ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME: Billy at the Lake

It was a tradition when I was in high school and college to get as many friends together as we could, rent a condo, and spend spring break skiing up at Lake Tahoe.  We'd negotiate the fresh and packed powder at places named Squaw, Heavenly and Kirkwood as well as pocket size slopes at Sierra Ski Ranch and Slide Mountain to name just a few.

Our days were filled on the slopes and our nights were filled with debauchery at the local casinos.

A week later, and we'd just go home and sleep for a few days.

One night, we decided to hit the casino. The motels up there had lots of freebie coupons that we'd use. I had one for a free spin on a big slot machine, which won me a roll of quarter ($25, I believe).

 
I went to the nearest roulette wheel and put it all on black. It won. I stayed and was having tremendous luck. My friends, tired out after the day of skiing, drifted back to the cheapo motel we were staying at nearby to go to bed. My luck hadn't changed, so I stayed where I was.

It was a pretty magical night of gambling at the roulette table. I just wasn't losing. Finally, around 11:00, I made on last bet and said win or lose, this is it. I won again. Around $400 in chips were sitting in front of me. I made my way over to the cashier cage, stopping at a wheel of fortune table where I put a dollar on the 40-to-1 spot. Won again.

I was done gambling but I was too amped up to call it a night. Billy Preston was playing a midnight show in the lounge.

I ran back to the room, woke up all the guys, and told them I'm treating them to a show. A few grumbles but our philosophy was to come up here and not leave any regrets. They came along and we went to the show.

At midnight, the lounge was empty, save for the table with my friends and I and a couple at another table...six people altogether. The announcer came on for what we thought would be a cancellation of the show but, to our pleasant surprise, he introduced Billy Preston.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Heinrich Klaffs under CC BY-SA 2.0 license

Mr. Preston came out and if he had any shock or dismay at the tiny audience, he never let on. Just him and his keyboard, no band, he proceeded to sing the daylights out of that room.  Didn't matter if there were 6,000 or only 6...he played the same way.

'Nothing from Nothing,' 'Will It Go Round in Circles,' a whole lot of Beatles tunes (Preston was with them on a lot of their recordings), and...at one point, because he was a preacher at the time...he said "I hope I can just play one song only for you to show you where I am"...and sang a lovely rendition of 'How Great Thou Art'

He was happy, gregarious, and made sure each and every one of the six souls in the room that night had an absolutely great time. By the end, we'd felt we'd been at Billy's house where he regailed us with tales and songs all night long.

I was sad when I learned that the demons had come back and claimed his life but that night I became a Billy Preston fan for life.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Having a Beer in Lake Tahoe

After two months of lockdown in 2020, California gradually started to reopen and loosen it's Shelter in Place (SIP) order. First, some parks and trails reopened. Restaurant dining rooms let people back in at a reduced capacity. Bars and barbers started to reopen in some counties.

Cases started to spike up so wearing of the masks was made mandatory again and further loosening has been put on pause.
   
For awhile, the Lake Tahoe region had added a one thousand dollar fine for non residents who were caught there on non-essential business. That was a tough one because the lake is only a two hour drive away from home for us, perfect for a day out.

Then, early in June with the state loosening restrictions and opening back up, El Dorado County let that restriction expire and Tahoe was open to visitors again.

Later in June, we had a local heat wave with five days of triple digit temperatures. I just wanted to have a cold beer on the edge of a cool Lake Tahoe so plans were made to see how I could make this happen.

While the lake is beautiful, with plenty of beaches to dip your toes, and the weather perfect, it's also a place with a lot of regulations and rules to keep that famous clarity of the lake intact. Consequently, there are not a lot of restaurants or bars right on the edge of the water.

There are, however, a few places that were there before the regulations got so tight and they have been grandfathered in...allowed to operate as before because specifically because they were already there.

Just west of the city of South Lake Tahoe lies Camp Richardson, a sprawling private campground that has been there for over a century. The camp restaurant, the Beacon Bar and Grill, sits right on the beach and has a patio literally a couple of steps from the water. 

In other words, the perfect spot for this adventure. 

Two hours from home, we're pulling into Camp Richardson. A $10 parking fee gets us inside and we find a handicapped parking spot next to the entrance to the restaurant. Masks in place, we're whisked to an outdoor table a few feet from the water.

A cold 805 beer is deposited in front of me. Mission accomplished.

While we're here, we might as well eat. I have a tasty French dip sandwich. Letty goes with a poke salad and Tim goes with his usual burger.

It's all good and very relaxing. It really hit the spot, getting out and taking our minds off of the pandemic restrictions swirling around us.

We still have full access to the grounds so it's off to do a little exploring. A couple hundred yards to the west is the entrance to Tallac Historic Site.

The grounds, open Memorial Day Weekend through mid September, have plenty of accessible trails to explore the three estates that make up the park. The Tevis, Baldwin, and Heller families all had estates here and their opulent, yet rustic, mansions still offer commanding views of Lake Tahoe.

The oldest of the estates is the Pope estate, originally built in 1894 by Lloyd Tevis who was the president of Wells Fargo, while the newest was built in 1921 by Elias "Lucky" Baldwin. Lucky Baldwin is very well know in the Los Angeles area where the city of Arcadia was established on his rancho and he started the racetrack that became Santa Anita Park. Many things carry the family name there like Baldwin Avenue and Baldwin Park.

