Free California

 For a night in dystopia, the Firelite Lodge in Tahoe Vista is very good bargain for a clean modern place. The woman at the front desk was very friendly. She had a Hungarian accent. She said its family business. There are gas fireplaces in the rooms and a tiny balcony that looks out over the lake.

In the morning it took forever for the sun to rise. The early morning the sky was covered with a slab of clouds. 

By the time I got going, it was starting to clear up. I went around the west side of the lake, the California side, which along the north part of the shore is many private homes and cottages built over the years in different vintages.

Coming along the coast you start to climb into the mountainside. The snow was magnificent, falling from the fir trees is shimmering little bursts in the sun. 

On the south edge of the lake I cut inland on U.S. West,

going up into the Sierra until you get one last glimpse of the lake in your mirror through a gap in the mountains. On the other side of the Sierra, the road comes winding down in two lanes, sometimes with a passing lane, and the cars coming roaring down and come up in long trains. I took one opportunity to get out at a river access to climb down and hear the sound of the running water before going on.

At Placerville you finally come out of the mountains. I detoured through the historic downtown. The Main Street is narrow and finding, filled with great activity and many businesses. West from Placerville the highway becomes four lane, and gentler in its curves. It is a relief after the mountains to drive on it.

A few miles down the road one detects the oncoming presence of civilization in the form of HOV lanes with a solid lane marker and a diamond. One sees the houses newly built on the golden hillsides. One is on the edge of a metropolis of some kind. 

One sees the sign at the border of Sacramento County. All the while since coming down from Lake Tahoe I had been in El Dorado County. The sheriffs of both these counties had been among the first small group of sheriffs to announce they would not enforce the statewide curfew order by the Governor

It felt good to be in Free California.