The weather was gorgeous. Bright blue sky with some fluffy clouds. Towards early afternoon it clouded over a bit which was appreciated - it would have been quite hot toiling up that grade.

Ya know Mimi, that's quite funny actually. I met a lady from Sacramento at the rail station telling me she wanted to move here. I was going to suggest it's hardly any different than something like Tahoe or some such place in the states.....

OK with one little difference. Tahoe does not have an 8th century piece of Unesco world cultural heritage around the corner.