July 4th and Beyond at Lake Tahoe

 

What season do we look dressed for?

This was the evening of July 4th at the Overlook waiting for the South Lake Tahoe Fireworks.

It was cold!

South Lake Tahoe before the fireworks began.

Part of the Fireworks show.

It was really a pretty spectacular show with no pauses between the hundreds of fireworks shot into the sky. The rapid succession of fireworks meant lots of smoke that obscured some of the light show from our perspective.

Natures's own light show shortly before the fireworks began.

Shrinking Lower Eagle Falls, July 7

Evidence of not much snow left in the mountains to produce the much needed runoff.

    I was scheduled to perform a wedding ceremony in Humboldt County on July 9, so Rob and I head to Colfax on the evening of July 8, to get a head start on the very long drive to the north coast. We did manage to make some short visits with friends in the area, and we went to worship at Eureka First United Methodist Church on Sunday, but it proved to be too short a trip to get in as many, or as long of visits as we would have like. We had to leave right after worship on Sunday to head back to our camp host duties that began again on Monday morning, July 11. We need to plan a longer visit  to the area in the future - maybe in the fall of 2023. We stayed with Rob's sister and brother-in-law who live in the Cutten area of Eureka, so got in a good family visit too.

July 9, Eureka - one of the raccoons that visits Rob's sister's deck.

A herd of bucks in Rob's sister and brother-in-law's meadow.

I did manage a couple of morning walks to the beautiful nearby Sequoia Park.

The "grotto" we often walked by when we lived in Eureka.

Sun coming up again July 11, back at the Overlook at Eagle Point Campground.

View from my chair July 11

Same morning, different direction.

The only bear I saw in July - until the 31st. 

This growth on a tree is on the Rubicon Trail between Eagle Point CG and Vikingsholm.

Early morning reflections in the bay on July 12.

Most mornings the water is very still and reflective like this, but later in the day it becomes rough with wind and boat activity.

More reflections

July 14 in my chair in the morning.

The tree in front of me in the morning.

The Railroad Museum in Carson City.

    Thursday, July 14, was a day off for us so we decided to go to Carson City to get gas and supplies at Costco and to visit the Railroad Museum there. We had driven by it several times last year and thought it would be an interesting place to visit - it was. There were beautiful displays of restored old train cars and engines and history of the railroad, especially in Nevada. There were two big take aways for me while we were there. One was the importance of Hollywood in preserving the old trains by having bought them for movies in the early 20th century and then giving them back to places like this museum later. The other very interesting thing I had not thought about before was the importance of the railroad going through Nevada connecting it's remoteness to the rest of the country in both directions. The state realized it's importance three years before the tracks ever came through the state by incorporating it into the design of the State Seal.

  

Hat pin I bought at the museum.

Notice the Railroad trestle on the left.

    It's been neat to have my sister Theresa near by for the summer since she is a camp host at Sugar Pine Point about 11 miles north of where we are. We get to swap Camp Host tales and spend some time together when we have mutual days off. On Friday, July 15, we headed off together to Taylor Creek Visitor Center and the Tallac Historic Site not very far away from Eagle Point and enjoyed our time wandering the trails, visiting the visitor centers and then heading to lunch in South Lake Tahoe.

At Taylor Creek.

Spencer and Pippin, Theresa's dogs, watching for her return from the Visitor Center.

Back at Eagle Point Overlook on the morning of July 17.

I love this rock that is in front of where I sit.

Another cool rock.

An Osprey in the nest of a designated "Wildlife Tree" along the Rubicon Trail, July 17.

I wondered what this bright yellow growth was that I noticed in a couple of places.

 Dog Vomit Slime Mold - yes, that is the name given by I-Naturalist!

They say it is also known as the "Scrambled Egg Slime."

More Dog Vomit Slime Mold.

Another sunset from the overlook - July 18.

Mt. Tallac at sunset, July 18.

Jake's Peak and "My Mountain" at sunset, July 18

Sunrise, July 19

Same sunrise

Panorama view from my morning spot on July 19.

More sunrise, July 19

    July 19 was Rob's 74th birthday. Ever since he turned 70 we have celebrated with camping with various members of our family. Last year and this year were of course here at Eagle Point Campground. Daughter Erin came up on Tuesday the 19th with her niece, Ruth's daughter Avi. Erin and Avi and another niece, Sophia, would stay through Saturday.  Son Shawn and his daughters Sophia and Naomi also came up on Tuesday, but Shawn and Naomi would just stay for one night. Ruth couldn't come until Friday because she had a grueling 6 hour Engineering test, the FE Electrical and Computer test. She heard a week later that she passed! She's now well on her way to getting her EIT (Engineer in Training) certificate and getting her first, hard and well earned, job in her chosen field.

