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We’ve been looking for an opportunity to return to Prescott, AZ, to visit our friends Tim & Dinah. We took that opportunity in mid-September and spent a week with them.
mountains
July in Lake Tahoe
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We’ve had the great pleasure to spend all of July at Lake Tahoe, specifically, Zephyr Cove, NV, at the home of our friends, Steve and Wende. Part of the time we were here alone pet sitting their two dogs and part of the time was with Steve, Wende and Brady.
Snow capped mountains, deep blue lake, clear skies and daily high temps of 80 degrees, plus or minus a couple of degrees. It’s a near perfect combination. We have taken many hikes and bicycle rides, shared a 4 hour ATV adventure through the mountains with Steve and Brady, spent a half day boating on Lake Tahoe and many enjoyable hours visiting with the family. We even had the opportunity to attend the American Century Championship, an annual celebrity golf tournament featuring 60 to 70 sports and entertainment stars including, Jerry Rice, Marcus Allen, Steph Curry, Tony Romo, Charles Barkley, Justin Timberlake and many more.
South Lake Tahoe offers a wide variety of ways to spend a summer day from the beaches to the mountains. There are all kinds of activities on and above the water and on the beaches. The same can be said for the mountains. The only downside is that weekends can be very busy, especially at the beaches.
We plan to stay here for the first 3 weeks of August as well, with the exception of a short side trip.
Six Years Ago Today–Machu Picchu
On June 12, 2013, we were visiting Machu Picchu. This was part of an extensive visit to South America that began shortly after we got married in April 2013.
Visiting Machu Picchu is a terrific experience that we would heartily recommend. For anyone wanting to make this trip, it’s probably best to do so with an organized tour company since the logistics can be tricky. We used the city of Cusco as a base for getting to Machu Picchu. Cusco is the foremost city of the Inca Empire and holds the claim as the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America.
After returning to Cusco, we then made another trip from there, this time to the rain forest in an area called Puerto Maldonado in the southern Amazon zone of Peru. Once we returned again to Cusco, we finally left the city to head south to the town of Puno and Lake Titicaca where we had the opportunity to explore some of the fascinating native groups living on the lake.
This time in southern Peru was a particularly memorable portion of our time in South America.
Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany
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Leaving Munich, we picked up a rental car that we will be using for the next 10 days or so. We visited Dachau and then drove south to Garmish-Partenkirchen. This town, which is the combination of two formerly separate communities, is located in the south of Germany on the doorstep to the Alps.
Garmish-Partenkirchen is a ski town. From the town you can see the highest peak in Germany, Zugspitze at 9,718 feet. Also, the town was the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics, the first to feature Alpine skiing. Still, if you want to impress your friends, just tell them that you will be wintering in Garmish.
The old part of Garmish is quintessentially Bavarian. Our guidebook directed us to check out a restaurant in the old town called Gasthof Fraundorfer. They are known to serve very good Bavarian food and they have live music, yodeling and the Bavarian style dance, known as Schuhplattler with hip and foot slapping. We enjoyed the food and the entertainment.
A well known natural feature here is the Partnach gorge. This is a deep gorge that has been cut by the Partnach River. The gorge is about 1/2 mile long and as deep as 260 feet. It is located a little south of the Olympic Stadium. You must walk from the stadium to the downriver entrance to the gorge. There is a trail that has been cut into the rock on one side of the gorge that runs about 20 feet above the riverbed. There are a number of tunnels and curtains of streams of water falling all along the path. There are dramatic views at every point. In addition, if you’re willing to make the additional hike, there is a high iron footbridge the crosses the gorge affording a breathtaking view of a long section of the river.
Next stop: Freiburg, Germany
Innsbruck, Austria
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Innsbruck sits in a valley with mountains to its north and south and the Inn River running through it. Just on the other side of those mountains is Germany to the north and Italy to the south. With relatively accessible mountain passes in both directions and a bridge across the Inn River (thus the name “Innsbruck”), this town became a very important trade route. Innsbruck is the capital of the Austrian Federal State of Tirol (or Tyrol). This region was much larger but the area of South Tirol was ceded to Italy at the conclusion of World War I.
