Worn out from trudging up mountain paths for the past week with two dusty dogs to prove it, I decided to give the Bijou Dog Park here in South Tahoe a try.  I thought Beau would like to socialize a bit with something other than Golden Mantled Squirrels for a change.  There were only three other dogs in the park, a Char Pei, a young husky and a senior lab/rottie mix.   The Char Pei growled at Beau through the fence and the owner wouldn't call him back from the entrance, so we went into the small dog side of the park until he was distracted sparring with the husky.  Then we slipped in without incident.  The growly Shar Pei left, but the husky was a bit overbearing and didn't know his boundaries, which Peaches and Beau quickly clarified for him.  After a little snarling and tree marking, they all got along okay.  I walked them around the adjacent area for a while after we left the park, but after we got back to the cabin, Peaches was soon pouting at me, so I guess it wasn't enough of an outing to suit her.  She knew we hadn't been gone long enough to qualify as an excursion.  Guess I'll have to take them back down to Tallac Historic Site tomorrow.  It's a bit of a drive, but we all love it, even though due to water levels there's not much beach left at Kiva Beach, Tahoe's only dog-friendly beach on the South Shore.

The best part of coming to Tahoe is Alpina Cafe on Emerald Bay Road.  It's a quaint Tyrolean-style coffee shop I wrote about in my third mystery, though I changed the name.  It even boasts a ghost that is purported to haunt the second story rooms.  I believe it was once a house turned into a cafe.  It was originally called Alpen Sierra.  Coming to this wonderful place never fails to spark my creativity and fire my imagination, and I'm blocking out chapters of my current book and making notes for the next one.