While all the buildings were closed and locked up due to Covid restrictions, we could still amble up to the windows and look in. Of particular interest were the boathouse (with a ramp up to the viewing windows), the gardens, and the servants areas that were easy to roll around on.

After roaming the grounds of this trio of estates, which made us think of a rustic American version of Downton Abbey, it's time to head back over to Camp Richardson and head home.

Darryl Musick

Copyright 2021 - All Rights Reserved

Lake Tahoe and the Motherlode, California & Nevada

 

On our third day, we ended up wasting a lot of time because some locals told us the best swimming lake in the area was Bear River Lake high up in the mountains above Jackson.  After a two-hour drive, we find out that there is no wheelchair access.  At all.

Back down we went.  Nice drive, but disappointed in not being able to do anything.

Watch the Video!

Yesterday was wine tasting day (part 2) where we ended up spending just about all day at Story Winery.  Not complaining at all because it’s one of my favorite places but we did miss one winery I had wanted to visit, Vino Nocetto.

Vino Nocetto is known for their sangiovese.  They make several varieties and vintages of the grape Italians make into Chianti.  It’s a nice little winery and I love the little hot dog stand statue they rescued and now display.

The wines themselves, however, are ok but not as spectacular as I’d expect someone who specializes in it to be.  The sangiovese we had yesterday at Drytown Cellars is definitely much better.  Still, nice people, good wine, and they press some outstanding olive oil.  We made sure to take some of that with us.

Back in Sutter Creek, we make it back to J&D’s Steakhouse.  This time I actually have some appetite so I split a rib eye with Tim.  What an excellent, succulent, tender, and moist piece of meat that was.  If you’re anywhere in the area, make sure you stop here for a meal or two.   After dinner, we head back to the hotel done with the day.

We’re getting an early start today.  Letty is skipping her morning run so we can go.  It’s just some fruit, coffee, and milk from the hotel’s tiny little breakfast bar, grabbed on the way to the car.

Why?  It’s a 90 mile, two hour drive to today’s destination, the jewel of the Sierras, Lake Tahoe.

I have some history with the lake.  Back in my earlier days, I was a competitive skier.  I’d hit the slopes 2 to 3 times a week during the winter (yes, an expensive habit that turned into an expensive sport).  My buddies and I would always celebrate the end of the season by spending our spring breaks getting a cheap hotel room by the casinos and skiing at a different Tahoe resort each day.

For a time, it was actually my goal to relocate to Truckee when I finished college and live the life of a ski bum.  Then I met my wife to be and got real.

As you can tell from above, most of my Tahoe travels have been in the winter.  Today is two days before Labor Day, the last blast of summer.

From our base in Sutter Creek, you have your choice of two routes.  Highway 88 has some spectacular scenery and goes over a high pass.  Highway 50 is a bit shorter and can handle near freeway speeds for much of the route.  Still a nice drive scenically but has a tight, hair-raising, cliffside descent into the Lake Tahoe area.  50 is the quicker route which is more important than scenery today.

A benefit from spending so much time here in my youth is that I know the local’s shortcut.  Coming into the lake from the south, you’ll hit all the tourist traffic if you keep following highway 50 all the way to the Nevada border.  You’ll skip a lot of that and save a ton of time if you turn east on Pioneer Trail before you get to the airport.  It’s an easy back road that skips all the lakeside traffic and rejoins highway 50 just before it hits the border.

We drive past the casinos and just beyond where the main part of civilization ends.  Our destination is up ahead on the left, Round Hill Pines Beach.

Down a little road through the forest, we reach the parking lot and pay our $8 parking fee (the fee changes periodically due to the expected crowds.  It can range from $7 to $10).  Two handicapped spots are available.

We arrive at 10:00am.  Our plan was to eat when we arrived but an employee tells me they don’t start serving food until 11:30.  The bathroom is tiny, barely accessible, with no privacy at all so I change Tim into his swim trunks in our van. 

Our first task is to take a walk around and scope out the area for things to do and wheelchair accessibility.  There is an accessible pier out into the water.  It is a bit narrow and has no railing or bumpers at all.  You need to exercise extreme caution if you are to roll your chair on it.  At least the water is crystal clear so the rescuers can find your body easily if you go off the side.

On this side, there is no way to get a wheelchair onto the sand but at the other end of the building that houses the bar and snack bar, it looks like there is a driveway onto the beach that would be suitable for a wheelchair.

On the other side of the parking lot from the beach is a heated pool.  At first glance, it does not seem to be wheelchair accessible with stairs leading up to the gate.  On closer inspection, we notice a side gate.  It’s unlocked, so we open it and there is a 3 inch step into the pool area.  Nearby is a wood shed and I find a thick piece of plywood that makes a great impromptu ramp so in we go.

There is no lift or ramp into the pool.  In situations like this, I take Tim in his chair to the edge of the shallow end of the pool and ease him over the side.  It’s a bit of a challenge, but I get his legs through the inner tube we’ve brought along that allows him just a bit of independence in the pool.  Don’t worry, I’m in there with him watching like a hawk.  Thank God I’m strong enough to lift him if need be.

