Tahoe 2020 — David K. Buchholz

Our three day weekend at Tahoe with John, Kim, and family didn’t start out as we had hoped. We spent Friday morning pacing, anxiously waiting almost four hours while Jason and Rachel’s custody hearing went before a judge. We didn’t know that the judge had four other cases to decide, and Jason’s and Rachel’s was last.

By noon it was over. But this isn’t about that. It’s about arriving at Tahoe three hours later at which time I realized that the sandals, shorts, and t-shirt that I was wearing were all that I had brought to Tahoe. Oh yes, I had two cameras, four lenses and my guitar, just no clothes or toiletries, no meds, no nothing.

I called Jennifer. “Jennifer,” I asked in a plaintive voice, “How much do you love me?” Enough, as it turned out, that she would drive to Rugby, pick up my suitcase, then leave the next morning in time to meet me in Rocklin at 6;45 am, a hundred miles away for each of us and make the exchange. I returned with suitcase in hand by 9:00, enough time to charge the car, then meet everyone at Granlibakken Treetop Adventure Park

Granlibakken

We had no idea what to expect. A half hour orientation with masks, harnesses, and we were off. Taking cues from ski slope designations, we found ourselves facing three different levels, green, blue, and black diamond. We began with green, then to blue. The Weller Way family loved the black diamonds.

Anyone who knows about Jadyne’s adventure on the Shooting Star in 1970 would be impressed with her fearless performance at Granlibakken.

An overview of one of the 12 courses. Noting my own age I asked one of the “counselors” about the oldest adventurer. “One man celebrated his eightieth birthday here,” they said. Five and a half years from now for me. Get your harnesses ready, folks.

Making friends along a trail at Tahoe City.

I didn’t wait to see the look on the tourists’ faces below.

October at Tahoe reminds me of Autumn in Ohio.

Because six grandchildren weren’t running around playing I had some alone time with two I don’t see very often—Lilly and Kennedy. In my favorite images of people their faces are “in repose”. The whole of who they are is revealed through their eyes and their expressions. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.