A Very Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my Birthday

In a sense, I don't care. After 24 of the darn things, who does care? I like the idea of celebrating when I learn something new, rather than when I complete a trip around the sun.

However, I did do a little to celebrate and it was fun. First off, I had to work yesterday (including cleaning the public toilets TWICE.) After work, my cousin and I looked at each other, "what do we do?" I think some of our coworkers were going to nearby Berkeley Camp to play basketball and perhaps some others were going to play poker. But this was my day and I was interested in something else. "Let's go go Izzy's" I suggested, Izzy's is the local burger joint in South Lake Tahoe. Brian said "lets go to Burger Lounge instead". So we went to Burger Lounge and had some pretty good burgers with Pesto Fries. Izzy's has monopolized the "best burger in Tahoe" award for several years, but last year Burger Lounge stole it away. Burger Lounge was pretty good, but I find Izzy's Teryaki Pineapple burger pretty hard to beat.

After a dinner which left us both very full, we decided to drive up CA 89, which snakes up the East Side of Lake Tahoe. CA 89 has to be one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on, right up there with 101 through Humboldt CO. At one point, we were on a narrow ridge, on one side was Lake Tahoe, on the other side was Fallen Leaf Lake. It was pretty spectacular.

At Emerald Bay, we stopped and looked down and Vikingsholm, a Norse Castle that someone built at the shore. We continued along the lake until we came to a small resort owned by a local Indian Tribe (I think it was the Washoe.) We turned around there and went back home.

One of the most exciting parts of the trip happened when we got home. We were able to take our big boat up the lake. Up until last night, the channel that connects upper echo to lower echo had been to shallow to pass. But with more Snow melting and more boards in the dam, we were finally able to take the big boat through. (Echo lakes are natural lakes but the El Dorado Irrigation district adds six feet to them in the summer that makes the channel passable).

Now, Brian and I are talking about driving all the way around Lake Tahoe. That drive will take us probably four or five hours, through two states, at least two counties, and on who know's how many adventures.

Hopefully that's what I will write about next.

John East Bay, CA http://thesloop.blogspot.com/