There’s no place like home!

September 12, 2014 | Tim Hauserman

In my last posting, I talked about how the month of September is an awesome time to be in Tahoe. Then I headed off to Iceland where I was enchanted by jaw dropping waterfalls around every turn. We hiked above glaciers carving out deep valleys. Watched gentle waves break onto black sand beaches as the sun set. Drove along mile after mile of sculptured shorelines and stayed in quaint oceanside fishing villages. We watched humpback whales surfacing, and stacks of icebergs roll from oceanside lagoon into the crashing waves.

Then I stumbled home to Tahoe in a jet lagged haze of exhaustion and found myself the next day in a kayak heading out from the shore of Hurricane Bay.  It was 2:30 in the afternoon, 75 degrees, and the water was a sheet of glass with nary a boat to be seen. It was bliss and how to rejuvenate after a long trip.

While I’ve lived in Lake Tahoe my whole life, when you leave for a few weeks and return, you appreciate even more it’s amazing beauty. There I was gently paddling and gazing through the perfectly still and crystal clear water to the rocks at the bottom, thinking it just doesn’t get any better then this. A few folks swam from piers, or lazed on the nearly empty beaches, but the lakefront homes were mostly empty.  I ran into a local businesswoman blissfully paddling along on her paddleboard. We stopped and quietly grinned, enchanted with how lucky we were to live here.

After an hour of gentle paddling I returned to the shore, and reminded myself that while the water was warmer in August, it was still swimmable and there is nothing in the world as refreshing as immersing yourself into Tahoe’s brisk and clear waters.

So go to some wonderful place halfway across the world. Revel in the amazing diversity and beauty of this world we live in. Experience a different culture. Then return to Lake Tahoe. You will remind yourself that while traveling is good, and an essential part of expanding our minds and our hearts, there is no place like home. When that home is here.