What a great great GREAT vacation! A year of cancer crap behind us, we were ready to relax and have a good time with great friends in the most beautiful place in the world, Lake Tahoe.
Sunday – We drive up mid-morning with Ron and Marie following behind. They stayed with us the first two nights. We check in, settle in a bit, then walked to dinner right next door at the Riva Grill. Great meal. I had the halibut ><>. We had a great table outside on the deck overlooking Ski Run Marina and the lake. THIS IS TAHOE BABY! After dinner it was off to state-line check out the casino action. We called it a night after a long travel day. Oh so glad to be in Tahoe.
Side note – Since we were in a timeshare with full kitchen, and since we were going to be there a week, I decided to bring the Italia espresso machine along with us. Every other year, if we wanted an espresso drink I would either ride my bike or drive to Starbucks for our usual grande dry cap and grande soy latte. This year I stumbled out to the kitchen and turned on the machine. IT WAS THE BEST. I think there is something about the high altitude that makes milk foam better because I was a foam guru up there. Anyway, the machine worked great all week so assume that everyday starts with a perfect cappuchino and soy latter, maybe two, or three!
Monday – We all walk to Heavenly Village. Ron and I had decided to ride the Heavenly Flyer, a vertical 3100 ft dual zip line that just opened in Heavenly Valley. Barb and Marie do some window shopping down below and head back to lay by the pool. Ron and I head up the Gondola to 9156 ft, have some liquid courage at the bar, then take yet another lift to where we zip back down the mountain. Ron and I went side by side. I was still trying to figure out how I was going to hold on AND video the experience when the gate opened and away we went. VERY COOL.Check out the video by clicking here. After the zip line it was back to the pool where we joined the ladies. After some quality pool time we 
showered, dressed and headed back to Riva Grill for another dinner. Hey, its so close and so good ( I had the rib eye this time) that we couldn’t go wrong. After another great dinner we took the casino trip again. We had to cut it short because we had a busy day planned for Tuesday. We said good night and good bye to our good friends Marie and Ron, We were going to be up early and they would be sleeping in before they had to head home. It was great to be able to share some of the stuff that we like to do in Tahoe with our good friends.
Tuesday – Up early and getting ready for the only thing that we had scheduled on the trip. A hike from Spooner Lake to Marlette lake with my sister and brother. This is what we have been calling a “Half Dome prep.” A high altitude 8 mile hike that will give us a little test. John had picked the hike and it turned out to be a winner. Anne Marie picked us up at our timeshare and we drove to Spooner Lake. We met John and his hiking buddy Kenny. Shari and the grandkids were there too but they were going to the beach to play while we did the hike
. The 4 miles to Marlette Lake was spectacular. It special to hike with my brother and sister. We talked of old times, good times to come, and how nice it would have been to have bro Mike along for the hike. It was also a special day because of Barb. (see previous post) After all she had been through, to be doing this hike is a testament to her intestinal fortitude. You rock Barbie! The hike was a cool, shady single track trail up through the forest, through flowered meadows of yellow, purple, red and green. So beautiful. Not to difficult (thank you Mission Peak). After two hours we arrived at Marlette Lake. As soon as we got on the lake side trail 
we saw a bear! Not only did we see it, we saw it catch a fish. It climbed into a fish ladder and snagged a nice big fish, then ran into the woods for lunch. But not before our feeble attempt to scare it away, Too cool. To see the video of my brave sister trying to scare the bear, click here. After the excitement of the bear episode, we cruised over to a nice shade spot on the lake to rest, refresh, and have lunch. Anne Marie, per her tradition, took a short swim in the lake. We took some pics and then headed back the way we came. another chance to see the beauty of the alpine wilderness. Like I said, a special day that I’ll never forget.