We’ve got the pool to ourselves at this early hour.  It’s kind of dead but I also have room to work and time to do it.  An hour or so of swimming around and then we’ll head over to the beach.

Drying off, we leave the pool and head over to where we saw the driveway to the beach earlier.  Gingerly, Tim takes his chair down the packed dirt ramp to the sand.  On the sand, it is firm enough to drive on for a bit so we head towards the lake until the sand starts to soften.  We get about 15 yards out before we decide that the sand is getting too soft for the heavy power chair.  I think if we had his lightweight manual chair, we could have gotten very close to the water.  No worries, that’s why we went swimming in the pool first anyway.

Letty and I get our beach chairs and towels from the car and set up on the beach.  We’re in prime real estate in front of the grill and the bar.  Slathering on the sunscreen, we get some hot dogs, a sandwich, and some fish tacos & pina coladas from the bar.

It’s a bright, beautiful, and sunny day on this gorgeous stretch of sand on the edge of Lake Tahoe.  The mountains rimming the lake still have a few veins of snow and the water is crystal clear.  I decide to take a dip and get up to my knees before deciding that this glacially provided melt water is just too cold.  Another reason that visiting the heated pool first was a good idea.

Canadian geese mingle among the beach goers while we soak up the sun, watch the boats ply the waters, and gaze out among our fellow visitors to the sand.

If you’d like a bit more shade, large day tents are for rent for $25.  Want some more adventure?  You can rent jet skis and kayaks.  Parasailing is also available and for a more relaxed adventure, you can take a tour of the lake on one of the larger vessels.

To sum up, you can relax on a beautiful semi-private beach…cold adult drink in your hand, swim in some of the purest crystal clear water you’ll ever see, take some laps in a heated pool, and enjoy some outstanding mountain views, all for the price of parking.  At the state park down the road, where you’ll only get half of this, you’ll pay $5 for parking so the three extra dollars are certainly worth it.

Yes, it could be just a little more accessible but if you’re with friends or family, you’ll manage.

We leave after a late lunch and head back down to the Motherlode.  Going back up the grade on Highway 50, we notice that traffic is backed up for miles.  Lucky we started early or we’d never have made it to the beach.

Back in Sutter Creek, we make our way over to the Sutter Creek Gold Mine, about a quarter mile from our hotel.  It’s a still working gold mine here in the Gold Country.  The tours into the mine are generally not accessible but if you call ahead, they can arrange a tour where you’d transfer into a seat in the mine vehicle and stay there for the entire tour.

We’re not here to do that today.  Instead, we buy a couple of bags of dirt from the gift shop and head outside.  A flume of water is rushing by and some pans are lying about.  We grab one and…following the directions in the bag…dump our little baggie of dirt in and fill it with water from the trough.  It takes time but after much swishing in the rushing water, we find a few tiny little nuggets of gold left behind when all the dirt is washed away.  With our second bag, we find a few more and put the 9 or 10 little nuggets into the little test tube full of water that was provided.  With that, our career as gold miners is over.

Since the hotel’s close by, we head back to rest up for our last dinner.

After a rest and showers, we head back to Plymouth to the Dancing Bear for dinner.  In part 2 of this trip, you might remember that the owner invited us back on Saturday to hear the great guitarist he had playing there.  We enter through a back side gate into their lovely patio.  The hostess says no tables are available.  Luckily, the owner remembered he’d invited us and he felt obliged to live up to his word.  Tables were re-arranged and enough room was found so that we could sit and have dinner.

The guitarist was good and the setting sun also set the mood.  A bottle of local wine was brought out and we ordered some samples of their barbecue, smoked for hours on the adjacent smoker.  Brisket, chicken, and wings were all brought out.  Only problem was that they ran out of the delicious, bacon wrapped smoked jalapeno poppers we had the night before.  More were in the smoker but it would be another hour before they’d be ready.

No problem, we said, it would make a great dessert!  Bring ‘em out when they’re ready.

As the food came out and the music played on, we dined on the very good chicken.  The brisket was good, especially in the fatty ends, but a little bland in the middle.  The smoked wings were incredibly delicious.

A nearby couple had order a bottle of local barbera but only drank one glass and donated the rest to our table.  We traded some tastes of our zin with them and waited for the main event…the smoked poppers.

Finally, after we’d just finished the rest of the food, out they came.  Just as incredibly good as it was a couple of days ago.  Hot, smoky, spicy, and creamy.  We had some outstanding food this week but we crown this item the best we had.

Finishing up the trip, we recount the times we’ve had.  Great baseball in Sacramento; steak and wine at J&D’s in Sutter Creek; wine tasting across Amador County; smoked bacon wrapped jalapenos in Plymouth; a great day at the beach in Lake Tahoe; and finishing up trading tastes with locals at the Dancing Bear. 


(NOTE: The Dancing Bear has since closed)

On the way home, I have a couple of more things I want to take care of.

First, I head out via highway 12 out of Jackson.  After stopping by a local fruit stand, we end up in the little town of Lockeford.  This town is known throughout the state for its little meat market…Lockeford Meats…and their vast array of sausages.  It’s not uncommon for lines to form down the block as people wait to get to the butcher counter.

