a weekend at 50mm...

(a word about the blog title: i forgot my camera bag at home but thankfully, grabbed my camera as i was walking out the door. it had my new 50mm lens on it...hence the name of this post)

the first weekend of october was...well...what was it?
it was fantastic.
it was completely refreshing.
it was the first time john and i had gone away by ourselves since before elijah was born (over four years ago).
it was about time.
certainly.
we debated long and hard the various locales we could visit for our weekend away...(seeing as there's so many fun destinations within a two hour drive from here).
we talked about half moon bay, sausalito, yosemite, monteray, san francisco, fort bragg (which is further than two hours...but not by much), sebastopol, etc. etc. etc.
we finally decided on south lake tahoe. we'd been there before but it had been years ago and during the winter. we found a fantastic deal on a room (more like a small condo) right at the base of heavenly ski resort.
without sounding cliche, it was heavenly. 
our window looked out onto the gondola that shoots you up the mountain.
the mountain air was crisp, clean and so refreshing. (especially for this alaskan girl)
and, seeing as it was october, there was hardly anyone else there. 
we didn't do much of anything...which was just fine by me.
friday night, we had dinner at a little pub we frequented during our previous visit before heading to bed...
saturday, we had a leisurely breakfast and then rode the gondola up the mountain. once there, we walked around, admired the views, imagined what it would be like when there was snow up there and then headed back down (in other words, we didn't stay long. it would have been fun to spend some time hiking around on the trails but seeing as i was eight months pregnant at the time, wearing crocs and a skirt, it wouldn't have been the wisest of activities). so, instead of fighting the lunch crowds, we drove around the lake a few miles. we wandered through an octoberfest in camp richardson, meandered down to the lake and soaked up some sun and history while exploring pope beach and its historical sites. while lingering over our late lunch, we watched black clouds roll in while thunder and lighting competed for spectacularity (is that even a word?). the rain poured down in torrents the likes of which i haven't seen in years. it was a beautiful, beautiful thing. seeing as this wasn't the best time of sight-seeing, we sloshed back to our room, turned on the fireplace (ha!) and the football game and had a most relaxing afternoon. the hotel restaurant tempted us downstairs around eight, where we enjoyed appetizers and the final minutes of the games.
sunday morning, we slept in and took our time getting breakfast and checking out of the hotel. we, again, didn't have any agenda but knew we didn't want to head straight home. so instead, we took the long way back, around the lake, stopping here and there and just generally enjoying each other's company. we finally pulled into truckee (pretty much the opposite side of the lake where we had been) around two in the afternoon where we indulged in the best lunch we'd had in a long, long time. if you're ever headed to truckee, be sure to stop in at moody's bistro and lounge. excellent, EXCELLENT food. i can't recommend it enough.
we turned tail and made our way down the mountain pass towards sacramento and eventually home. i can't say enough how relaxing it was to spend those uninterrupted hours with my love.
and i can't wait to do it again.
hopefully we won't wait another four years next time...

here's the pictures:

 view during breakfast on saturday morning...that's the gondola that takes you up the mountain.

 view of the lake from the gondola...

 up at the top of the mountain, standing on the state line between california and nevada

 just the two of us (well...i guess technically there was three of us!)

 driving...

 while fall was no where to be found back home, it was definitely visible up there! so pretty...

 checking out some of the historical monuments at camp richardson...

 sitting at the lake shore...right before the clouds rolled in...

 the view from the bedroom doorway...

 john sampled MANY different kinds of beer that weekend...i so wished i could've joined him!

 us. (with firefly reflections from the bar countertop)

 this was taken from a viewpoint off highway 88 (or was it 89? i can't remember) where you can see vikingsholm castle and the head of emerald bay. we didn't venture down to it...mainly because it was raining and because it required a bit of hiking...

 such yummy food!!