Ta-li-hoe

Click the photo for a slide show.

Another terrible day in paradise today as we traveled from Lone Pine, CA to Incline Village, NV at the north end of Lake Tahoe.  The weather was beautiful, and the driving was pleasant.  Jill, in her usual inimitable manner, acted as ship's photographer as we traveled along our way. 

We noticed over the last two days that as we passed from the Mojave desert to the northern Sierra Nevada mountains, the landscape and plant life changed dramatically.  You will notice in the slide show that we started out with some pretty barren looking mountains, but the further north we drove, the more we encountered trees, and especially lodgepole pine.

We also encountered three lakes of note along our route. First we came to Mono lake, which is a large and by the looks rather shallow lake in California.  Then just as we were approaching the Nevada state line, we came upon the deep blue of Topaz lake.  This lake appears to be much deeper, and there was a lot more recreational activity along its shores and out on the lake itself (think water skiers).

Finally, we came to our destination, which was the incomparable Lake Tahoe.  I say incomparable, but for us Oregonians, it is impossible not to compare this beautiful lake with our own Crater Lake.  They are different in size and nature, but the color of the water and the surrounding mountainous terrain at both venues is remarkable similar.

We arrived early enough to do some exploring along the lake shore, before we settled in at the Parkside Motel. This facility is an older motel that obviously caters to skiers during the winter.  It is cozy and comfortable, but it is not spectacular. Nevertheless, off of our private deck, we have a view into the pine forest that surrounds the area.  It is quite lovely.

We went to Azzara's for dinner. It is a modest Italian restaurant with a quaint ambiance.  We ordered a pizza that included caramelized onions, sweet sausage and fresh tomatoes.  It was wonderful... and I believe we can reproduce it!  For dessert we shared a cannoli filled with a creamy riccota and chocolate chips. Molto bene!

Tomorrow, we are off to K Falls, but more about that later.