Category Archives: Lake tahoe

Lake Tahoe in early April

Posted in Lake tahoe, travel by

We decided if we wanted to see Tahoe before all the snow melted we’d better get a move on. So off we went and it was really great.

We were not disappointed. Tahoe has a.lot.of .snow. still. It was very encouraging for the snowpack. We decided to head to Tahoe City to go to Tahoe House Bakery. They have the best coffee in the area. The pastries are delicious plus their breads and bagels and ready-made meals are quite nice. Pricey, but worth it. It was pretty empty as were the main roads. Tahoe, off-season is really a lovely place to be. I-80 was also pretty empty of traffic except for lots of semis. ( going too fast).

From there, we decided to go around the lake by way of Tahoe City, Carnelian Bay and basically, it’s the north side of the lake.

The story behind me standing with my Louie is many years ago we took this exact same picture with my old Louie. That’s the one that was stolen in the smash and grab. So for the insurance company to pay me for the loss, I had to have a picture of me with my LV and that was the one. So that’s why we were taking this picture.

From the lakeside, which is in Kings Beach, we headed down to Incline so B could go to Nuleaf for some gummy things. He picked up a tin of that. Again, hardly any traffic at all through Incline, which was pretty f*cking amazing. We thought of going down to Sand Harbor and then walking on the new lake trail but decided not to. Maybe next time.

I wanted to get a light lunch out so we headed back to Kings Beach to White Cap Pizza. It was busy with locals and a few tourists but not many. I had high hopes for the pizza and it fit some of my expectations. It was very thin crusted and the ratio of cheese to sauce was good. But the dough had no flavor as it seemed the cook had forgotten to add salt. A big no-no if you’re making pizza dough or even bread. Then the sauce was pretty flavorless too. The crust had been cooked a little too long and was slightly burnt , not charred which is totally acceptable, but more like burnt. So I’d only give it a 2 out 5. Still, we had a nice time there and I’m glad we went.

This was looking out at the patio seating.

We headed for home and unfortunately, a big rig had gone over one of the embankments so traffic was backed up. Trucks go too fast down these big inclines and lose control. We were not in a hurry so for us it was fine. After that traffic again was very light and at times, we had no one behind us or ahead. So amazing.

All in all a fun date day and well worth it.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, camping, Lake tahoe, Multiple myeloma, travel, Walking by
  • the beautiful weather here in Tahoe and there are no crowds. Driving down to the Y was easy and relatively quick.
  • Excellent camp food. This morning I used up the last 2 bagels and the last 2 eggs and made egg bagels with cheese.
  • B’s work on getting the 2 new batteries hooked up to Rubi, so now we’re holding a charge overnight.
  • That there’s an Anytime Fitness gym right here in Zephyr Cove.!!!
  • For being able to walk over 3 miles yesterday and not have my knee hurt. OK, maybe a smidge.
  • I am grateful to be up here in the Fall, with no kids running around( a few couples with babies, which I don’t mind). Or riding bikes through camp spots!!! Really annoys me. Plus no parties because it’s darkish by 7pm and chilly. We had booked the last days at the end of the season but because of starting Velcade the days won’t line up.

This was this morning around 7:30 am. Look at that blue!!!!

Checking in from Nevada Beach, Tahoe

Posted in California, camping, Lake tahoe by

It has been really lovely here. Quiet and lots of empty spots but the reservation list still shows no availability. I guess people just don’t show up or bother to cancel.

We may do that too as on Saturday the day we’re supposed to leave it’s calling for rain. I’m not too keen on driving the RV in the rain unless we have to. We’ll keep checking the weather.

We’ve had nice morning walks and afternoon walks too. Yesterday we went up to the gym and did some weights. It really helps to keep at the weights and not let it go by. Since Anytime has a gym right here it works out well.

Our spot looking out into the woods.

We love having this propane fire pit.

We’ve had lots of good food and wine too.!!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, California, camping, cancer, Gratitude, Lake tahoe, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Walking by

I’m always grateful to be able to walk in the early morning even if it is only for 40 minutes. As soon as my knee is 100% I plan on upping my time to 50 minutes. I’d also like to add in doing some hiking. Since we’ll be in Tahoe this week I’ll add in some extra walking if my knee feels good enough. There’s the hike through the meadow near the campground and there’s Richardson Trail near the Y in South Lake.

In spite of having to start Chemo, I’m grateful that I know what to expect as opposed to a new drug. Still, it’s hard to have to add this in but I’m grateful I have the option.

I’m grateful for a supportive family that I know will pick up the slack with things I won’t be able to do on chemo/dex days. Being the planner I am, I’ll have lots of dinner ideas ready plus freezer food.

I’m grateful my husband is having a birthday tomorrow, turning 73!!! Wow, after all he’s gone through he’s a walking miracle thanks to science. We plan on getting a pizza and some sort of birthday cake.

I’m thankful the Roseville Library is accessible and has an excellent selection of books. Roseville Parks and Recreation is probably one of the nicest resources in our area. After the gym this morning I plan on going over to the library and loading up on books to take camping.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, camping, cooking, decluttering, Flylady, freezer cooking, Lake tahoe, minimalism, Sashiko, simplicity, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

A lovely walk this morning with a few people there. Sundays are my favorite day to walk as usually there is no one. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the weather turns.

