Eye candy: Keukenhof Gardens May 2013 series, 14
At the nursery: Tahoe Tree
This nursery is about a half mile past Tahoe City heading south along the west shore.
Their demo garden is so pretty and large you could have a wedding there. A wedding at a nursery would be pretty unique! Which of course makes it very appealing to me.
Driving to Reno
Driving down Interstate 80 to Reno from Truckee, you descend about 1,500 feet from 5,900 above sea level to 4,400. Nothing too dramatic. But you travel through the Truckee River gorge from the west side of the SIerra Nevada range to the east side, and this is dramatic. In just 30 or so miles you go from Tahoe National Forest, with lots of pine trees, to the Nevada desert. Here is a shot taken through the windshield to show the transition from forest to desert.
There’s something very impressive about following this river with the mountains surrounding you and the vista becoming more and more open as you near the desert plains.
Travel theme: Wild, Alpine Meadows on a summer evening
Theme inspired by Where’s My Backpack?
17 (Central Park) reasons to love Manhattan
Time to make your reservations for New York if you want to go in September. These photos are from a month in New York last year, half September, half October. You can rent an apartment through VRBO, one with Wi-Fi so you can work. Hopefully these photos will inspire you to try living in the Big Apple for a month, experiencing what it’s like to be a New Yorker.
28 (food) reasons to love Manhattan
Welcome to new followers of this blog! Here is a re-post of a popular topic. Loyal readers, thanks for your indulgence as I work up an interesting new series called: “Inside the author’s mind.” And don’t worry, it’s not my mind we will be exploring. My interviewees for this creative-process exploration are a lot more interesting.
Trip dates: 9/15 – 10/13/12
Pushkin Brasserie (near Museum of Modern Art),
Add to Pushkin Brasserie ambiance this and a spiked cappuccino and you’ll recover from exhausting museum going:
Share these from Crumbs Bake Shop:
(upper west side, 97th/Columbus.)
“Wine-dark in a shallow lemon sea, pelted with capers, the curl of octopus ($16) looked messy and primeval, as if just plucked from the deep. It is the dish that a Greek restaurant lives or dies by, simple yet exacting. Tenderness should be victory enough. But the octopus at Boukiés had gone a step beyond, the flesh undoing itself, achieving a texture, at its core, close to nectar.” Ligaya Mishan, New York Times 9/21/12
Looked scary, tasted heavenly:
For less money and a different though not lesser pleasure, a hot pretzel in Central Park: 
Do you love cheese? There’s a name for that.
A choice of Schmears (upper west side, Broadway):
Oyster bar in Grand Central Station:
Spinach and kasha knishes from Yonah Shimmel’s Knishery on East Houston Street (lower east side):
Pastrami and corned beef sandwiches at Katz’s Deli (near Yonah’s, lower east side):
Tiny cupcake:
Cappuccino in Tribeca:
Comfort food at The Eatery after a show (The Phantom of the Opera).
Elevation of a bagel:
Peruvian cuisine on the upper west side at Flor De Mayo (Broadway around 98th):
Simple repast at The Boathouse (Central Park):
The Louvre, everywhere you look, there’s something amazing, 1
Most people enjoying the mind-boggling sculpture room will miss the boars atop the entry way:
After traversing the whole museum to find The Code of Hammurabi, we traipsed back. Came upon this room.
More in the same room:
On the entry to one of the rooms:
Nicci Carrera 