   

9 year old Avi, 6 year old Naomi, Shawn and 9 year old Sophia.

Rob with his cake.

Theresa also joined us for pizza followed by the cake.

Cousins Naomi, Sophia and Avi playing a game.

 

Naomi and Shawn

Naomi sunning herself on a rock with the other girls in the water.

Shawn digging a "hot tub" pit.

Naomi repairing the "hot tub" two days later.

Avi and Sophia playing a game together.

The girls are just six weeks apart in age and share a special bond as cousins.

This was their first "sleep over" together. They shared a tent and created great memories.

Playing mini-golf in South Lake Tahoe with Erin Rob, Sophia and Avi.

    Mini-golf on one day of a Tahoe camping trip became a family tradition many years ago when our children were young. This is the same mini-golf course, though refurbished, that we went to over 30 years ago.

Avi and Sophia chilling watching a Disney movie on the cab over bed in the RV.

We decided the girls needed some mellow time after the hot afternoon in the sun at the beach the day before.

Another day at the beach - Erin and Avi.

Avi and Sophia ready to jump.

Erin "throwing" Avi.

Ruth splashing Avi.

Avi and Ruth lounging in the water.

Smoke is coming from the Oak Fire near Yosemite on the evening of July 23.

Smoke blocking the rising sun on July 24.

First and only (so far) bad quality air day this season.

Another view of the smoke obscured scenery on July 24.

    Looking back at pictures from last summer I was reminded that our first truly bad quality air day then was also July 24. That was from a fire much closer, and bigger, the Tamarack Fire. Last summer we didn't have many good quality air days after that, but so far our air quality has been good except for the 24th of July. I wisely chose to take it easy this year when the air quality is bad - no hiking to Vikingsholm.  But the next day most of the smoke cleared out and I did go hiking in the morning with no ill affect.

Monday morning, July 25.

The smoke is still in the air coloring the sky, but the air was good.

Here comes the sun on July 25.

But the air quality, official and observed, was much improved from the day before.

A Stellar Jay nearby at my morning quiet time.

Osprey in nest along the Rubicon Trail on July 25.

Fireweed, July 25 - the wild flowers are changing.

New yellow flowers down by Vikingsholm, July 25.

Sunset behind our campsite and "My Mountain," July 26.

Sunset, July 26 from the Overlook.

Early morning, July 27

Close up of previous photo.

Looking at the Bay on the same morning, and "My Mountain" behind the tree.

    On Tuesday, July 26, we made a quick trip to Colfax to retrieve my sit on top kayak and my backpack. I have two kayaks - a sleek fiberglass sea kayak and a plastic sit on top one. I didn't bring either kayak to the lake last summer. It would not be at all convenient to take the kayak back and forth to the beach from our camp site and I didn't want to leave the really good one on the beach even if it would be locked up. When we moved our stuff from Eureka to Colfax two years ago the movers managed to lose the seat to the sit on top kayak and I hadn't gotten around to replacing it. I finally ordered a new seat and picked that up in Colfax as well. Wednesday morning we delivered the kayak to the beach and I went for my first paddle in almost two years. It was wonderful!

My first paddle in Lake Tahoe in many years, July 27, 2022.

In this picture I'm facing "My Mountain" - Surprise!

Woodpecker on the tree next to me on the morning of July 28.

More beautiful clouds - Sunday July 31, early morning.

My parents were married 73 years ago on this day in North San Juan, California.

My newest sweater!

This was a KAL (Knit Along Project) designed by Marie Greene.

The yarn came from my favorite yarn shop: Yarn in Eureka.

    Through the wonders of Zoom I stay connected with the shop and occasionally join others to knit together and visit on Zoom. I began this sweater on July 1 and finished it July 30. It was fun to knit along with others and see posts online of the colors and yarn chosen, and the progress made, but it also made knitting be not quite as relaxed as I like and kept me from some other projects. I may do another KAL, but I'll give myself permission to not strive for a particular deadline. Besides, how many sweaters does one, especially one camper, need? I do love knitting sweaters though, and I love wearing them.

