Bears in Lake Tahoe, and Olympic Valley, California

There have been many bears close to our school. Some are large, and others are still being protected by their mother.

Sadly, they come to eat trash from our dumpster at the school.  We must be careful not to startle them,  but it is me who usually feels startled when I see one.

Here are a few pictures of the local bear family.

Mommy and her cub.

 I think mommy bear was posing to make sure that we knew she was big and strong.
After seeing her hug the tree and snort heavily, I was definitely not going any closer to her cubs.

 The bears were so beautiful, but a bit scary.

You must watch out for them up here in Northern California.

We have been living in Tahoe California for the last ten months! Here are some of our pictures and home made appetizers.

We have been working at a private international boarding school for the last ten months at the North side of Lake Tahoe.

Northern California is very beautiful, and Lake Tahoe is exquisite. I suggest you come for a summer vacation,  or winter get away.

Here is a picture of Ploy at the Olympic Rink Pavilion at the top of the Squaw Valley Ski Resort.

This winter, Ploy has learned to ski and skate.

I have been busy working, but I have also skied a lot as well.

Here is a group of students
on a school trip when I
helped to chaperon a visit
to the state capital in
Sacramento.

There I am at the bottom left. I was in charge of helping to make a Chinese tour group have the best time possible when they visited our campus for one week.

I took them ice skating, skiing, and dinning every day during the week.

There were from C-Trip, a very well known Chinese tour, travel and education program.

We had a great time!
The enjoyed their stay here at out small school.

Here is a simple baked scallop, bacon,
portabella mushroom, and avocado lunch.
I liked this one very much.

Ploy skiing at the top of Squaw Resort.

Ploy and I have made a new friend with one of the faculty campus dogs.
This is Bubba, a ten year old pug.

Yes, we have been eating many many oysters that are farmed in Washington,
and shipped down to Tahoe three times a week.
I like them fresh, with just a little bit of lemon, and a dab of sweet
Thai chili paste.

This is a statue from the top of the Capital building in Sacramento.

 Sunset in Tahoe!!!

Ploy, with a Russian, A Scott, and a Japanese student
at the top of the Tram at Squaw Valley Ski resort.

Here is picture I took of the famous game between Russia and the USA.

We beat them in the semi-finals!

As a hockey player, and fan, I am am drawn to Squaw because of our Olympic victory in Hockey in 1960.

Here I am skating at the Olympic Pavilion.  
Yes, I still have the moves.

This is a beautiful mountain top near our new home.


Thank you for looking at this post.

Ploy and I have done many new things this winter,  the best of which is meeting new friends and trying new things.

Bungalows on Kho Bulon, Prices, types, and locations, from a traveler, not a hotelier.

 Ploy and I just returned from a trip to Kho Bulon, in Satoon Provence, Thailand.

I must say that it is a difficult place to get to, wherever you are traveling from in Thailand.

After you arrive in Pak Bara, you can get a ferry for 400Bhat each way.

That is when your vacation begins.

The scenery is spectacular, and the boat trip is only about 45 minutes.

There are beautiful mountains sticking straight up out of the water.  The ocean in blue and deep green.

The earlier you arrive to Kho Bulone, the better it will be to locate a room.

We arrived on the second ferry, since we flew down from Chiang Mai where we live, earlier that same morning. Almost all of the rooms were full.

Some people resorted to sleeping in tents.

Ploy and I were lucky enough to find a room for 600 Bhat at Pang Ka Noi. That is about $20.  We did well for the first night.    On the second day, I walked to every resort on the island looking for an empty room at 9:30 AM. That is just after the ferry leaves.

 Here are two nice bungalows at Kho Bulon Resort, but they are going for 2,500 Bhat per night.
                     That is about $85.

The room on the right was for rent for the same price.  Very close to the beach.

 Here is a Thai Longtail boat.  They are very loud, so we opted for a room further in the jungle, and away from the noisy boats being fired up for hours every morning.

These are two Pied Horn-bills. They are the most beautiful birds I have every seen in the wild. They visited our bungalow in the jungle almost every evening.   I learned to recognize their screech, and I would watch them from my bungalow's balcony.