Although my wife was at a conference at Lake Tahoe a few weeks ago, the trip we took there together last weekend — to meet up with our kids at a family cabin — was my first visit there in probably forty years.

The drive over from Tahoe City to South Shore had one harrowing moment on Highway 89, right where the road runs between Emerald Bay on the left and Cascade Lake on the right. There’s no shoulder, and from the driver’s perspective it lookes like a sheer drop to the left and a sheer drop to the right. A good test of nerves, and I got only a “B-” on that test. You really need to score an “A+” if you’re gonna drive that road much.

Here’s a nice view of the Tahoe Queen, docked not far from the beach below our cabin:

A goose lifting off from the lake, early Sunday morning:

Our “kids”:

Kokanee Salmon Spawning at Taylor Creek (9/26/10):