"The other day...I met a bear..

....a great big bear....a way up there." My family is singing along with this right now but we really did meet a bear while riding our bikes this past week-end in Lake Tahoe. We were on the right side of the street and the busy Labor Day traffic was literally stopped as we rode up to a crowd of people and wondered what they were looking at. Yep, a bear, up in an apple tree, eating as fast as he could not even bothered by his audience of at least 50.....and he was behind a fence but in a neighborhood and just eating away...

I held onto the bikes as Randy dodged the traffic (which was mostly stopped) and got some pictures. I thought it was most exciting as I've never seen a real bear...well, the ones in the zoo are real but this one was not in a zoo so it was more real to me. We were out and about on Friday night and the sun was going down and we had just had a bite to eat and were heading back to the room but decided to stop by the beach for a bit before heading in when all of a sudden, the sky started to turn orange....

We started trying to take a selfie but a guy walked by and offered to snap this picture....thinking at this time the sky was beautiful but as we headed on down to the beach, the show began.....

One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen was on the beach of Majorca, Spain and I didn't have a camera that evening....but this has got to be right up there as one of the most spectacular of all time. The crowds were oohing and awing for at least 20 minutes as the sun gradually set into the lake and we were all left in unbelief at the beauty of what we had just witnessed. The guy at the gate who has been guarding the beach for many, many, years said this was in his top 3 of the most beautiful he had ever seen. This one was taken with Randy's phone.

We spent Saturday biking and sitting on the beach....Randy snokeling, me just relaxing and watching the waves. It was a bit too windy for me to kayak but we enjoyed the beauty of the waves and the peaceful feeling of the water. We biked around a neighborhood by our hotel and found a church, so Sunday morning, we attended the South Lake Tahoe Ward and Randy found a few people he knew from previous wards that he had lived in. The Fox's, the Spanglers and a couple from Cedar City introduced themselves and I talked to them after church. He is legal council for SUU and for Dixie so we had a nice chat then the Spanglers invited us to their home for dinner. They have a delightful little historic home in the pines.

Kathy is a florist and very creative. I enjoyed her various creations in her yard and in her home.

I especially liked this "pot man".....so innovative. She scoffed when I mentioned it should be on Pinterest. Glad there are others that don't get into that. 

I also loved the Blue Jays that swarmed the yard but came to find out they don't think they are so great. They are bit of a nuisance but she scattered her sunflower seeds so the birds would come so I could get some pictures.

I captured a couple of other critters as well....

.....and it made for a very enjoyable evening which ended with the fireworks display that we viewed from the lake shore, a short stroll from their home. All in all, a very enjoyable Sabbath day, making new friends and renewing old acquaintances. Yesterday I planted a few new flowers that will hopefully make it into the Fall season and set out a little water to hopefully attract some birds. I do love this time of year as the weather is cooling off, and even though I don't have kids in my home, school has started and everyone seems to be back in a groove (and I have the pool to myself in the daytime) and it just feels good to sit and knit or read (or both with a good book on tape). 

From me to you.......