Visit to Rolf

We are none of us getting any younger and coming to that realization reinforces the desire to get in as much time as possible with those we love.  So it was with that in mind that I planned a trip to see my brother, Rolf, last September where he lives in Truckee, California.  Somehow this trip came up in a conversation with my grandson, Sam, and he said he'd like to come.  It was just before he had to be back in university so the timing was perfect and Sam is an excellent travel companion so I welcomed the opportunity.  He takes good care of his Opa.  

Rolf had been having trouble with one of his hips which he'd just had replaced for the third time. I was under the impression that he was on the mend and so was surprised when he met us at the airport barely able to walk.  He'd had had a setback and the hip was very painful, limiting him to sitting for the most part.  But we made the best of the situation and did a lot of sightseeing in the car which is not necessarily a bad thing up there around Lake Tahoe in that beautiful area where Rolf lives.  When Sam and I needed exercise we went cycling or hiking or Sam went off running when he needed more.  Lots of time was spent preparing food and eating and hanging out on Rolf's beautiful deck overlooking the roaring Truckee River.

One day we drove around the circumference of Lake Tahoe, one of the natural wonders of the world.  

The lake is 35km long and 22km wide and at an elevation of 1,897 m.  Our family has a lot of history at Lake Tahoe.  My parents went there often, hiking and skiing and camping, loved it and eventually retired there.  I went to summer camp there for a number of years there when I was a kid and Rolf has lived in that area for many years.  So it was a lifelong feature in our lives.  A notable feature driving around the lake is Emerald Bay with it's multi-hued water and Viking castle replica built in the early 20th century by some rich folks.  

There's a nice two or three km hike down to the Vikingsholm from the highway and Sam and I left Rolf to hang out in the parking lot and hiked down to the bay.  

Vikingsholm

One day we drove to Virginia City, a place with some notable history.  The biggest mother lode of silver in the United States was discovered there in 1859 and Virginia City boomed in that era. Now it's a sort of boomtown theme park.

 The Old Washoe Club reputed to be "one of the most haunted locations in the west"

A night out for pozole and margaritas at Casa Baeza in downtown Truckee.
 


Sam had to leave a day before me so Rolf and I dropped him at the airport and proceeded on to Pyramid Lake, NE of Reno on the Paiute Reservation, a place I went to on overnights with the summer camp as a kid and where I like to visit when I'm in the area.  
 

48km long, Pyramid Lake is the terminus of the Truckee River which drains Lake Tahoe and it's an other worldly sight there in the desert of western Nevada.   

The next day saw the end of my time in Truckee with Rolf and we made the trek down to the Reno airport again and off I went back home.  It was a lovely time.  I give thanks for these times with family.