Yesterday (Monday) was a rest day - our first of the vacation. A bit of shopping, a little tourist stuff and a lot of nothing. And very welcome it was as well. Create some space and memories from previous visits begin to come back - the endless adverts on the TV, how often people say "You're welcome" and the taste of sweet corn as it should taste.

Today was meant to be our last serious hike during our time in the US, but it nearly didn't happen. Anne woke up with a bad head and feeling sick, so 14 miles or so up and down the iconic Mt Tallac went out of the window. Instead we enjoyed a much shorter hike up Ellis Peak, with a 360 degree summit view as the reward. As we found on Sunday, the hazy (smokey for our US friends) air made it impossible to photograph Lake Tahoe satisfactorily but, even with ideal conditions, the lake is so big that only panorama shots will 'work'.

As with all hikes around here, much of the route seemed to involve walking along a dusty, beach style path; I was tempted to photograph the bath water this evening, but decided Anne's ankles were less horrific.

More interestingly, having read a lot about how many of the pines are reaching the natural end of their lives, we saw real evidence of that on Ellis Peak. There are pockets of forest that are rapidly being denuded of trees and it is altering the local landscape. Global warming doesn't help new growth and Lake Tahoe may well have a very different feel to it in a few generation's time. It would be a real shame if the desert started to get a real hold on the immediate environs of the lake.

Brother Peter arrives tomorrow morning for breakfast around 8.00 am (after driving up from San Francisco!) and our vacation will start to become family orientated. Unsure how blogging will work for the next couple of weeks - but stay posted.