When I spoke to The Lady she was all geared up for a nice night away from town. So I retooled and found a lake view suite available at Harveys on the South Shore.
We met at the townhouse and I added my luggage to hers in her Lexus. As much as I love my big truck it is not fair to ask her to climb in and out when we are dressed up. And she was dressed up in a grand way. There was no question that I had made the right decision when I saw her sparkling blue outfit. Complete with red white and blue accessories.
Sometimes the cowboy in me fails to rise to the appropriate social level when dealing with The Lady and her friends - but not tonight.
We arrived at valet checked in and set up house in a lovely suite overlooking Lake Tahoe. Very nice digs.
I brought a bottle of champagne, a bottle of Baileys and bottle of vanilla flavored cognac and some unsalted nuts - she brought her MacBook Air.
We dashed down to the hot tube to soak a little. We settled into the elevated hot tube with the great view of the lake and I, being a bit thirsty, went to the poolside bar.
There to my surprise the bartender was closing down shop. I asked if we could still get a couple of Mai Tais and he was nice enough to say yes. Evaluating the early evening I put two fives on the bar and asked if he would make us four and charge them to our room. Being the enterprising young man you would expect to find in his position, he said yes.
And so it went, we soaked in the sun and drank. As is our nature, after a bit of play and some showers we called for reservations at the Sage.
A very nice steakhouse from top to bottom. Old native American lamps and a staff of what seemed like dozens. We settled in with an Absolute Martini, one olive, and glass of St. Michelle’s Riesling for her.
While we waited on the Halibut and steak, we talked about New Orleans and our common attraction to that wonderful city, fishing in the Keys and her brother in Alaska.
Perfect food, a beautiful woman and a warm summer evening - not a bad trifecta.
The Bananas Foster was prepared at the table, keeping with the NO theme, and the waiter brought the Maitre D over to chat with us as we started to leave. Time to gamble.
We played three card poker, roulette and video poker before pocketing our $98 win and heading upstairs.
We both had glasses of room temperature Baileys but she curled up on the couch while I fired up her MacBook. Had to pay $10 for wireless service because I forgot to bring my Sprint wireless thingy that plugs into the computer and gives access anywhere.
And now I am here with her crashed in the bed with local news on the tube. It has been a great day and the past has remained quiet and orderly - in the past.
It reminds me of who I once was, and what my body did. When my mind clears with the fluid movement I am reminded that not far from here on the side of a lake they danced the first ghost dance - in a time now lost to us all.
It is quiet in the mountains with the occasional hawk leisurely patrolling his realm.
I have been working hard to repair the damage done to The Lady's lawn. The irrigation system had been chewed in a bunch of places and as a result I have had to resod large portions of the lawn.
It is dry and all the animals can smell the water, so I built them a little ground level drinking fountain with stone and a two foot bowl.
Hopefully they will drink here and not chew my repaired 5/8” plastic water feed line. Already we have seen a family of quail with the little fuzzballs swimming in the fountain and the male watching for hawks. There are tons of rabbits around her property but I have yet to see them drink.
A few nights ago we heard the coyotes playing near our window in the night and we found a disemboweled rabbit in the back yard one morning as a little gift.
She borders the BLM land and it is beautiful up on the hillside overlooking the world with all the high desert wildlife passing in parade.