Vikingsholm- Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe

The Vikingsholm trailhead had an enchanting piece of Scandinavian design at the end of a steep mile long trail. I love visiting old homes and observing little details that used to be incorporated by architects at the time. The official website states that the owner and her architect nephew traveled to a Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark to get an idea of the design elements they would like incorporated into the home.

Going around the grounds of Vikingsholm was a rewarding experience. The tours to see the interior of the castle were not open for visitors at the time of our visit.
Apart from the entry from the facade that looks out to the bay, there was a side entrance to a central courtyard. This did not lead inside the house, but it was enough to get an idea of the layout of the home.

Walking around to the side, this beautifully designed timber exterior with a sodded roof promised of an interesting couple of hours ahead.



The entrance to the central courtyard from the side. Wooden panels with nice details lined the passage.

The first view of the courtyard, with a neatly paved walkway.

Some interesting design details on the side where we gained access to the courtyard.

A timber lined hallway looking into the central courtyard tied together the side unit.

The sodded roof looked so pretty with the fresh green sod. An article on Wikipedia says sod was used to hold the timber on the roof in place and also provide insulation in winter.

Another view from the courtyard showing a tower in the corner.

Some stained glass windows added color and charm to this granite rock wall.

 The courtyard led to the back of the house through this passage. This picture is taken from the back.

Once again, very interesting details on the back wall, with pointed timber trusses holding up the hand hewn logs of wood on the roof. This feature was seen from the courtyard as well.

On both sides of the back, were these rooms with a separate entrance. This was the right wing.

Intricate rope patterns with dragon heads at the end decorated this part of the exterior.

The Dragon heads.

Another angle of the roof where the two perpendicular walls meet.

A view of the back wall from the right side.

A very similar setup of rooms on the left side of the back wall.

 Another view of the design details.

From the website, I quote "Outstanding features of the Vikingsholm exterior include: granite boulders embedded in mortar, typical of Swedish stone churches and castles built in the 11th century; massive hand hewn timbers, characteristic of those used by the early Norsemen; carvings around the doors adapted from those bordering old church entrances; carvings extending along roof ridges with dragon heads crossing at roof peaks; and a sod roof with wildflowers."

A granite rock walkway leads to the front of the castle, and one can see the bay again. 

Getting to visit this beautiful piece of architecture was a pleasure and made the steep mile long hike totally worth it. 

Visit to Lake Tahoe- Part 2- Emerald Bay

Emerald Bay was a highly recommended destination at Lake Tahoe. To get there meant driving on a route that was getting ready for the onslaught of summer tourists. At several points, it was monitored by road construction crews and we sometimes had to wait 10 minutes until a pilot truck escorted the traffic across. With a wind advisory and a storm threatening snow a day later, the hours of the park that day were 11 am to 4 pm. We got there at about 1 pm. Several vista points along the way offered beautiful views of the bay and Fannette's Island, which is the only island in Lake Tahoe.

A Steller's Jay was splashing about in a nearby brook. There were a few clouds in the sky and it was a perfect day for a visit.

We parked at the parking lot for the Vikingsholm Trailhead. A huge granite rock welcomes you as you get out of your vehicle. Some great views from this point!

Both the parks website and the Vikingsholm site warns visitors about the steep mile long trail that takes you to the castle. A sign at the trailhead also asks people with medical conditions to keep away. However, this was a very popular trail going by the number of people using it. A lot of young couples used it for a brisk walking hike. I should have taken my hiking poles to aid in climbing back up, I would've covered the distance in less than the 25 minutes I took to do it without them. It was absolutely worth the walk down. The trail was very scenic with wildflowers, streams and lush green foliage dotting the route.

At the bottom of the trail, one is at the same level as Fannette's island, after walking down 500 feet in elevation. 

The Vikingsholm castle stands there in all its glory! It is a beautiful piece of Scandinavian architecture, built in 1928, depicting medieval times. The tours were not operational when we visited but just the outside was enough to keep me mesmerized. I will write about this in detail in a separate post. Old homes like this one always deserve a post of their own. 

As we walked away, this small house was on the side. 

I turned the camera on the trail backwards as we climbed back up to our vehicle.