    As I've mentioned before we have not seen any bears in our park - that is is not until Sunday evening, July 31. Early that day I was walking on the Rubicon Trail when some hikers excitedly told me they'd seen a bear on the trail near where I was talking to them, but alas I didn't see the bear who they said was brown with a cub. I told them they were lucky to see a bear. Later that day between 6 and 7 in the evening we were talking to newly arrived campers in the lower campground while we were selling firewood. I was telling them that though we hadn't personally seen any bears this season we knew they were around and quite active, and we reminded them to keep all food locked in the bear locker. The camper said that he believed the bears were around because he'd seen one just after he checked in to the campground. He said he saw a brown bear and a cub up near the motor home near the entrance. Our motor home! We weren't too concerned, yet, but we'd never seen bears or evidence of bears near our site in the past. 

    We finished our wood rounds and headed "home." There on the side of LesThora was a family of three bears - mama, and two babies - having a picnic! With our food! We looked up to see the window over our dinette all the way open and the torn out screen on the ground. We yelled at the bears and to our surprise they ran off - they usually won't leave if they actually have food. Rob went inside to assess the damage. There was no damage and hardly any evidence that a bear or bears had been inside. There were a few things knocked off the dinette table and a little bit of dirt from bear paws, but nothing broken or even very disturbed. Amazing! The only food they took, and it was all outside, was a box of Cheerios, a box of dog treats Rob keeps for visiting dogs, a jar of trail mix and a plastic tub that had the nuts and M&Ms for the trail mix. The really amazing thing was where they found what they took. The Cheerios and dog treats were on a bench seat next to the dinette table, so very close at hand, but the trail mix in a plastic jar was above the cab in a small box with other food in it between two other small boxes with food. On the floor between the front two seats of the motor home were boxes of crackers, a bag of beef jerky and a box of granola bars. None of the food other than the trail mix was missing or disturbed! The tub of trail mix ingredients was at the other end of the RV next to the bed. Somehow they had managed to find that box while passing other food and drug it out the window. The box did have one puncture hole from a bear tooth, but otherwise it and its lid were unharmed. Very tidy and particular bears, but a bad mama teaching her young'uns bad skills! Over the course of the next half hour or so the threesome kept trying to return, but when they saw us they'd run away again. By the time the ranger arrived they were down the hill near an unoccupied campsite. The ranger's intent was to scare them away, but because the cubs went up a tree the mother wouldn't leave so the scare away tactic was abandoned.  Once bears get food they will return to the site where they got it repeatedly so we needed to do more than just keep our windows closed when we're not around the RV. Some people have said cayenne pepper is a bear deterrent so I spread some all around the motor home. Ammonia and Pine Sol are also deterrents, but I didn't have any on hand. Shortly after the bear encounter a friend, a park host from Samuel P Taylor State Park, called to say we was coming to visit us the next day and asked if we needed anything from Costco. I said Pine Sol would be great!

     About 3:00 in the morning when I couldn't sleep thinking about how to keep the bears from coming back when we weren't there - we knew they pose no threat to us, or even our food, when we are in the RV, but we sure didn't want them getting our food or doing any serious damage - I googled the topic and found out that while bears don't like cayenne it is not really a deterrent and can actually act to attract them because it signals that there is people food in the vicinity - so much for my cayenne dusting. I was happy to know Pine Sol was on the way.

The very cute cubs with momma behind.

My sister says they look sad because their picnic was interrupted.

We don't think the mother bear went inside, 

not enough evidence something that big was in the motor home.

Momma and one of the cubs.

This picture makes them look closer than they were - my phone camera does amazing telephoto pictures.

The bears don't scare us, but we do respect them.

Rob decided he could fix the torn screen with Duct tape - very funny.

Obviously we need to get a new screen!

Bailey Cooper and Mahle, two of our friends from Samuel P Taylor State Park.

After showing Richard and the dogs around our campground we headed to Kiva Beach, a dog friendly beach between here and South Lake Tahoe.

Here is Richard pointing to "My Mountain."

Thanks to Richard it now smells like Pine Sol all around the outside of LesThora.

    It's been two days since the bears were here and we haven't seen any sign of them at our campsite. The  morning after the bear picnic we heard campers talking about a mama bear and two cubs looking for food in the lower campground during the night, and last night Rob and a camper chased a bear away after it snatched a tote with food in it not far from the camper who was in the process of unloading his van. They can be quite sneaky!

A duck family we saw at Kiva Beach.

This morning, August 2, from our campsite.

A little later over Emerald Bay.

    Erin continues to report that her/our "island" kitties are doing well!

Elsie in front of Straus.

Wonder what they are looking at?

Elsie looking very pretty.

A friendly(?) tussle.