Incline Village 2026

My creative side thinks it would be so great come up here and paint. Do I think I would actually do it, no not really. The long drive up here would detour me from coming back up just to paint.

I'm without a car while here this weekend. The boys are visiting and staying with friends at King's beach. I didn't bring any projects to do, which isn't like me at all. My son has meetings all day and softball after work so no car to borrow there. Being bored I cleaned up the house since I didn't have any little helpers around. 

ATV Ride

Wild and bumpy ride up to the top of Diamond Peak. The boys thought is was great and had a blast. Even Henk who gets car sick didn't have a problem with it the two times he made the trip. Views where of course amazing. 

Fly Fan - Does it really work?

I first saw these fly fans at Ikeda's pie place. It did keep the flies away but it was also a toy magnet for the boys. 

My niece (who likes to shop on Amazon) thought they would be helpful on our camping trip. We really didn't have a lot of trouble with bugs but I think it did help when we were cooking bacon. During the day it worked well but the night bugs, not so much. 
 

Black Bear Spotted 2026

 

At Sugar Pine black bears are a problem. It's super important to keep any with a scent in the bear lockers. The rangers say the bears are more like giant raccoons so not to be scared of them but they will go through you camping equipment if they smell something good. On our last day as we were getting ready to start packing up this young bear came walking through. He's known to the rangers as his mom last year showed him the ropes. Was a thrill for the boys!

Amazig moss find!

Isn't this way too cool! While camping up in Tahoe at Sugar Pine, they had done a lot of clear cutting. Not sure if the trees died or diseased but it was a safety issue I'm sure. Makes for a very barren landscape. :(

But the moss (on the ground) was a very bright lime green. Then I spotted this one with lichen, at least that is what I think they are. Wouldn't this look great with my orange mushroom dioramas!

Camping 2026

I've had this tent riding around in my car for years. It's part of my emergency kit. I know it sounds weird but I think it could be helpful. 

It was new in the box when I brought it on Maxsold. I finally got to use it on a family camping trip. It's been years since I've been camping so here are a few things I've learned now that I'm much older.

Not being able to stand up in your tent makes it harder to change your clothes. 

Solar power has really changed things. Lighting up after dark is so simple now. No more need for batteries or propane canisters etc... Only thing we didn't plan for was lack of cell service and not being able to charge our phones. For me it was just my watch I wanted to keep charged. There are solar chargers out there but not something I need for everyday. 

We used Blackstone grill which was great. We didn't have any pans to clean up after every meal. There was enough of us to make it worth packing it into our car. Cooking over a fire is fun but when you have little ones running around, the grill was the way to go. 

I did see a lot of older women camping alone. Found that so interesting. I really wanted to talk to them about it but didn't want to be a busy body type. It's something that I've always wanted to do.  Maybe now that my tent is out of the box, I'll give it a try!

 

Thrift store finds.

I had forgotten all my shirts last week when I headed up to Tahoe. I went to all the thrift store in town, which there are a lot for such a small town. It's not easy finding things in a plus size. Knowing that my clothes would be coming up later in the week, I didn't want to spend too much. Picked up five shirts for $50, a little more than I wanted to spend. 

Last month my son in law won an Apple computer award for an app that deals at Neanderthals saying, so when I saw this game at the thrift store I picked it up. It was too funny. :) 
 

Pine trees in bloom

Everything up here in Incline Village is in bloom. That also means the pine trees are too. There's a fine layer of yellow pollen everywhere. Henk is finding it fun to track it everywhere. 

Monday we had thunder storms and rain. That cancelled the boys' skate broad camp. Just a little stressful for everyone having to stay indoors for most of the day. I didn't plan any activities for them thinking they would be gone for most of the morning. We did finally make it out to a playground later in the afternoon to run the boys. :) 

Incline Village Beaches

So here in Incline Village the beaches are private. You have to own a home to have access to the beaches. To many it sounds very elitist but the beaches aren't very big and even with just the residents, it's packed during the summer months. 
The weather has been lovely and the boys really enjoyed splashing around in the water. 

Pinata Time.

While up in Berkeley at my niece's house, I helped clean up some boxes that have been in storage for a long, long time. You know the type of boxes that have old yearbooks and school papers that for some reason you can't throw out. Well in those boxes were some piggy banks that you have to break open. One was already cracked and damaged. I thought it would make a good pinata time for the boys. It didn't take long to smash it to bits. 

Found one 1956 silver dime, which has a high silver count. Sold off the all the change to a coin collector. :)

Life of a reseller - Alameda Flea 2026

My daughter really wanted to go to the Alameda flea market. It happens the first Sunday of every month. Since we're in Berkeley, I really had no excuse not to go. I'm not a fan of this market as the prices are too high for a reseller. Cool stuff but most of the sellers know what they have. 

Toward the back part of the market (low rent area) there was this vendor that was selling vintage kokeshi dolls. These are larger than what you would normally see in the states. This vendor did have super sized ones that someone else had already snatched up. He must be an importer because he had pallet crates full of them. At $10 each, I couldn't pass them up! I asked if I could visit his warehouse in Fresno and do a bulk buy but he said everything was stacked in crates so it wasn't possible. 

I'm a big fan of hand carved things, so I couldn't pass up the little dwarf under a leaf, which was only $5!

He also sold Japanese workman shirts which are very trendy now. My daughter got this shirt for $80. 

 

Nature Walk

The boys have landed and jet lag is real. Henk isn't having a hard time but Mees is a walking zombie with an attitude. 

Henk and I  took a walk around the block and a monarch butterfly landed right next to us. So close that we could have touched it. I would have tried but I wan't sure how gentle Henk could be.