Californication and Visit to Lake Tahoe

The day I landed in Calif was unexpectedly and uncomfortably hot. For the first 2 days since my arrival, the mercury levels refused to come down. Damn! I cursed the people who kept swearing by Calif's weather claiming it to be THE best. Weather back in my (???) Pittsburgh is far better, barring the freaking winters. But soon the third day heat levels eased down and the temperature through the day is very pleasant and a little chilly by the nights.

You guys must have already seen the photos of surroundings I live in and my experiments with photography. After office, we (as in roomies) occasionally swim, play lawn tennis, TT, and even sit on our lazy a$$es every once a while staring blankly at our TFTs. Some are permanently glued to phone, though. I barely get time to do anything besides regular job... so I'm struggling to find the most efficient way to commute to and from office, get work done fast so that I can pursue other activities. Everything, eventually is about time management.

Last weekend was my FIRST REAL outing after coming to States!
After hogging on Subs by the highway

From Lake Tahoe Set 1

The 7 of us set out to the destination Lake Tahoe. Some 5-6 hrs drive from our place. But only we know better :D None of us have actually driven on US roads, so Madhav was the bold a$$ to take the initiative to hit the rented SUV on Uncle Sam's roads. But braver are we, the people who sat in that SUV ;-) The best part of the trip, interestingly, was our GPS... since it was our first time driving around downtown, freeways and highways, GPS confused us a hell lot than it aided us :D We managed to miss every single turn the GPS instructed us to take, despite 7 bright CMU-ECE raccoons applying every conceivable logic on it :D Resulting in the most irritating 'recalculating route' message... It wasn't until the time to drive back home that we almost managed to drive to GPS' instructions :) But all in all, Madhav did drive very well, despite of being tired and fatigued.

We started very late from home, and hence ended up spending all the precious time traveling. Lake Tahoe, is really a very nice (and romantic) place. We barely get to see such vast expanse of clear and clean water back home in India. I have never seen so many shades of blue and green in one single place :) We couldn't do much of any activities except for a stroll on a trekking trail.
Serene Lake Tahoe

From Lake Tahoe Set 1

I managed to shoot a little over 500 photos, not all of which are present in the album. There are over 200 or so in Ravi's camera! Will share once I get my hands on them.
Nature's perfection: She's hovering in mid-air against strong winds for a fish to come in her sight! On spotting one, she would dive with lightening speed, catching it almost every time she dived! It was fun watching this amazing little feat.

From Lake Tahoe Set 1

Verdict: A very nice place to explore, but don't go to Lake Tahoe in winters, it is all covered in snow. And start early so you get more time to explore the place. Do try your hand at water sports.

See the whole album Lake Tahoe set 1

Photo credits: Atul Talesara (Self)
Equipment: Canon EOS 30D + Tamron 18-200mm (wish I had a CPL filter)