Visit to Lake Tahoe- Part 1

A vacation beckoned! The travelling bug got to us and we were looking at options, but soon realized that some favored destinations require really early bookings for lodging. A lucky break in acquiring a condo unit for the days we were looking at veered us towards California to visit Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, both of which hadn't featured in our itinerary yet.
We flew into Oakland and headed straight to Lake Tahoe, which is the largest Alpine lake in Northern America. The drive was nice with busy roads until we got to Sacramento. Then the traffic thinned out and snow capped mountains greeted us.

We pulled over at a couple of vista points before heading to Kings Beach at North Lake Tahoe. It was a quiet beach with some great views!

Our hotel was at South Lake Tahoe and we decided to drive there from the Nevada state side of the lake. 

Stunningly beautiful views of rock lined beaches and a visit to the Cave Rock were a perfect way to call it a day. 

 A glorious sunset was a great finale before checking into The Coachman Hotel. 

The hotel was at a convenient location, had very comfortable beds, and other amenities that included a complimentary breakfast at their tastefully decorated common area. 

The next morning, we headed to El Dorado beach for a walk. Emerald Bay, which was on our list of places to visit, was scheduled to open later in the day. It was cold and windy with a wind advisory in effect for the lake. We got an idea of how strong the winds could get as we stood on a pier. The water in the lake was a beautiful mix of hues of blue. 

Walking along the beach, I had encounters with a motley mix of objects - rocks and pebbles, pine cones, shells, lobster/crayfish claws (about which I read an interesting discussion from 2012 here), and finally, a man bundled up and snoozing among the pines.

I also saw a Steller's Jay, a pair of Common Merganser Ducks, and a Barnyard Swallow. 

Then we headed to lunch!

Growing Sunflowers from seed

As I looked for flowers that would attract a variety of pollinators and help with pest control, sunflowers featured on almost every gardener's list.

I got a packet of Burpee Organic Mammoth Sunflower seeds. Mid- March, I sowed them directly in the flower bed keeping a distance of about 18 inches between them.

Very soon, every one of them had germinated. I had not planned on this. Two seeds were planted at each spot expecting about 50% germination. However, the rate was 100% and since I can never pull out a perfectly looking plant for thinning (and I read that sunflowers do not like being transplanted), I let them be.

It was wet during this time and they seemed to be growing slow. They were about a foot in height after about 3 weeks.

In about 5 weeks, I saw this star like bud at the tip of one plant.

In the first week of May, it looked like this. The flower was forming inside. I couldn't wait to see what the first sunflower in my backyard would look like! It was getting nice and warm in the afternoons, and I had planted these where the afternoon sun shone abundantly on them. Perfect weather for sunflowers!

By the second week of May, the flower was ready to bloom. The petals began to unfurl.

The yellow beauty drew my eye to it every time I stepped into the yard.

The flower head seemed to be getting bigger. The temperatures were in the upper eighties and it wasn't raining too much.

The ray flowers were doing their job, and the disc flowers were slowly blooming.

Almost prefect looking!

Then it began to rain. Every afternoon for the past three days, and not just a stray shower. It rained at least 3-4 inches in 2 days. This was what the sunflower looked like this morning.

More updates on the sunflower saga in later posts!

Nasturtiums

Flowers that attract pollinators to the yard and help as companion plants by warding away pests are always valuable additions to any yard. While looking for such flowering plants that thrive in Zone 9 of the US plant hardiness map, Nasturtiums featured as a favorite among gardeners. I got a packet of seeds and sowed them directly in the flower bed in mid-March. Winter had been mild this year and the likelihood of frost was very low.

Soon, tiny plants emerged. Their distinctive leaves are edible, making a great addition to salads.

For a few days, we had a lot of rain and the temperatures remained in the sixties. The plants kept growing but they didn't look like they liked the weather. I read that they like it hot and I hoped they would survive until it warmed up, which would be soon.
The temperature did climb into the upper seventies in two weeks, and I was greeted by this first flower one morning when I was checking on the day lilies. It was a pleasant surprise. It is a lot of joy when you have raised a plant from seed.

Soon this yellow beauty joined the previous one.

Some more flowers and some Thai basil flowers nearby.

More hues of oranges and yellows appeared in the next few days.

 The flower has an interesting looking bract at the back.

That part of the flower bed looks like this. I am so glad this Nasturtium growing trial can be added to my success stories for this spring.