We have focused a lot on the natural beauty of this region, and we’ll talk about it more today, but there really is a seemingly endless array of things to do around here, and they aren’t even all nature based. For instance, we haven’t talked a lot about the casino scene just across the border in Nevada because that really wasn’t our scene — until we were driving home from Sand Harbor yesterday, and at the place where we go between all the high-rise buildings, the girls saw a sign for a visiting musical act — Hosier. And the concerts were this week at an outdoor venue associated with one of the casinos right up the road from our condo!
Well, it didn’t take long to ascertain that affordable tickets were available. Zoe’s housemates were brought on board, and, poof, pretty high-profile plans are in place for this evening. No matter how nice things were in nature today, we had to get back in time to see Hosier. (Jen and I are moderate Hosier fans, ourselves, but we decided to let the kids have their fun, and we planned to hang around our resort this evening.)
As for the first part of the day, we headed out early (no bagels this morning) to Emerald Bay, and this time we got there early enough to find a suitable parking space in one of the small lots that were jam-packed a few days ago. This was a major accomplishment, and we rejoiced. Our feelings got boosted even more on the one-mile walk from the lot to the beach along the bay. Very enticing views of the harbor — again, this is the place with the island in the middle, a picture of which is hanging in our condo’s great room. Now we’re seeing it even closer.
We arrived at the beach so early that the kayak rental place wasn’t even open yet. It was a bit of a disappoinment because we were hoping it would be a kayak and paddleboard rental place, but they seem to have axed their paddleboard offering. Today would not be the day we try paddleboarding.
Instead we hiked for a bit along the Rubicon Trail, which goes about five miles to a point on the main lake. We just made it past the entrance of the bay, about three miles, and then headed back.
By then, the rental place was open and we decided on two tandem kayaks to carry us out to the island. Really, only four of us kayaked out (I stayed in the shade and watched). The kayak tour produced a full hour of exploring, though. It started in the wake of a large paddleboat, the Tahoe Queen, whose lap through Emerald Bay coincided with our kayak departures. This was one of many large water craft, large and small, looping through the bay.
On the island, Jen and the girls scrambled up to an abandoned tea house, the only structure on the island. It dates back to the early 1900s when a rich lady bought land on the bay, including the island, and built a Nordic castle to go along with her tea house. She must have been an awfully rich lady. The castle still stands just off the beach, but it is undergoing some renovations, and it was not clear if tours were actually being given.
After the island, they paddled over to the far side of the bay to scope out a bald eagle’s nest, an osprey’s nest, and a sunken forest created by a landslide. The woman who outfitted our group with the kayaks recommended these side trips, but neglected to mention what year the landslide was.
After kayaking, we had our pre-packed lunch and took a short hike to a nearby waterfall, but, really, our outdoor energies were starting to wane. We drove home (remember this is the drive that forced us to crawl along the ridge of a hill and execute mutliple switchbacks with minimal guardrails) successfully and dedicated the late afternoon to cooking an in-house Mexican feast and picking out which clothes to wear to the concert.