The Van Sickle Bi-State Park is the nation’s first bi-state park (straddling California and Nevada).

As a memorial to his late grandfather Henry Van Sickle, Jack Van Sickle donated 542 acres of his land to the State of Nevada in 1988 to create a new Nevada State Park. Subsequently, the State of California purchased the adjacent land, the Van Sickle family’s former Crescent V Ranch, to connect the park to the community of South Lake Tahoe.
The ranch’s barn, a circa-1914 log cabin and housekeeping cabins from the 1930s-era Three Pines Motel, were all relocated to their current location in 1960. The Van Sickle family operated the Stateline Stables on the site until 1993, with up to 60 horses taking riders on trails throughout the area, creating unforgettable memories for many of Tahoe’s vacationers.

Opened to the public in the summer of 2011, the park is managed by the Nevada Division of State Parks in partnership with the California Tahoe Conservancy. It is an oasis found just behind the Casino Corridor.

We went on a bit of a scavenger hunt, discovering new flora and fauna. I always find Dwarf mistletoe interesting. A member of the genus Arceuthobium, which contains about 8 to 15 species of small-flowered plants that are parasitic on coniferous trees. The species are distributed primarily throughout the Northern Hemisphere. What a unique work of art in nature.
Okay, this is pretty dang cool. Do you know what this is? We didn't. Rhizocarpon geographicum, or the map lichen, is a species of lichen, which grows on rocks in mountainous areas of low air pollution. Each lichen is a flat patch bordered by a black line of spores. These patches grow adjacent to each other, leading to the appearance of a map or a patchwork field. When circular, or roughly circular, the diameter of this lichen species has been widely used to help determining the relative age of deposits e.g. moraine systems, thus revealing evidence of glacial advances. The process is termed lichenometry.  Who knew?
Ah, the mighty Sugar Pine. They were in full force today!
This was an interesting find as well. Chrysolepis sempervirens, also known as Bush or Sierra chinquapin, is a shrub that is native to California. It reminds me of a chestnut. Very cool.
What a treat to find a blooming Alder, the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family Betulaceae.

Did you know there was an app that allows you to take a photo of a plant and get its name instantly? Not something one can do with a flip phone (me), however. What a cool tool to have on this explore.

This red-breasted nuthatch was going to town on this tree. What fun to watch.
No matter what state we were in, our day was absolutely just what we needed!