Note: Yesterday's entry has been extended
Today was our last day at Lake Tahoe and it started fairly gently. The drive back to Berkeley would take four hours of the day so we kicked things off with a bit of a sleep-in and easy breakfast on the deck, then Alastair took the plunge, literally, by diving in for a last swim in the lake. Both he and Sophie absolutely adore the Lake Tahoe area. They've spent many weekends hiking, skiing, cross-country skiing or kayaking there. Sophie has also swum in a few events and has one or two more planned for next year.
 |
| Alastair experimenting with a mohawk with an appropriate flick of the hair |
Once refreshed we hit the road, as far as Truckee anyway, a late morning coffee stop. Truckee is a town not far inland from the lake, in Nevada County. Since Covid hit, its population has swelled dramatically, mainly due to IT people moving into the area while working remotely. House prices have risen significantly and the old semi-western feel of the town has been superseded by the growth of trendy boutiques, galleries and cafes. I imagine it's similar to the sort of thing that has happened over the years to the towns in the Wairarapa, e.g. Greytown and Martinborough, or Wanaka.
 |
| Trendy part of town |
 |
| In the other direction the older feel of the town remains |
 |
| Diner |
 |
| More chocolate |
 |
| Lovely old buildings abound |
A&S drove a different route home so they could show us the Donner Pass. It's an east-west pass through the Sierra Nevada mountains and was used by the first convoys of white people who in 1844 travelled west in a bid to start new lives in what would become California. The Central Pacific Railway followed, later accompanied by highway development. It's a very beautiful pass.
 |
| Donner Pass, overlooking Donner Lake |
Another stop before we reached Berkeley was to visit one of Alastair's projects. It was fascinating to see what his last 2.5 years have been in aid of. Really interesting and impressive, and nice to actually see what he has been up to. In San Francisco we also visited one of his clinics.
Just before 5pm we pulled up outside A&S's house. Their dog Juni, who had been looked after by Sophie's mum, was very happy to see everyone. A tentative plan to go out to a restaurant for a final meal together and to celebrate my birthday the following day was superseded by a much more relaxed pasta and salad at home, and a homemade birthday cake. It was a very enjoyable evening. We were all feeling a little bushed from our four days on the go.
A&S were determined to give us the opportunity to experience typically-eaten food as much as possible. This included tortillas, ice-cream, corn chips and so on, but the most intriguing was an after-dinner dish called S'mores. It involved toasting a marshmallow, then sitting it atop a piece of chocolate so they melt together, and encasing both with a cinnamon biscuit on each side. They are delicious. Anyway, my homemade birthday cake on Friday night was composed the same way. All I can say is that it will take some beating in coming birthdays ....
 |
| Deconstructed S'mores birthday cake |