Yesterday the pool was quite busy and I shared a lane. I noticed more of the ‘regulars’ there so it must be the news is out that the pool is open. It was still great. This week will be different as I have 2 days of doing other things and then next Sunday we’re off to Tahoe for the week. We do plan to use the gym at least 2x and walk when we can.

Here’s a sample of the Sashiko I’m doing on a pair of old jeans.

I got these 2 books from the library. Both are quite good with patterns. I liked the one on the left more.

Working with the denim was more difficult but it’s just a patch so I’m not concerned about even stitching. Just random running stitches.

Here’s a picture of the sourdough rye I made. It had good flavor and it did a fairly nice spring for being rye. Rye is hard to do but I’ll do another loaf eventually.

I’ve been playing around with sourdough focaccia too. I still haven’t gotten the top all crispy like the YouTube channel showed. I’m thinking the oven needed to be hotter?? Not sure, but I’ll keep trying. I wanted to perfect a bread that we could use for sub sandwiches and the focaccia seemed like a good option.

This morning, I plan on going to the gym for just weights, no treadmill as I walked this morning and I don’t want my knee to be overworked. Then I have double-stuffed potatoes to make and freeze. Yesterday PGE had our power off all day so I couldn’t use the oven.

Flylady zone is the bedroom. If you follow along a tip I read from Peter Walsh was ‘ask yourself what the room in question is for’, so like the bedroom is to sleep, rest, etc. So remove anything from the bedroom that doesn’t support that. No electronics for instance. After having done Feng Shui for years, I do think what you have around you does affect you on some level. I don’t do FS anymore but the principles of FS and minimalism are quite similar. Keeping things harmonious and uncluttered is key, along with subdued color palettes.

I get my labs tomorrow so I should know by Friday what we’re going to do with treatment.

Friday things

Posted in Blood test, California, camping, Lake tahoe, swimming, travel, Walking by

I decided to not go down to the gym today and just do home stuff. I do plan on swimming tomorrow though. Next week will be a little different because I have labs on Monday and then my eye doctor appt. That will be dilation so no driving except straight home. Then Tuesday is probably a swim day. Wednesday is lunch out with my daughter at the High Hand Nursery. Then Thursday probably the gym.

We leave for Tahoe next Sunday, the 24th. The weather looks very fall-like. Cool evenings and warmish days, so nice. Barclay got the 2 battery system set up so we’re hoping that will give us the backup we need.

Barclay had to go down to Rocklin so he went to Costco and Winco. Costco ended up $100 and Winco $60 and that included some wine. I think we’re set till we get back from Tahoe. Any groceries we need, we get up there at the Safeway.

We continue to enjoy beautiful fall weather. The mornings are actually not that cold and walking has been nice. I’m a little surprised at the number of people walking early. We get there close to 5:50 and then by 6:15 there were 5 other cars there. Kind of weird. I don’t really remember previous years being quite so busy. Hopefully, most will fall away. There is one lady ( quite nice) who walks very early 5:15-5:30 and uses a headlamp. She’s been very dedicated to her exercise program and walks for over an hour. She does have a walking buddy so she’s not out there alone which is good because we have had homeless people sleeping in cars and vans occasionally. ( That is not a judgment on homeless people at all, it’s just best to be safe). Plus we do have mountain lions in our area too. Best to be careful.

We started our annual LOTR movie marathon. I can only get through about an hour a night so it’ll take a while.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, camping, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, Lake tahoe, seasonal things, Uncategorized, Walking by

I made it around the park 3 times so that’s a big improvement. My knee is definitely improving. I didn’t use the treadmill though at the gym as I thought that might be too much. I did the weight machines twice.

We’ve been having supper out on the patio all week and even had 3 evenings of a fire in the fire pit before we come in to watch Bosch. I only watch TV for an hour or an hour and a half is pushing it. Even movies, we split into 2 nights. We watched Otto this week for 2 nights. It’s a good movie, maybe not a great movie, but still enjoyable.

After the gym, I put the bread in the oven. This is a new sourdough recipe from ‘Everyday Sourdough’ and it uses whey from yogurt making. Since I had just made yogurt I saved the whey. It uses a Pullman pan which sadly I do not have yet. So we’ll see.

Then I did the bathroom zone, vacuumed, tidied the bedroom, and dusted the LR zone. That’s about it for zone cleaning.

My daughter harvested most of the basil and I made four 4-ounce jars of pesto for the freezer.

The next batch of tomatoes you see behind the pesto, I will freeze till I have enough for sauce.

This coming week looks light. No appts, but we may go to Costco. I’ll wait and see what I need. I know I’ll go before our Tahoe trip so I have 2 weeks.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, camping, cooking, home stuff, Lake tahoe, library, Myeloma, travel by

We’re back home and we had a great drive back with no construction stops. If you know Tahoe, you know that this is the beginning of LOTS of construction and road repair. Lots of delays. But because it was the weekend we sailed on by.

