My favorite part of Tahoe is its beaches — hands down. Early morning. Middle of the day. After dark. When I was sitting in a smoky casino and on a dry-air mountain peak in Heavenly Valley, that beach is where I wanted to be.
On Sunday, Maggie and I snuck away from the mountain condo where we had met up with family during the week. We joined some of her local friends on the beach for an eclipse-viewing barbecue. It was early afternoon. The air was cool and refreshing. The sandy beach was rough and golden. It felt relaxing and calming (especially after we dealt with altitude sickness, learned that Maggie’s apartment had been burglarized and found out my uncle lost his battle with cancer that morning). Beach air was definitely needed. A minute with out feet in the water, priority.
Maybe it was the eclipse or maybe it’s just Tahoe, but it was a pretty perfect evening. There was great conversation with interesting, friendly people. Children laughed and played for hours in the golden sunlight. And, I saw my first eclipse.
Here is a little peak into one of my evenings in South Lake Tahoe, taken with film, digital and the iPhone. Did you see the eclipse?
We used welder’s glass and paper to see the eclipse. I was too scared to photograph it after I read it can completely ruin a camera censor.
The kids. Oh man. Adorable.
I tried to use my phone to catch the eclipse. There were some interesting effects:
Beautiful pictures! The lake looks amazing.