2011, April - Driving trip into the Sierras

We took this trip into the Sierras primarily to just do photography.  We are playing with new cameras...but California always warrants a bit of exploring.  

We saw lots of farms, some with great derelict buildings. 

Some of the pastures we saw had good views of the Sierra's in the distance. 

Of course there were gardens and flowers in many of the towns.

And the towns and abandoned buildings were interesting.  

We also stopped to tour a cave...but we don't remember what cave it was. 

There was snow on the mountains so it was very beautiful.  

We saw someone ice fishing at a distance.

And there were lots of snow banks with really jaggedy snow (from the black sand in the snow that captured the heat of the sun and made the banks melt in fantasmagorical shapes),

streams,

and beautiful stands of birch and aspen. 

Some of the pines had been blown by the wind into bizarre shapes.

We found our way to Lake Tahoe.  Such a beautiful place, particularly when there is some snow around.  

And we had a beautiful sunset.