Lake Tahoe is one of the world’s strange places. Once a drop of water finds its way into the lake, it takes…well, compare this with, let’s say, Lake Michigan. Once a drop of water finds its way into Lake Michigan, it takes on average about two years for that drop of water to work its way out of the lake. Once a drop of water finds its way into Lake Tahoe, by comparison, it takes on average some seven hundred years for that drop to get out. This lake requires a long-term commitment.

And besides for evaporation, there’s only one way out: the Truckee River, which heads out almost due west but ultimately disgorges to the east into Pyramid Lake in Nevada.

As nearly as we can tell–a totally subjective observation–the main purpose of the Truckee River these days is to provide an ecstatic floating experience to crowds of visiting tourists, culminating in heart-pounding Class 0.2 rapids, after which they make you disembark and return your rafts. It’s way fun.

There’s other fun around Lake Tahoe, too, and plenty of it: there is, for example, the early morning wake-up at Tahoe House Bakery with excellent caffeine-rich coffee and fresh, delicious baked goods just a short walk from our rental house; hiking trails everywhere, including a trailhead also within easy walking distance; and a cute little town with a perennial traffic jam that just can’t be beat. Neither can the scenery.

And restaurants with bars out on piers by the lake, where the sunsets beg to be watched.

And sunrises from the bedroom window. In Tahoe, it all seems beyond compare