Drove all the way to Tahoe to watch a guy I kind of like get married to a daughter of one of my wife's friends. Spent the night at the Best Western - a nice motel with its own dock on the lake. Drove back Sunday but did so on Hwy 4 through Ebbits Pass - the only enjoyable part of the weekend.

Trouble with that is that Liz is terrified of mountain roads . . . . and complained the entire trip.

The wedding itself was OK, but the chapel was too small - and I had to sit with a bunch of ladies whose perfume made me sneeze and cough. There was no isle for the bride to walk down, the parties just sort of jumped out from a door near the alter - which was no alter anyway. The minister was a lady, and I expect her credentials came off a cereal box.

There was a wall of clear glass behind them - which allowed you to watch the activity on the lake while the dirty job was done. The light coming through the window likely ruined any photographs of the ceremony itself. Worse, they had written their own vows - which went on forever. The guy sure tied himself up in knots. . . . .

The wedding party was kind of cute - in the modern style it was made up of her kids, his kids, and their kids. Yes, this is the second time I watched this lady get married. This time I didn't bother with a gift.

I traveled up there with a friend - he is rather proud of his new Jaguar. Dan would be proud of me - Liz's Taurus had it tongue hanging out a time or two, but I was able to keep up with him.

We often rolled 90+ down 99, and I had to run 2ed and 3rd on hwy 50 - never knew I could run 70 in third. But the little V6 in the Taurus performed much better than I expected. And it still works to tell your wife that she is looking at the speedometer at an angle, and you are not really running that fast!

It sure gave his wife and Liz something to complain about at the reception.

I enjoyed the reception - except I couldn't dance. I didn't mind so much having to sit with the old men, but sure hated having to sit with the old ladies! And when did the style change again? the young ladies were all dressed modestly - the only ones showing any cleavage were the last ones you wanted to look at!

I was able to promote a race for the thumper truck - maybe. One of my friends is a paving contractor and he and his sons built a Ford monster truck a few years ago. He has several acres of muddy swamp near his shop they play on.

But he had a stroke a few weeks ago, and his wife was nixing any play time - even to the extent of monitoring his drinks and dinner at the wedding. She didn't even let him drive up to Tahoe, or we would have had a three car convoy.

We will have to wait for him to get better, and re-assert his leadership. I well know what that is like!

The weekend was expensive - I have gained so much weight I had to buy a new dress shirt, and a sport coat. At least Liz let me get by without a new suit. Plus the motel was not cheap - they started calling rooms 'Suites" and tripled the price. It had a nice fireplace and spa, but we had no time to enjoy them. We could have used their dock, but did not have a boat.

I would have rather parked my van along side the road and saved $300, but Liz says I have no class!

I may lack when it comes to class - but I do know how to spend a weekend in Tahoe - and it does not include old ladies and staying out of the casinos, or strange "churches" and weddings! Nor hanging around people whose wives call the shots, watching a young guy loose his independence.

It is enough to make a grown man cry.

 

Sounds like a lot of "outings" my wife lines up for me too.

Haven't you learned how to get out of these things yet?

 

yep - be awhile before she asks me again.

 

Funny what a 6 hour ride home without pleasantries will accomplish

 

WHAT???!!!!!! Clint, you mean that you drove through Markleeville and didn't even try to contact me?
And I know what you mean about Ebbitts Pass. My wife froze up that last time she accompanied me over that sucker. I was already driving about 15 mph, and she kept screaming for me to slow down. Sheesh, chicks...

Though I have to admit, it is only 1-1/2 lanes wide. And when some idiot decides to come over the pass with a tractor trailer, well, that don't leave much room.

 

Markleeville? is that one of those towns with a population of 10? We should do a meet - perhaps at one of the lake campgrounds. Separate the men from the flatlanders! Do the lakes freeze up enough to ice skate on them?

One thing that did bother me was all the traffic - seems all of California is busy with people rushing everywhere. Where do you go to get away from people?

 

Yeah, I cracked up when the father marrying my brother in law and sister in law told BIL to remember one thing when your wife asks you something:

Yes, Dear .....

 

Did you happen to see a 19 year old kid speed by at 55mph with a grin on his face in a boat bearing a striking resemblance to this one



Oh yeah, it also would have been followed by the sweet sound of a straight piped Merc 502 Mag BWAHHHHHHHHHHHH


Yeah we were up on the lake this weekend also, my family and I, although we were out having fun in the boat instead of sitting in a church. I feel your pain brotha.

 

Na, what I wanted was to ride the parachute that was pulled by one of the boats. It looked like once they got him aloft he could stay up and soar on his own.

Anyone ever done this?

 

Yeah yeah! We saw 2 of those boats while we were out on the lake, we had lunch at the Hyatt, the parasailing boats were hangin' out near there.

 

Oh, this guy;



When I was up there the Monday after HAN (8-13-07)We saw a lot of those wooden boats like this one:



They must have been having their annual meet. Very Cool .... I snapped 4 or 5 of them running across the water over by Homewood. That telephoto len really helped.

It actually sound like you had a nice relaxing weekend to me. ;-)

 

If you had taken the time to tie in with me, Clint, you would have seen that where I live, I AM away from all the people. The tourists make it as far as town. A few venture a little further, to the State Park and hot springs. A few scatter about along the rivers in various spots, or hunker down on a lake shore somewhere. But at my house, you can hear a squirrel fart. Nothin but trees and critters, and of course a few neighbors. But no fences.
Next time my friend, you really need to stop in for a visit. Just give me a heads up, and hopefully it works out that I will be off duty, and at home the day you are passing through town. If you call early enough in advance, I might even be able to pull a string or two to insure my being there.

Isn't that Ebbitts Pass a nice drive? Kinda slow going, and ya gotta pay attention, but dog gonned purdy.

Oh, BTW, yes, most of the lakes do freeze up during the winter. But are most popular for ice fishing. Caples is good for that. There is only one lake that isn't frozen for most all of the winter, and that would be Indian Creek Reservoir.
A good Chapter Meet would be a camping trip to Hope Valley. It was where you probably turned off of Hwy 88, and drove North toward Tahoe on Hwy 89. That is, if you went that route. Hope Valley is the big meadowy valley at that junction. There is a road just passed the turn off where you probably turned at, and you would turn the opposite way to get to where the good and free camping is. We could pull a meet off like this in that area. You know, set up with our trailers, campers, and tents in a circle like covered wagons...

 

I think I've been to Cables before. I wouldn't recommend going that road again in a Caddy. LOL !!! My friend fished there a lot as a kid. Stuck it rich in the Bay Area. He had to show me and didn't car about bottoming out the Caddy as he had a Mercedes at home. Kind of a local kid did good.

Beautiful Place and Lakes... The Mountain just towers over the lake.
Lot of German Brown if I remember and Rainbows, Right?

 

Is Ebbits on highway 4? Is is as curvy as 108? 108 is a beautiful road too

 

I remember the meadow you describe - had I been in my van I would have stopped and at least fixed a cup of coffee. There is a stream much like the ones I grew up with - mostly small fish, but a ball to catch.

And you would not need to worry about a kid falling in - if they did they could get out. I would want to go after the first frost to avoid the bugs - is there a long Indian summer in that country?

One thought I had - my family always spent the day in the mountains cutting our own Christmas tree. We kids loved it even if the trees were not the greatest. I still remember the jug of hot chocolate, and cooking hot dogs over a fire. Do people still do that? Bet you have to have a permit!

Next time I will stop - If you are on duty, I will find something to do until you get off. Most of the time a couple of days here or there do not matter. I also have a friend in Tahoe I didn't contact. But this was a wife weekend. . . .. . . .