Not too bad today, I only have six people in front of me.  We get some of their famous Dakota smoked bratwursts, some Bavarian sausage, Italian sausage, jalapeno sausage, and some jerky for the ride home.  The meat goes into our cooler while we head across the street to have big cowboy lunch at the Country Café.

Leaving Lockeford, we gas up and head south to Bakersfield for our last stop.  Whenever we come this way and head home, it’s time to clean up so I have to always stop off at the best car wash in the state, Cruz Thru on Coffee Road.  It’s like having my own pit crew as I pay my $5, the attendant takes my trash and gives us coffee and lollipops, the crews scrubs down our car, and we head home shiny and sparkly.

-Darryl
Copyright 2010 – Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Summer in Lake Tahoe - Part 3

(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed)  For all you north shore people, this part is for you. Previously, we drove up highway 395, had some great Basque Food, and went hiking. Then, we drove over the mountains to Amador County to taste some superb wine and dine among history. Today, we’re going over to the other side of the lake.

Highway 50 on the east shore leads to highway 28 at Spooner Junction taking us past some crystal-clear water on our way to Incline Village. Past Incline is King’s Beach where we see a farmer’s market in progress by the beach. Parking is $8, but the friendly parking attendant lets us know that it’s free on the street, so that’s where we park.

Another days worth of fruit is bought and we take a little time on the beach here to enjoy some of it. Placer County Waste Management is also handing out cloth shopping bags so we take a few of those, which come in quite handy when we go shopping back home.

I drive a little east on the highway until I can turn left to go around the block…sort of a fat, lazy U turn…to go the other way. It’s the easiest way on this busy stretch of road.

The little side street…just feet from the main highway…is filled with trailers and run down houses. I think we’ve just found the poor side of town, just out of the view of the tourists on the main drag. It’s a reminder that not everybody up here is rich.

We turn north on highway 267, just past the town, and head over to Truckee. This old railroad town still hums with the sound of locomotives and has some fun shops and restaurants in its old downtown. After an hour of browsing here, we head back to the lake via highway 89 along the Truckee River, which meets back up with the lake in Tahoe City.

At the intersection of 89 and 28, there are a few businesses. We buy a couple of sandwiches here and head over to a public picnic area where the Truckee River flows out of Lake Tahoe. There are plenty of picnic tables in this gorgeous area. Our sandwiches are delicious, along with the fruit we got earlier at the farmers market.

Just a few feet away is a small dam that regulates the flow into the river. In the stretch between the dam and highway 89 (a very short distance) is a school of some of the biggest rainbow trout you’ll ever see. We’re told that no fishing is allowed within 200 yards of the dam, so these fish have learned that this is the place to be. A local sporting goods shop has set up a couple of fish food vending machines doing very good business.

There’s a bike trail along the river that starts here so we decide to go hiking. A sign at the beginning of the trail says that pedestrians should stay on the left and bikes on the right, which sounds fine in theory, but there’s only two small lanes…what happens when a bike is coming the other way? It seems that most people just stick to the “keep right” philosophy but my wife keeps insisting that we stay left. After a few too close encounters, I finally get her to see it my way but she’s tired of keeping out of the way of the bikes, so we head back to the car.

Travelling on along the north shore, we go to the CalNeva Lodge. This should be more of a landmark. It was owned for a time by Frank Sinatra and one of the cabins along the shoreline was where President Kennedy had his trysts with Marilyn Monroe. It’s changed hands a few times since then, in fact, my wife handled one of the sale escrows back when she was in the business.

We had originally planned to stay here for a cheap north shore room but had second thoughts as we learned that the present owners were gathering a reputation for not keeping the place up and lost it to the bank in foreclosure. A sale never materialized, so the bank now runs the place. (Note: The Cal Neva has since closed. Billionaire Larry Ellison, of the Oracle Corporation, now owns it and is renovating it into a luxury hotel. - Ed)

My wife tells me why it didn’t sell…the property’s key claim to fame is its location. CalNeva means that the state line runs right down the middle of the place. You can see the state line drawn on the wall inside with the casino starting on the Nevada side. The pool also has the state line down the middle. Sounds neat, until you think of the nightmare of sorting out a property sale not only in two cities and counties, but in different states. It wasn’t one of her easier escrows, to be sure.

Inside is a beautiful bar with a giant Tiffany glass ceiling. The place looks old…in a retro kind of way…but not too worn out. We have a couple of drinks served by a friendly bartender. Afterward, we blow a few bucks on slot machines in the sparsely populated casino. It’s the middle of the day and all the table games are closed. They’re only open during the evenings, Thursday through Sunday.

We walk around to see the cabin that Kennedy used, walk into the old showroom, see the pool with the border in it, and the big room that served as a dance hall in the early days. It’s neat, but very quiet and no buzz here so off we go.

As we wind our way back to the south side, I remember about the Ponderosa. In the 60’s and 70’s, we used to watch Bonanza all the time. On the show, Ben Cartwright owned pretty much all the land on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe. After a couple of years on the show, a set was actually built between Incline Village and Spooner Junction, which became a little theme park open to the public.

