Traveling Fool

 My friend, TB2, and I have taken road trips the last four or five years, and those antics have been chronicled in these virtual pages. Nothing has been quite like this, almost six days on the road, hoping for good weather since we were going to be outside most of the time. I've been wanting to head to South Dakota for a few years, and she and I started talking about doing it after last year's trip to the Mississippi headwaters. We waited until mid-October, hoping that whatever families were out traveling would be back home for school, limiting opportunities for me to be a cranky witch. It sort of worked. I thought we might cancel after COVID-19 started spiking in South Dakota because the governor doesn't believe in science. But, since we were going to be outside, we just masked up where necessary or where it made us feel safer, didn't touch things, or doused ourselves in hand sanitizer. I don't want to dwell on the no masks, but I do want to point it out: a lot of ...

 Well, hello. It's been a while. I was offered the opportunity to go to Lake Tahoe for a few days, and I grabbed it. I had no plan and I totally accomplished it. The mountains were beautiful and it was nice to get away from work for a few days. Yes, we wore masks out and about, and almost everyone else did as well. Not everyone wore them correctly; you do need to cover your nose, otherwise, what's the point? I flew Delta and I think they did a great job: masks required and they did politely remind people to pull them over their noses if they were down. I felt safe and comfortable. That's all I have.  Van Sickle Bi-State Park A little elevation, overlooking Lake Tahoe This was no joke, the pine cones were HUGE Fallen Leaf Lake