The Panama Canal averages 700' in width and 50' in depth, yet such a canal could be filled by Tahoe's waters and extend completely around the world at the Equator, with enough remaining in the lake to fill another canal of the same width and depth from San Francisco to New York!
Our first stop was at the Tallac Historic Site. There are 3 mansions here. We toured the one that is the museum. In the 1800's a woman owned the lakefront land. Eventually she gave it to her daughter, who had a log home built, "sparing no expense." It is really nice, with a big rock fireplace in the main room. views of the lake from the windows, etc. There is a kitchen, butler's pantry, bedrooms. A "new" Maytag wringer washer, with instruction card, still sits in the laundry room, along with tubs, washboards, etc. The pantry and kitchen still hold all the pans, utensils, etc.
The site was deeded to the Federal Government in 1967. The area is covered with lodge pole pines and Jack pines. Linda and I picked up several of the very large pinecones to have for Christmas decorations. They aren't something we see in southern AZ. This is my sister, Linda, and brother-in-law, Bob.
The next stop was at Inspiration Point on Emerald Bay. It was originally called Eagle Bay because of all the eagles there. It measures 1 x 3 miles. One very tall pine tree had long cones hanging from it and must have been a different kind than at Tallac. They had a wide, very long cone from a sugar pine on display, and maybe that's what that tree was. However, it was out on a ledge and far enough away that we couldn't tell.
All around the lake were small areas with their own names. Town signs listed the altitude and population of each. They ranged from 150, 360, 750, 836. Every parking space taken and people everywhere. The shore is lined with State parks, campgrounds, RV parks, too. Every one looked full and some of the parks had no parking spaces left.
Incline Village is another ski resort. All along the coast were houses down the side facing the lake and others on the high hillside above the road. Some were so beautiful. Many had prow fronts, large decks, many windows. We saw a couple of stone ones, though most were cedar. It is very obvious how fire spreads so quickly in these areas, because everywhere we looked were tall pine trees. (In the 1980's in Spokane, WA., a fire started around a golf course, where there were tall pine trees. The sap turned into balls of fire and flew all across the course, catching other trees and houses on fire.)
We paid $12 as non-residents to enter a State park to have lunch because so many places we passed didn't have any parking spaces left. We ate at a nice clearing in the woods. Watched teeny ground squirrels and a marmot. There was a sign in the bathroom to keep the door closed so bears couldn't come in and get into the trash. The bins outside were the typical metal forest ones with tiny holes on top to put trash through. Then we walked down to the very popular beach. Families and umbrellas lined it in both directions, though Tom took this picture from a less populated area.
Back to the resort for a couple of hours and then to McDuff's Scottish Pub for a nice dinner. They make their own bread and "bread pudding on steroids", pickles, Shepherd's pie with lamb, etc. Tom and I shared a pizza that was good and Linda and Bob enjoyed their meals. We'll go back another night.
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