I didn’t recall seeing any signs for it on the way to the north shore so I started looking on our way back. Soon, I saw a large parking lot with an old Conestoga wagon next to it. A large fenced off area was up the hill but there were no signs. We drove around to the back part and saw the unmistakable Cartwright ranch house along a western themed streetscape. We’d found the Ponderosa. It had gone belly up and was just rotting alongside the road. The website is just a tombstone…”The Ponderosa Ranch is now closed to the public. There are no plans for it to be reopened.”

Coming back into the Stateline area, we decide to do a little gambling. Parking in the back of Harrah’s, we wander along highway 50 and walk into Bill’s Casino, which had a $1.50 microbrew and hot dog special. We make our way into the bar, which had just a few locals in it. We inquire about the deal and get served but the bartender makes sure to tell us that “there are no free drinks just because you gamble here.” Okay then.

We make our way out onto the gaming floor. Besides us, there are exactly 4 people in the casino. Not exactly a lively place. Bill’s closed down last month (January, 2010). Doesn’t surprise me in the least.

We went over to Harrah’s next. Played a little roulette and some slots. More players here but still not a large crowd. No energy at all. We take the tunnel that runs under the street to Harvey’s (built for the cold winter days they have here) but it’s no different. Gambling is just a major letdown on this trip.

I do need to note that we were here at the very depths of our current recession, so I guess it should not be too surprising.

Coming out to go back to the hotel, we see a couple of homeless guys trying to get enough money for a tall boy. Boy, the Nevada side of things was sure depressing today.

For dinner tonight, we head on over to Café Fiore, near the base lodge for Heavenly Valley. It’s hard to find, hidden behind another larger restaurant, but this small (7 tables) intimate Italian bistro is such a find.

I have a plate of veal saltimboca while my wife gets linguine fra diavolo, a plate of pasta liberally infused with different seafoods. An appetizer plate of sauerkraut and veggies are accompanied by a delicious breadbasket. I was not a sauerkraut person, but a taste of theirs turned my opinion around. Just in time as we’d be in Germany in a couple of month’s time.

Charming, delicious, and relaxed. The restaurant is so small that by the end of dinner, you know everyone in there. The contractor up from Santa Clarita with his wife. The schoolteacher on a weekender from Simi Valley. The law firm partner with his wife from Newport Beach. Great fun. I highly recommend Café Fiore when you’re in the area. Reservations are essential in this tiny little café.

The next day we have one last wonderful breakfast and check out. We head west on highway 50 and make our way home down the Central Valley.

-Darryl
Copyright 2010 - Darryl Musick

Summer in Lake Tahoe - Part 2

(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed)  I can’t rave enough about the great breakfast they serve at the Station House Inn. Also, in part 1, I raved about the suite with the spa tub but neglected to mention that we inspected a fully accessible room with roll-in shower and two queen beds. Plenty of room for a family of up to four. Not quite as nice as the spa suite though.

After another delicious morning meal, we hit the road for a side trip up over the Carson Pass. We turn off highway 50 onto highway 89 just past the small community of Meyers. Civilization quickly fades as we drive along side the Upper Truckee River. It’s just beautiful up here with sharp blue skies, miles of meadows, with trout filled streams running through.

A quick right onto highway 88 at Sorensens and we’re heading up the pass.
In 1844, a group of soldiers headed by explorer Kit Carson and 2nd Lieutenant John C. Fremont were looking for a route to Sutter’s Fort from the Utah Territory to re-supply. As they came up through this snowy pass in February, they ran into some bad weather, got stranded, and had to eat their dogs and horses to survive. On Valentine’s day, Fremont and his cartographer hiked up a local peak and became the first white men to set sight on Lake Tahoe. At the end of the month, the weather cleared enough that the party was able to continue on and make it through the pass that now bears Carson’s name and arrive on March 6th to Sutter’s Fort with no fatalities.

Soon, we arrive at the peak elevation of 8,650 ft. near Red Lake. It was in this area that the group was stranded. Not long after, we hit a 2-mile stretch of road alongside a steep slope bearing ominous signs of “No Stopping – Avalanche Zone.” One time years ago, a ski patroller from Kirkwood ski area rode along with us on one of our spring break adventures here. He told us that the area where the snow on the side of the road suddenly grew thicker was where a recent avalanche had come down. He then told us about another avalanche where a man was buried and rescuers could not find him…until the spring thaw when they found his body under the platform that was built for a landing area for the rescue helicopter.

A little beyond this and we get to Caples Lake, which sits in front of my personal favorite ski area, Kirkwood. It’s been several years since I’ve skied, but this would be the place I would try to come to more than any other.

About half way down the pass, we stop at a roadside residence where a sign tells us the owner makes homemade bird feeders. He doesn’t have anything that would work for us but he and his wife invite us to chat for awhile, looking at all the birds that come to their yard. Afterward, he tells us to go to the TrueValue hardware store in Jackson to find the feeder we want.

We do stop there, but we don’t find a suitable feeder although my wife found some great deals on yard decorations.

