Lake Tahoe
Trip Start
Nov 22, 2007
1
33
55
Trip End
Dec 01, 2008
Lake Tahoe,
California,
United States
Friday, May 30, 2008
From Vacaville, we backtracked a little for a side trip to Lake Tahoe. The weather was cold and rainy and we only spent a few days. We found a nice quiet national forest campground near Truckee-North of Tahoe proper and got a campsite right on the river. It was a really nice spot. Bob quickly made friends with the local wildlife, and we had a couple of chipmunks and Stellar's jays to keep us company as we sat along the riverside of our site.
On one of the nicer days, we took a ride south to hike to Vikingsholm, a summer chateau at the foot of Emerald Bay. Vikingsholm was built by a Norwegian princess who, upon visiting Lake Tahoe, declared that it looked just like home and fell in love with the area. She had the chateau built with the objective of using as much natural local materials as possible. The wood all came from the area-large rough-hewn beams of rich reddish evergreen mountain giants that populate the area-and the joints and corners are wood whenever possible
001 View from our campsite near Tahoe
. Sections of the roof are thatched and wildflowers will bloom in the spring. Windows in rippled glass with the characteristic diamond colored panes echo the Nordic tradition. Inside Unfortunately we were unable to tour the inside, as it was not open the day we visited, but through the windows we could see natural native stone and thick plank floors. Chairs and tables sized for the shorter people of the period still decorate this house, blended with huge pieces more fitting and expected for royalty. The house sits at the edge of Emerald Bay; the beach is a few steps away. Fannette Island sits a few hundred yards out in the water, and the princess built a "tea house" on the island. It looks more like a stone castle! One can only imagine the tranquil summers and the secluded island tea parties with the princess. We picnicked on the beach at a table beneath some trees. It wasn't long before a few Canada geese swooped in to beg for some table scraps. Bob has a knack for attracting wildlife-soon he had a menagerie at his feet-five or six Canada geese, a couple of ducks, three or four Stellar's Jays, and a chipmunk! It was quite the sight as you can see from the pictures!
