Lake Tahoe Shore Drive

Today our plan is to do the drive around Lake Tahoe, so I checked the weather - yes by going outside. 

There is still some smoke in the North West end of the Lake.  But, it looks like it is dissipating, so we decided to head out and see what we see.

Driving around the lake we stopped at the Emerald Bay overlook.  This is a fantastic view.  The island is the only island in Lake Tahoe.

We continued around the lake and were fortunate that the smoke broke up and was gone by the time we reached the north end.  Driving up the road to a high overlook, we are able to see the lake in its entirety.  The picture above is a composite of several pictures stitched together so you can see the lake from east to west.

The west side of the lake along the road we are driving.  There are so many fantastic views along the lake that Carmen and I could post many pictures.

On our drive south, we stopped at one of the overlooks that are around the lake.  Walking down to the water, we noticed these rocks in the water.  It is interesting that these are the only rocks of this type that we have seen.  Still, it's interesting that you can see the different water lines on the rock faces.

I did not expect to see any lizards on this trip, but there it was just lying around in the sun.  And for those of you who know me I just have to take pictures of lizards.

I took this picture of Carmen on the rocks while one of a number of kayaks decided to go by.

A field along the Nevada side of the lake.  This is the area in which the fictional Ponderosa ranch was located and run by the Cartwright family.  You remember them: Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe.

After we finished driving around the lake, we returned to our room to change for dinner.  We parked in Harrah's parking lot and came out to the street.  They have a commemorative bronze statue of Pony Express riders.  This is a trail and centennial marker erected in 1961.

For dinner we decided to try the buffet at Harrah's which is on the 14th floor of the resort.  This is the view of the lake from the 14th floor of the resort in the late afternoon.

Looking south towards the gondola.

Sunset from our room looking north.

From pier at the place we were staying, the sunset looking west over the mountains.