We make the turn up highway 49, headed to our favorite wine appellation, Amador County. At the tiny town of Plymouth, it’s a right turn to go to the Shanandoah Valley. (see our original Amador County report for more)

Our first stop is Montevina Winery, although it’s now called Terra ‘d Oro. They still have a label called Montevina but the winery has added a large warehouse and production facility since we were last here 11 years ago. No wonder I had a hard time finding it.

We try a few tastes and take along some Zinfandel and Barbera. They used to make a Refosco that would make you sigh, but now Montevina is their budget label. It’s still good, but it used to be better.

   Next, it’s on to the King of Zinfandel, Renwood Rombauer Winery. Renwood Rombauer makes some superb zins from their old growth vines, some dating back to the Gold Rush. We tasted several great renditions of this grape and one, the Grandpere, was a musty tasting wine. Didn’t enjoy it as much as we have in the past. The Old Vine Zin and the Barbera were very enjoyable. We took half a case of each.

As we were tasting, two other couples came in to taste and insisted on white wines and the guy working the counter jokingly said, “oh, you want the sissy wines.” They turned around and walked out. Seemed very thin skinned to me as it was obviously just a light tease…Renwood Rombauer (and Amador County for that matter) is known for its heavy reds.

On to our next stop, the beautiful Story winery. Another winery with old (over a century) vines, Story lets their oldest vines go without irrigation, relying only on natural rain. This produces a small fruit, with concentrated juice giving the wine some of the most intense zinfandel flavor you’ll find. Their tasting room is in an old, small cabin next to a picnic area overlooking the Cosumnes River Canyon. We get their “recession special” which consists of 2 of their premium Miss-Zin wines (50/50 mission grape and zinfandel), 2 old vine zins, a chardonnay, and champagne for $60.

We get another bottle to enjoy at the table overlooking the canyon while I look back at the cabin and see the two ladies that work there poking around the bottom of the shack with a rake and hose. I ask what’s going on and they say they saw a rattlesnake slither under there and they’re trying to catch it.

The wine country of Amador County is beautiful, relaxed, and features some of the state’s best wines. It doesn’t hurt that they still routinely offer free tasting, unlike the big valley north of Napa.

It’s time to eat so we head back to the Carson Pass. Up at Kirkwood, we stop at the Kirkwood Inn, a small restaurant and bar across the street from Caples Lake and the Kirkwood Ski area.

This place has been in business since 1864. Snowshoe Thompson was one of the regulars here. It also has some seriously good food. I have a steak sandwich while my wife has a pasta dish. Both fill us up for the night. Inside, you sit under massive wooden beams by a roaring fire (in cold weather), and chat up with the locals. You get the feeling that you’re a hundred miles from civilization and that you’ve stepped back in time.

In reality, it’s only about 25 miles back to Tahoe. Along the way, I see this guy in a wheelchair fishing the Carson River…I can’t figure out how he got there.

More to come, stay tuned for part 3…

-Darryl
Copyright 2010 - Darryl Musick

Summer in Lake Tahoe - Part 1

(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed)  One of the great things about AbilityFirst is the summer camp program they run. We’d just dropped Tim off for a week at Camp Paivika and headed north on highway 395.

This is California’s version of Big Sky Country (with apologies to Montana). Vast stretches of desert lead up to the base of the Sierra Nevada range. A climb up through lava upthrusts deposits you in Owens Valley, hitting the wide spot in the road called Little Lake. Yes, there is a pretty, little lake here.

Continuing on , it’s not long to Dunmovin…great name, Lone Pine, and Independence – which hosted the trial of Charles Manson. Past Independence is Manzanar, the relocation camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. It’s a beautiful area but, still, who would want to be in confinement here?

On to Bishop, where we make a lunch stop at Schatt’s Bakery, famous for their squaw bread…which just tastes like regular wheat bread to me.

We meet a nice gentleman who is driving a gorgeous black Pantera. He tells us he is coming from a Pantera get-together in Reno and lets us take a few pictures of his car.

Across the street is Bishop’s beautiful park with its gurgling brook. A momma duck and her ducklings swim about in the water.

Mono Lake

Back on 395, we keep up a steady pace northward…we see several more Panteras going the other direction, beautiful cars. There are many towns here that would warrant some more time in. Mammoth, June Lake, Lee Vining/Mono Lake, Bridgeport, and Topaz Lake to name a few. Our next stop is in Gardnerville, just a bit south of Carson City, where we stop to have a Basque dinner at the Overland Hotel and Restaurant. (NOTE: It has since closed - Ed)

It’s a by-the-book Basque dinner, except without the communal tables. No menu, just food. A small bottle of red wine it put on the table, along with a bread basket. A large tureen of soup, followed by a salad. The waiter then asks what you want for an entre; lamb, fish, steak, chicken? Next come the beans, followed by a dish of pasta. Your entre then arrives with a plate of fries. All followed up with dessert.

Bellies distended, we leave and play a quick game of Frisbee with some local kids in the parking lot before heading up the Kingsbury Grade to Lake Tahoe. Half an hour later, we’re cruising by the casinos of Stateline before crossing over into South Lake Tahoe.

