Dogsblog: Summer Fun

August has been a busy and fun time for us. The month started off with a short birthday trip to Tulalip Resort up north of Seattle a bit. During the next weekend we took our annual trip to the Clark County Fair, and then during the next week we had a great time with the Grand kids, while they spent a few days with us. All of these activities were covered in previous blogs. We've continued the fun during the last part of the month with a trip to Lake Tahoe to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, and then a visit by Maxine, to do our annual volunteer shift at the Hood To Coast Race. and finally a hot day at the Oregon State Fair with Maxine. Below are a few highlights form those fun days.

Marlene in Lake Tahoe, at the fountain in the shopping area and loading point for the gondola ride to Heavenly Ski Resort....note the gondolas above her.

The view of Lake Tahoe from the top.

Martin at the view point at the first stop in the Gondola ride up to Heavenly Ski area.

After a few failed attempts at a selfie, some nice person took this one for us.

On our Honey Moon Trip to Lake Tahoe, 10 years ago we took a dinner cruise on the paddle boat "Dixie". We did the same during this trip.

A fellow passenger took this shot of us just as we were leaving

A view of the hard working paddles at the stern of the boat.

Marlene enjoying an "Emerald Bay" drink as we wait for dinner inside.

On Deck it was a little windy and chilly, but Marlene is well prepared.

I'm not as well prepared as Marlene, but brave the cold wind as we enter Emerald Bay.

Blow is the mansion on Emerald Bay called Vikingsholm , and above is the Tea House on a tiny island in the middle of Emerald Bay that also belonged to Vikingsholm.

As we came to the end of our cruise we were treated to a beautiful sunset on Lake Tahoe.

On the day after our cruise we explored some other areas around Lake Tahoe and found a great area, called Tallac. This is a complex of buildings that had once been a very early resort on the lake. It had a beautiful beach, a nice museum, and interesting buildings to look through.

The paddlewheeler, Dixie, that we were on the night before as seen from Tallac.

Marlene inside one of the buildings in Tallac

Beautiful summer flowers on the grounds of Tallac.

Another one of the rustic cottages at Tallac.

On the day we came home, we took a side trip to Virginia City. Above is Marlene in front of the still operating Sheriff's office, and below is me in front of an old steam engine of some sort.

Above is the famous Bucket of Blood Saloon, and below is Marlene with an old "prospector", Stinky, and his mule.

On the weekend after we came home from Lake Tahoe, Maxine came to visit. We spent a hot afternoon helping out on Highway 26 with the Hood to Coast Trip, and then on the weekend we went to the Oregon State Fair in Salem.

A few typical sights at the fair...not that Martin is typical, but cows (above) and goats (below) are.

A nice close up of a Rooster

A man at the state park exhibit offered to draw a picture of Marlene's favorite animal, which he did in about 30 seconds.

And of course the best reason to go to any fair is all the great food, that no one in their right mind should ever eat...and here's Marlene and Maxine eating some of it.