The yard was bursting with flowers everywhere. I’ll get some pictures to post.

This morning we didn’t walk and just got up at almost our normal time. We have lots of laundry to do and I wanted to get going on canning the cherries I ordered. They are beautiful cherries and I got 6 pints canned.

I plan on using these for cherry pie and putting them over yogurt or ice cream. This is just cherries and simple syrup. I plan on making cherry pie filling using frozen cherries but not till later this month.

Then I whipped a batch of yogurt and that’s in the oven now till tomorrow.

I fed my sourdough starter and plan on using that later as it seems to be very happy.

I bought these Bannetons to make more of an oval batard-type loaf. They seem kind of small. I had 2 Bannetons and got rid of them when I decided to just use a bowl but after watching some more You tubes on bread decided to get a couple. Around $20 so I’m ok with that.

The chores are caught up and tomorrow I will do the kitchen zone as that was last week. Then I’ll do the bathroom this week too.

My son said it hailed up there and was chilly. So we had really most of the best days except he did say it was sunny today. Apparently, the hail caused quite some havoc on I-80 with lots of spin-outs.

The BEST news.…. My Kappa light chains came back with only a 1 POINT increase. That’s such good news and now I can relax for another month. I go down to Sacramento on Thursday for my appt.

This week will be going to the gym, and 1 swim. I’m not sure how swimming is going to go since starting today the smaller pool will only have 2 hours for lap swimming. It may be tough for a while. I have books at the library to pick up too.

I sold some Pyrex bowls this morning minutes after listing them. They are in excellent condition and I wanted them gone. I listed them for 40. The person plans to get them later today. We’ll see how that goes. Basically, Z’s friend was talking about vintage Corelle and Pyrex and the lead in them. So I thought maybe I’ll whittle down my collection and then just have some display ones. These bowls are lovely but..

They would take up too much room if separated. I actually was using these for things so I’m thinking better to pass them on to someone who’s a collector or doesn’t care.

The yard is full of rose champion, roses, wildflowers and lots of others. Shasta daisies, feverfew, carnations and much more.

Frugal Friday, camping edition.

Posted in California, camping, cooking, frugalism, home improvement, home stuff, kitchen remodel, Lake tahoe, travel by

When we’re out in Rubi we definitely have low spend weeks. We really only buy gas to fill the truck up and then whatever groceries to fill in the blanks. After the gym yesterday we went over to Safeway( in the same parking lot) and bought veggies for a stir fry that we both felt like. We had brought from home some snow peas from the garden and then added mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tofu, and steamed rice. It was delicious.

Snow peas were added after the rest was cooked.

Today is stay in camp day and we plan on walking out to the meadow. We had some thunder last night but not really rain. Then later my son and his friend are coming into camp with us. Zephyr does a lot of car camping so he’s all prepared. We might do a lodge dinner tonight but I’ll wait and ask him if he has any ideas. He will stay in our spot till Monday but we’re leaving sometime this weekend. I really prefer not to be in camp during the weekends, it’s noisy. too many kids. blah, blah, blah.

All in all not much spent this week. Oh, but I did find this corner kitchen cabinet on Marketplace with a granite top and the guy wanted $60. I asked if he could wait till the weekend but then said he could deliver it so I said sure. $60 Zelle later it’s in our driveway. I’m hoping this spurs us to rip out the counter and get going on the kitchen after we( not me, B) finish fixing the wood damage where the pipe was leaking. Our kitchen can only be redone ( unless we were rich) using the same footprint as the layout is locked in by 2 doors that are on either side of the room. There’s not any other way to redesign as I said unless it was professionally altered. We don’t have money for that so the sink counter will stay the same just all new cabinets and sink and countertop. It’s really quite small so I know we can get it done reasonably. But if this cabinet works it’ll be a good start. This corner has been a problem and I hope this fixes it.

Tahoe girl.

I’m terribly unphotogenic 😦

OMG, the best news….trump indicted !!!!! How he can say or even Mccarthy for that matter that he’s innocent when it’s 2 grand juries that brought the indictment is just nuts. All the right-wing mania with anti-LGBTQ+, book banning, and on and on is just insane. I can only hope the pendulum swings back for rights for all.

Thankful Thursday, the Nevada Beach Version

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Gratitude, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized by
  • That we had an excellent drive up here. I -80 was not busy as it was Monday. Then when we arrived at 12 noon our spot was ready for us. ( Well, that was after we had to tell the camper parked in our site to leave:( )
  • This spot is probably the best we’ve had here at Nevada Beach.
  • The weather has been better than we expected. We had rain one night and some rain one afternoon. The nice thing is that many of the tent campers pulled out and the campground was emptier. Right now it’s full up and busy.
  • That the Anytime gym we belong to is here in Zephyr Cove and we have the chance to do some workouts. We planned to use their showers so as to conserve water in Rubi but they have their showers closed. I think perhaps too many people using them as a main shower source.
  • We’ve had some great camp meals. The first night we had my pressure-canned split peas soup with bread. Then another night we had BBQ chicken, tofu, and corn. All in all good meals.

You wouldn’t get me doing this!!!!