This is where you Tahoe purists will come in and say “south? The north shore is the ONLY place to be in Tahoe.” Yeah, it’s nice, quiet, relaxed, and uncrowded on the north shore. It was also hard to find a decent room there. More on that later…

South Lake Tahoe is the “big city” of the lake. It has sprawl, traffic, shopping centers, and abuts high-rise casinos but it’s still a pretty place and you can get some good deals on great rooms. Our lodging will be the Best Western Station House Inn, a block away from the lake and within walking distance to the casinos and the Heavenly Valley gondola.

The room is a large, 2 room suite with a king-size bed, large bathroom with Jacuzzi tub (transfer seat available), and queen-size sofabed in the living room. The walls are a dark wood grain, so the room feels a little on the dark side but other than that, it’s a great room.

Also available onsite is a heated pool and outdoor spa. A free, full breakfast is served at the LewMarNel’s restaurant behind the pool. This is no ordinary hotel breakfast bar. It’s real restaurant food. You are seated, waited on, and can pick anything on the menu. It’s delicious too. The hotel’s website claims that it was voted one of the top 100 breakfasts by Esquire magazine, I don’t doubt that is true.

After the long drive, we unpack and head down to the lake to watch the sunset.

A good night’s sleep and one of those great breakfasts prepares us for our next adventure, hiking down to Vikingsholm…a Scandinavian style castle built on the lake’s edge in Emerald Bay by Lora Josephine Knight in 1929. There is a parking lot at the top of the trail and it’s about a mile down to the beach. It’s paved and smooth enough for wheelchairs but remember… you must come back uphill the same way. Although there are marked handicapped spots at the bottom, neither the park’s website or the docents on site say you can actually drive your car down there.

It’s a half hour to the bottom where we unpack a light picnic of fruit, cheese, and juice to eat on the beach. The castle is suitably spectacular and the water is sparkling. Just offshore is an island where Mrs. Knight built a teahouse on the peak. Lupines and daisies are in bloom and scrub jays try to steal our food. It’s a steep hike back up but not as bad as I thought it would be.
After a bit of a break back at the top, we head across the street to do some waterfall hiking. At the road itself, Lower Eagle Falls cascades in a spectacular drop into Emerald Bay. We are going to hike up past Upper Eagle Falls to Eagle Lake.

Many call this an easy, novice hike but I found it much more difficult that the trek down to Vikingsholm. Many long stretches along this 2 mile (roundtrip) trail require climbing stairs built into the mountainsides and rocks. It is definitely not wheelchair accessible, although there is a short, accessible boardwalk trail adjacent to the parking lot.

You reach the upper falls pretty quickly but the lake takes much longer. Although the trail is about the same length as Vikingsholm, it feels about three times longer.

Once you reach the lake, there are plenty of large rocks on which to rest. We have another snack of power bars and water while watching a couple of families swim and play fetch with their Labradors. There are also a lot of squirrels and woodchucks up here, so guard your food.

By the time we get back to the car, we’re exhausted after the two hikes so we head back to the hotel.

Stay tuned for part 2...

-Darryl
Copyright 2010 Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

A Viking's Trek: Vikingsholm - Lake Tahoe, California

Letty Musick - Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

Let's get the big question out of the way first, Lora Knight's Scandinavian castle on the lake is not accessible. You will not be able to get your wheelchair into the house. Still, it's a worthwhile visit when you're in the Tahoe area.

Watch the Video!

Rangers, docents, and volunteers aren't fully aware of what is and is not accessible. We made arrangements for, and were even charged full price, for a tour only to find out at the door of the house that Tim would not be able to go inside (you need to be able to navigate 2 or 3 stairs to get into the living room where the main part of the guided tour takes place).

Luckily, we were refunded our ticket price and, while Letty got the full tour, Tim and I were able to pick around the edges and see a few things like the garage and a few staff quarters.  More on that later.

Vikingsholm is a Scandinavian style castle built on the shore of Lake Tahoe at the foot of the stunning Emerald Bay. It was built in 1928 by Lora Knight and has 38 rooms with every amenity you could think of just before the depression hit.

Offshore is Tahoe's only island, where Mrs. Knight also built a teahouse on the peak.

Normally, you would park in the small parking lot on highway 89 and hike the steep but paved road a bit over a mile down the the edge of the lake where the house sits. If you have a power chair in good condition with fully charged batteries, you should be able to do it.

However, if you call the D.L. Bliss State Park visitor's center ahead of time at (530) 525-7232 you can book a slot to actually drive down to the castle...as long as you have a handicapped license plate or placard. Up to 2 vehicles can go down, escorted by park docents, at 1:00pm each day and return at 3:00pm.

This is what we did.

We were told to be at the visitor's center by 12:30pm. We're leaving Amador County...near Lodi, California...at 9:00am to give us plenty of time. The west shore of Lake Tahoe is 2 hours east of Sacramento, 4 from San Francisco, and about 90 minutes from Reno. Our drive should take just over 2 hours so this should give us plenty of time and we can get a bite of breakfast and take a bathroom break along the way.

There are three routes from the west, Interstate 80 and highway 50 both go from Sacramento but we like to take the more scenic and less crowded highway 88, also known as Carson Pass.

In April, we came through here and the snow was ten feet high on each side of the road. Now, in July, the snow's all gone but the grass is green and there's an abundance of wildflowers.

