Neighbors in the campground

We are seeing a lot of certain neighbors at the campground...

When we first saw them, we thought they were some kind of chipmunk -- the way they moved, though the coloring was wrong.

The small ones are the size of a mouse, but with a slightly fuzzy tail.

You may be able to get a better idea of the size next to the fire pit/grill on our patio.

With the tail up like this, it really looks like the mannerisms of a chipmunk.

This is a smaller one -- they seem to be of two different sizes -- we think that this smaller size are this spring's offspring, and the larger ones are adults born in a previous year.

We asked the camp host, and they indicated that these are ground squirrels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uinta_ground_squirrel). 

We are hoping that none of them get into our bays or into the house area of Gracie!

Beautiful campground!

We stopped at Strawberry Bay campground, on Strawberry Reservoir, for a week...

View from our patio, located at the back of Gracie

There are very few trees, which gives us great views out across the reservoir.

We liked it so much our first few days that we decided to extend two more nights! (There was a site available, so we booked it!)

From Welcome Station, heading east

We got back to Welcome Station RV Park on Monday afternoon (reuniting with Miss Kitty and Gracie -- Miss Kitty was ably taken care of by our friend Gayle). We then packed up to leave on Tuesday morning...

Many friends bidding us goodbye as we prepared to leave...

Coming over the last hills in eastern Nevada, we could see the salt flats near Wendover, Utah.

I-80 across the salt flats area

We made it through Salt Lake City with no problem, and then I-80 was climbing on its way to Park City...

Steep climbs...

... beautiful hills.

Very green

It was really a beautiful drive -- we stopped for fuel and lunch, and then headed south on US-40 on our way to Heber City. After a brief stop for groceries at Walmart, we headed on to Strawberry Bay campground, on Strawberry Reservoir, to our campsite for a week.

Flowers in the hotel atrium

We had enjoyed looking at the flowers in the hotel atrium at the Margaritaville Resort. On Sunday, we had talked with a lady who was cleaning/watering the plants and she told us that her company had the contract to keep the plants looking nice in this and a few other hotels and businesses in the Lake Tahoe area.

The planting near the elevators in the main atrium (the lady was spraying the leaves of the tall plant on the right to prevent mealybugs).

Google Lens tells me that this is Guzmania ligulata, also known as the scarlet star or vase plant.

Google Lens identifies this as Phalaenopsis amabilis, also known as a moth orchid.

Also identified as moth orchid

moth orchid

moth orchid

Another scarlet star

moth orchid

moth orchid

moth orchid

moth orchid

moth orchid

moth orchid

Google Lens also says this is a scarlet star

scarlet star with peace lily behind

This is also indicated as an orange Guzmania bromeliad.

When we were talking with the lady who was spraying the plants, she mentioned that they replace the flowering plants once a month, and if you happen to be there when they are replacing them, you can get the previous month's plants for free, as they just throw them away! Unfortunately, we were there in the middle of the life of these particular plants so we didn't bring any home (and it is just as well as I am famous for killing any plants on my watch!).

More flowers than you probably wanted to see, but they were so pretty and we enjoyed seeing them every time we walked by!  

Sunday at South Lake Tahoe

On Sunday morning...

... we had worship on the terrace outside the pool area.

Carl and I decided to forego the buffet breakfast as our self-control on how much we took was limited, so we headed out for an early lunch...

We were looking for the Stateline (between Nevada and California) restaurant...

We found a staircase down -- "(We too wish it were a slide... alas, it is not)"

We successfully made it down the stairway (not using it as a slide) and enjoyed sharing a pizza for lunch! (no pictures of the pizza, it was consumed too quickly!)

Back at the hotel, we noticed turtles sunning themselves on rocks by one of the streams.

A couple of the turtles got on a floating planter in the stream.

In the evening, our whole group walked over to "FiRE+iCE" interactive grill for dinner... it was like a Mongolian grill where you selected the items that you wanted cooked for you...

Several in our group waiting for their food to be cooked

Enjoying our food at the tables

It seemed that everyone enjoyed their meals!

Saturday at South Lake Tahoe - part 2 - Cruise on MS Dixie II

Saturday was the actual date of Steve and Nancy's 50th anniversary, so we had a dinner sunset cruise planned on Lake Tahoe.

The anniversary couple

Our whole group!

Nancy and Steve with children and grand children

A bus brought us to the dock where we would board the paddlewheeler, MS Dixie II, for our sunset dinner cruise.

We had five tables in the early dining time:

Carl, Sheila and KC, Nancy and Bob

Son Ray and Anna, Nancy and Steve, grandchildren Jaden and Reed

Peter and Rowan, Diane and Ron, grandson Ezra and daughter Karen

Dave and Doris, Jan, Ethan, Inez and Gary

Melissa and Debi, Debbie and Mary, Sarah and Rebecca

After a delicious dinner on the first deck, we headed up to see more of the scenery around us.

Lake Tahoe is a deep freshwater lake in the midst of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Information about Lake Tahoe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tahoe):

Lake Tahoe is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at 6,225 ft above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, and at 122,160,280 acre⋅ft, it trails only the five Great Lakes as the largest by volume in the United States. Its depth is 1,645 ft, making it the second deepest in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon (1,949 ft).

On deck 2, there was a lounge with two fellows playing instruments and singing and a small dance floor.

Looking off the stern from the top deck

Looking toward the front on the top deck

Obligatory selfie 1

Obligatory selfie 2

Gary offered to take our picture.

Steve and Nancy, Inez and Gary

We entered Emerald Bay -- where we could see the resulting gash in the mountain side from a land slide in March, 2023.

The paddlewheel on our boat

Vikingsholm (http://vikingsholm.com/)

Sunset colors behind us captured by Inez

It was a sunset cruise, and we enjoyed the sunset...

... not as gorgeous colors as we might have hoped, but still beautiful.

Looking toward South Lake Tahoe where we were staying (with the moon up above at the edge of the picture).

Sunset colors at Zephyr Cove, where we returned to the dock and our waiting busses.

What a beautiful evening, celebrating Nancy and Steve!