Day 2 - March 15 - Wind, Windy, WINDY and a Tour of the Lake

It looked beautiful from the base camp, but mother nature had other plans for us today. We embarked to to the California lift at 10:00 AM and were told at the ticket window that they had already closed several lifts and they expected the winds to pick-up. They were 25 miles, gusting to 50. So, we decided to take a "day off" and do some touring.

We evaluated our options -- a boat tour on the lake -- it was whitecapping, so we said no to that. Then we decided to take our "sled" -- the Mega Suburban and drive the 72 mile circumference of Lake Tahoe, and boy was it fantastic.

The skies were clear and the wind along route 89 from South Lake Tahoe to Incline Village (northern most part of the Lake) was moderate. The scenery was jaw dropping beautiful. We stop at Emerald Bay Cove and saw Fannette Isalnd. Fannette is the only island to be found in all of Lake Tahoe. It is located in beautiful Emerald Bay on the west shore of the lake. A sparsely timbered, brush covered upthrust of granite that rises 150 feet above the water, Fannette Island was not always known by that name. During the past 100 years it has been known as Coquette, Fannette, Baranoff, Dead Man's, Hermit's, Emerald Isle and Topo Gigo. Fannette was the name that finally stuck.

Onward we went to Tahoe City and visited the Boatworks Mall and had a quick lunchette at Jakes on the Lake. After getting some nourishment, we continued our travels to Incline Village (locals refer to it as Income Village), where houses range from $4 Million to $40 Million. No recession here. At Incline Village, we were told to stop at the Lone Eagle Grille at the Hyatt on the Lake. We are very glad we did. What a spectacular location and meeting/gathering location.

The Lone Eagle Grille, located on the shores of the lake, Old Tahoe is alive and well, complete with open beams, warm woods, two massive rock fireplaces and panoramic lake views.

When we arrived, a group was meeting there -- CEO Space -- and appeared to be having a great conference. We had some coffee and chatted about "What are the next steps in our life plans, which included more traveling and ways to re-energize our businesses." -- quite a dichotomy.

After a brief respite, we headed on back to our base camp, stopping at the Marriott Grand Residences in Stateline NV and walking through some local shops. We topped the day off at 7:30 PM with a fantastic Italian dinner at Scusa's on Ski Run.

Nite Nite.