Up and Away

I had the pleasure of watching the sun rise over the lake this morning - such a beautiful time of the day when no-one, other than one other photographer was around, and the only sound was the birds.  There are always a lot of geese on the beach, which seems strange, but then I remember we're at the lake and not the sea.

We went out for breakfast and walked back along the beach and I managed to capture the geese just as they started to run and then take off.  I'm using Alan's work laptop to upload by blips and I don't have any editing software on it, so all my shots are SOOC, and I'm really pleased that this image is relatively straight and in focus as I had to take it quickly.

We then drove to the other side of the lake, on the recommendation of fellow blipper Sunnyside, and went to see Emerald Bay, and then walked the trail up to Cascade Falls. The scenery was stunning and we were almost as high as the snowy peaks, but the weather was fantastic and really warm.  I actually got to drive the 'beast' today, too, and I really like it!

Then this afternoon we chilled out in the hot tub and pool at the hotel, and then went for a drink on the pier.  As we were walking back to our room, we stopped to chat to Paul and Bill in one of the ground floor rooms. 

Bill is Paul's elderley father and has a timeshare in Tahoe which he's had for years.  He was telling us that it was when he and his wife had little money and they were offered $20 to go and look at the properties, so he went, just to get the $20 so they could have a night out at the casino.  They won $60 which bought them a meal, but they also signed up for the timeshare.  Bill's wife died 4 years ago, and it would have been her birthday this Friday, so Paul always comes with him at this time each year to celebrate her birthday in the same restaurant as they always did with her.

They asked why we were there, and Alan told them that he'd been working and I'd flown out to  join him, so they asked what he did, and then also asked if I worked and what did I do.  I told them I worked in legal, and Bill asked what field, and when I told him it was clinical negligence, Paul asked if that was the same as medical malpractice. It turns out he's a surgeon from the Marina district in San Francisco, and he doesn't like lawyers as he's had so many attempted claims made against him.  I explained that our company aren't 'ambulance chasers', and only take on genuine cases, and we shuck hands and said that we're both on vacation, had a nice chat and said we'd probably meet up for a drink tomorrow.  It's interesting who you get talking to isn't it?

Anyway, I've put some more photos from today in my extras, which are a selection from the early morning sun, to Emerald Bay and our walk to Cascade Falls.  Interestingly, Alan read an article about a black bear which had been wandering in an urban suburb of South Lake Tahoe which is where we're staying, last Friday.  Anyway, it was caught and released in the mountains.  That would have made an interesting blip!

On another note, we've seen the flooding in Texas and I hope that any of you out there stays safe.