| Wednesday we decided to go for a boat trip on the lake from South
Lake Tahoe. So first we had to drive down the eastern side of the lake,
noting the views as we went. |  |
 | The road follows the
lake shore for a while then climbs up and heads east to meet the US50 before
coming back down in South Lake Tahoe. |
| I just love the signs complete with the reference to the law
clause to which they refer. It all makes them look just a trifle pompous.
The wording is equally so. Other signs have referred to 'Violators'. Just
part of the way the Americans have changed the English language. They are as
bad as the French really. |  |
 | Chainsaw art is quite
common in the US and this eagle outside a visitor centre is typical. Some
are really good. We have watched artists at work in the past. |
| Our boat was a paddle steamer with three decks and a lunch to be
served. The smoke stacks were just for show though as it was diesel powered
rather than with an original wood burning boiler. |  |
 | The paddles were
quite effective, but docking and undocking were assisted by a bow thruster. Quite
high tech really. |
| Different parts of the lake have different depths ranging to
almost 1000ft. This gives rise to definite colour bands in the lake which
can be seen easily but which didn't come out well on film because of the
reflections from the sun.. |  |
 | We went over to
Emerald Bay where, amongst other things, was this rock slide caused by
someone using a touch too much dynamite when they were constructing the road,
causing a landslide. |
| In front of the slide was a small island with a 'tea house' folly
on the top. This had been built by a wealthy American who had built the
Vikingsholm Castle on the mainland shore of the bay to entertain her
guests. |  |
 | The house was quite
impressive though not in fact a castle as we would understand it. It was reached by a
steep five mile path but was
currently closed to the public for renovations. |
| The island though is one of the most photographed spots in the
US. This was taken from the road round the western side of the lake which we
took on our way home after the boat trip. |  |
 | This shot shows the
bay with one of the paddle steamers on its way out having circumnavigated the
island.. |
| And a close up of the steamer in full flight! |  |
 | And since it is the
most photographed point on Lake Tahoe, we have an extra shot for you to
enjoy. |
| There is so much woodland that needs management that almost every
day they are doing a controlled burn somewhere to reduce the potential for
real damage if an unplanned fire starts from a lightning strike or a
careless match. From the other side of the lake this looked to be almost on
top of our accommodation. But in practice it was a couple of miles away,
with the wind blowing away from Incline Village. |  |
|