While it might be tough for cars to climb that almost nine thousand foot pass, we're fine and soon we're arriving in the city of South Lake Tahoe. We make a quick stop for a bit at McDonalds before continuing on to the D.L. Bliss State Park visitor's center.

It's just after noon. I pay my $10 parking fee and then we wait for our guides. At 12:30, Cheryl and Bob arrive, volunteers for the state park. They'll lead the way, unlock the gates, and guide us down the road to the handicapped parking spot at Vikingsholm next to the maintenance shed.

There is supposed to be one more party showing up and we have to wait until just before 1:00pm before leaving. Staff at the park know that no one is to be on the access road going up at that time to reserved the road for ADA visitors to make the transit down on the one-lane road.

The other party never shows up so it's just us and our volunteers. We follow the Subaru to an unmarked spot on the side of the road. Bob gets out, unlocks the gate, and we follow through. Bob locks the gate behind us and away we go.

It's a very narrow road, just enough for our van to squeeze by at times. Someone didn't get the memo because soon we're stopped by a truck coming up the hill. Bob gets out and navigates the offender to a small patch on the side of the road to give us just enough room to pass.

A few minutes later, we're at the bottom and parked. Bob and Cheryl give us a head's up as to where the visitor's center, bathrooms, and ticket office are. They tell us to meet them back here a few minutes before 3pm to make the trip back up and then they leave us.

A paved road leads behind the main house to the visitor's center on the other side. It's not accessible so Tim waits on the porch while I go in to buy tickets. I ask if there is a concession for wheelchair users and am told they go in through the exit but we are still charged full price.

We have five minutes until the tour starts. We go in the exit and wait in the circular driveway of the house for a tour guide to come and meet us. What I don't see is a ramp of any kind, although the step to the door of the house is only two inches high, leading to a one inch threshold to get through the door. Not perfect but doable in Tim's chair.

The guide comes out with a binder full of photographs of the house for Tim to look at.

"Can't he go in the house?" I ask him.

"No, there's a few steps down into the living room where the main portion of the tour takes place," he answers. "One of you can go on the tour and then I'll take the other one while he waits out here."

"We were lead to believe that he would at least be able to see the bottom floor of the house. They did charge us full price for his tour and now we find he can't go in."

There...there's that look when you bring up a big accessible issue with someone who doesn't have a clue.

"They did?" he answers, surprised. "They should have known he couldn't get in, I'll make sure you get a refund."

(They did refund two tour admissions, which cost $15 each.)

So, to recap, The website says to call the number above to make ADA arrangements to go to the castle. The visitor's center tells us we can buy tickets for the accessible tour when we get there. The visitor's center sells us tickets, telling us that wheelchairs just need to go in the exit, the guide tells us it's not possible (but chair users can look at pictures), and now...when we only have 90 minutes to spend here...I have to go back to the visitor's center to waste some more precious time to get my money back.

And people wonder why people with special needs get so frustrated with the world at large sometimes...

Letty goes on the tour while Tim and I wait in the driveway. We're all alone so we start wandering around.

We are able to see this nice 1936 Dodge, used by Mrs. Knight's personal secretary, in the garage.

There are a couple of servant bedrooms near the exit that Tim can see, and he can just get a tiny glimpse of the kitchen through an open door that us up a couple of steps.

I get him into the foyer where he can see this unique clock.

From there, he can peek into the living room and into the dining room.

Letty takes my place and I take a quick swing upstairs to see the bedrooms.

The guide brings the tour group out to the driveway and explains that the house was built here because the surrounding area looks like Norway.

Seeing the large, rocky cliffs behind the house, it's hard to argue that point.

After the tour, we take a walk along the beach. The sand is hard enough and packed enough that Tim can roll his chair along without problems.

I take off my shoes and get my feet wet in the cold, clear lake.

We hike around a little on the trails through the forest, looking for birds, chipmunks, and butterflies.

There's a boat pier where I walk out and check out the small island off shore. The pier is not in a good enough condition for wheelchairs to access but it would not take a lot to fix that.

While the accessibility of the tour was a disappointment...along with the general lack of accessible knowledge among the staff...the area is stunningly beautiful and worth the trip just to spend some time on this tucked away and hard-to-get-to beach on Lake Tahoe.

Back at the van, we have a little snacknic while we wait for our guides. They soon show up, offer deep apologies for the access ("I could have sworn they had a portable ramp for the bottom floor," Bob told us), and we shared some of our home-grown plums with them.

Back up (and, yes, another truck was coming down during the reserved ADA time on the road, causing another delay), we head back over to Hope Valley.

This is one of California's most beautiful spots at the junction of highways 88 and 89, where the Carson River forms up for its journey to Nevada.

Not far from here is the Kirkwood Inn, built as a remote waystation up in the mountains for weary travelers heading over Carson Pass in 1864.

In the room where Showshoe Thompson was a regular, we eat a delicious meal of smoked brisket and chicken poblano soup.

The county line bisects the building so, this bar where Thompson sat, is in Alpine County and the table a few feet away where we sat in the dining area is in Amador County.

Back in our home county, we finish up and head down the hill.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved