Sushi for breakfast; great golf and dinner in the High Sierras near Reno-Lake Tahoe

Thursday night, we got a little taste of what the Village at Northstar had to offer. Northstar, which is located just outside of Truckee, Calif., is probably better known as a ski resort, but does a pretty bang-up job hosting golfers, too.

So Thursday night, the resort hosted a dining expo. One of the stops was the Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, just a hundred yards or so from where we were staying. There, we were treated to a spread of salmon, shrimp, spicy tuna and a variety of other offerings. Perfect with a bottle of cold sake.

We only got through half of the sushi (mostly by me), so I boxed the rest and put it in the fridge at my luxury accommodations, courtesy of the Ironhorse Lodge in the Village.

Voila ? next morning’s breakfast. Like eating cold pizza, right?

Anyway, after the breakfast of leftovers, I headed up the road to Graeagle, an hour or so drive that doubled as a therapy session. My blood pressure probably dropped 20 points as I passed through the rugged wilderness that only occasionally bared a small village or ranch.

That same kind of atmosphere was present at The Golf Club at White Hawk Ranch, the golf destination of the day. Graeagle is a former lumber town. Now it’s a little piece of heaven on earth. White Hawk Ranch in Clio, Calif., is carved from the High Sierra’s Mohawk Valley. There are streams, aspens and open meadows, and so few homes you barely notice them. It’s a pretty darn good golf course, too, with plenty of challenging holes.

Van Batchhelder is the head pro at White Hawk Ranch. When he plays he wears a white cowboy hat, which is also what he dons when he’s riding a horse. Like Gene Autry, he speaks and moves slowly and is as comfortable on a ranch as he is on a golf course.

This trip ended with dinner and drinks at Longboards, a circular restaurant at the top of a clubhouse with great views of the mountains and the Plumas Pines Golf Resort in Graeagle. The chef’s name is Sean Conry (sort of like Connery), but he didn’t create international mayhem, just great meals. The restaurant, by the way is named after a type of ski that was popular a century ago.

Golf has really come a long in the Reno-Tahoe area, but what makes this area so unique is there is so much else to do as well. If you like skiing, fly-fishing, hunting, hiking, biking or just observing nature, this is your place.

Tranquility is the theme here. In Graeagle, they don’t even worry about locking their doors.