The Mountain(s)

We have learned, like millions before us, that the place to be in the summertime is THE MOUNTAINS.  In the good old days when we spent our summers in Lake Tahoe, we learned to appreciate the absolutely perfect weather.  Here is what what I mean by that:

1.  You can wear shorts every day, but at night you need a blanket as the overnight temps are usually in the 40s.

2.  No need for air conditioning.

3.  It only rains once or twice so it’s sunshine every day.  The moisture they need comes from winter snowfall.

4. No humidity.

AND the best thing about summer weather in Tahoe

5.  NO BUGS!!  I absolutely loved that!!  You could have the doors and windows open and didn’t even need screens.  It was unbelievable for the Wisconsin native that was used to mosquitoes and flies.

It was easy to understand why so many of the wealthy people from San Francisco built big mansions and estates in the Tahoe area during the early 20th Century.  We toured some of these places when we were there.  One of my favorites was the Ehrman Mansion which is located in Sugar Pine State Park.  Some of the others are Thunderbird Lodge, Vikingsholm Castle and Pope House.  Pope House had separate building for various uses such as laundry, sewing, schooling, cooking, and a carriage house.  They also has two boat houses which housed unbelievable watercraft.  How much fun it must have been to live there!!

Of course the drawback of Lake Tahoe is the expense.  Very pricey to live there!

Rex did his research and found a more price friendly place for us in the White Mountains and I love it there too.  The weather isn’t quite as nice as Tahoe as it rains a LOT more but it is still a lot cooler that the desert.  We haven’t spent enough time there yet to know if there are estates and mansions but in the coming years I am sure we will be finding out about that.

Of course the best reason to go to the mountains is cooler temps and if you have ever experienced temps in excess of 120 degrees you understand that.  Besides it’s also nice to see a lot of green instead of desert brown.