture below is not exactly from MY garden, but it cascades over the fence just outside my project/craft room window and I get to enjoy the incredible view for a few weeks out of the year. It is one of those climbing roses that only bloom once in the year, but boy is it spectacular when it does bloom!

Even though my 'Ginger Snap' rose decided to sleep in this Spring, it is now blooming profusely.

'Our Lady of Guadalupe' always looks so delicate and fragile. She is always a late bloomer, but a beautiful one.

This Leather fern is putting out new fronds. I am so happy as it sat and did nothing for almost a year!

One of my Abutilons. I love this color.

The inside of the Abutilon bell.

This geranium won't stop blooming until December.

The pelargonium and red salvia seem to enjoy being next to each other.

And finally, my coral bells.

Rhubarb "No Crumb" Bars

Now that rhubarb is readily available at the market, I wanted to make something with it - preferably a dessert. I picked some up this week and decided to make the Rhubarb Crumb Bars from Everyday Food. It is a quick and easy recipe, but if I make it again I will be sure to refrigerate the topping as the recipe directs. I was in a hurry yesterday morning and just put the topping together and poured it on top of the batter and rhubarb mix. The bars turned out okay, but they didn't have the texture and taste that I was going for, and, of course could no longer be called Rhubarb "Crumb" Bars. No matter though - they were gone it no time.

Lady Carmichael

When I read the article in The Sacramento Bee last Saturday a week ago about a local geranium enthusiast, Mr. Geranium, who created a geranium he named, Lady Carmichael, I knew that I had to go to the Geranium Show at the Carmichael Community Center to get her for my garden. He had presented it to Carmichael's Board of Supervisors and they are going to use her in Carmichael's centennial celebration this year.

When we arrived about an hour and a half after the show started at the community center I was so happy to see that there were still some Lady Carmichael geraniums left and so we carefully picked one out.

She is a white geranium with a blush of pink and lavender. This is what she will look like when she blooms:

Photo by Amanda Cruz/The Sacramento Bee

One of the society members told me that they had over 1,200 geraniums and they sold them all in less than an hour! So, I only came home with Lady Carmichael, but that is the one I specifically went to get so I was ecstatic. One of the members told John that there was a long line waiting for them to open and I believe it when I saw that they had only a few plants left for sale.

I am glad to see that so many people in our area love geraniums. I know that they have been a flower that has been out of favor with the garden experts because they are considered 'common', but I have always loved the Geraniums/Pelargoniums because they are such a beautiful, hardy flower and it is a comforting flower that makes me reminisce about home and childhood.

I took some pictures of some of the arrangements that members of the Geranium Society created.

Some of the members also brought some of their prized geraniums and pelargoniums that they have been growing for years.

The flowers on this one are so sweet.

This is a Pelargonium Cotylbdonis. The stems on it resemble bark. You can just see tiny leaflets emerging. The proud owner of this pelargonium was so excited because she said that it didn't have any leaflets on it earlier that morning and that it must really like the lighting in the room. I'd like to get one of these.