Then we said our goodbyes back at Spooner lake and headed back to South Shore. After a shower and rest ,we hooked up with new friends John and Michelle for an impromptu BBQ (for us anyway) over at Pope Beach. We met Michelle and John through team Vandy and have really grown to like them. They are our kind of people. Young, hip, and sooooo good looking! : ) John and Michelle have a cabin in south shore so are pretty much locals. The bbq’d chicken and turkey burgs with all the fixin’s. good food! Made plans to do a bike ride with John the next morning. The park rangers kicked us out at 9pm. We were the last ones to leave! We headed back to the timeshare and crashed for the night
Wednesday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBIE!! Spent some time by the pool with the birthday girl, then got ready for dinner at the Beacon with Team Downing. There are a few places that you HAVE to eat while in Tahoe. One is Riva Grill, the other is The Beacon. Lake front, beachside dining at its best. Great to spend some quality time with Michelle and John and daughter Olivia. We ate, we drank, we toasted to birthdays, to friends old and new. The end to another great night at the lake. Unfortunatly, the end to the battery in my camera. No more pictures until Kate brings the charger up on Thursday
Thursday – Kick back day – getting ready for 4th of July festivities.We’ve been sleeping in all week so I left Barb in Bed and went to meet John for a little ride. Met at Regan Beach and he took me on the great little lake tahoe ride. up through some meadow along trout creek, then down towards the Keys, across a marshy meadow and along the tree lined trails of South Lake Tahoe. We road great single track trails mostly all the way to Baldwin Beach. It was great being with John, who knew his way around. I only knew the paved trails that EVERYONE knows about. John took me on some trails that are way less travelled. NICE RIDE! I made chicken tacos for dinner and had the Downings over. All good. Staci, Shane and Kate arrive. Kelly and Heather make it up too. The family is here! Yay!
Friday – 4th of July – craziness. We set up our spot at 10am to get ready for the 10pm fireworks show. The beach gets crowded early but we are set. Kahuna and family arrive from Emerald Bay. The Shull clan arrives with Pat and Sue! Jens and Kelly arrive from Nevada city. Downings come too. We are set. Eventually the sun sets and we sit back to watch “the biggest fire works exhibit west of the Mississippi”. It was great! HAPPY 4th EVERYONE and GOD BLESS AMERICA
Side note: speaking of God Bless America, our baby, our little girl, our Kate, has gone and joined the United States Marine Corps! She had spoken to a recruiter and took the ASFAB test and physical and came home with papers signed. Kate will spend 12 lovely weeks in Perris Island South Carolina, then training in one of three skillsets, telecommunications, logistics or media/journalism. Then, who knows? We are PROUD and scared. More proud than scared. Kate leaves for Basic training on 12/15/08. Please pray to keep her safe and strong. GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Saturday – Everyone wanted to do the zip line at Heavenly. Only Al Shull got a seat on the last group of the day. Even though it looked like the zip line was out, I had always wanted to take the Gondola up to Heavenly Valley, then do a hike. So Barb and I and Jens and Kelly decided to pay the $30 bucks to ride the Gondola and adventure out into the summer wilderness. 
The Gondola takes you from the Tahoe basin at 6225 ft to an observation deck at 8250ft. Took a couple of lake shots, then boarded the Gondola again up to “advance base camp”. A spot up top where you can get a $9.00 hotdog or $12 drink. Also the place to ride and watch the Heavenly Flyer zip line. During the winter skiers come here and then board other ski lifts to runs on both the California and Nevada sides of the mountain. During 
summer the ski runs are used for hiking. We chose the “East Lake” hike. A 4 mile round trip down the Nevada side. Although it was shorter than our Marlette Lake hike a couple of days earlier, the East Lake hike was harder in some aspects. Maybe it was the altitude, or the fact that most of the hike back was steep uphill. It was cool. We had a great time with Kelly and Jens. After our hike, it was just about time for Shull to ride the Flyer. We sat down with $10 beer in hand and waited for Al and Nick to fly by. It isnt a great shot but we did get them on video as they zipped by. That’ll be $35 for the pictures and video Al. : )
Saturday Night- The last night in town. We had a nice dinner outside at Womack’s BBQ, then headed back to the timeshare to get ready to go home the next day.
Sunday – It was up and out. drank a last couple dry caps with Jens and Kelly, then packed everything up. We hit the road and were home by about 3:30. Traffic on 50 was a nightmare but we were spared the worst of it since we left a little early. Good 
thing we got home because our weekend wasn’t over! At 5pm it was off to Vandenbusch Manor for master Steve’s birthday. They had planned on coming up to Tahoe on saturday, but Steve got sick. Poor guy, pushing himself too hard for too long. Either way, by Sunday afternoon he was all better and ready to party. It was the Flaherty’s the Downing’s and the Vandenbusch’s for a summer birthday BBQ at the Vandenbusch estate! We were like the Gatsbys
