Lake Tahoe Area

Sunday, May 31st through Sunday, June 7th, 2014. Leaving Silver Lake Campground and heading East on Route 88 to the junction of Route 89 West up towards South Lake Tahoe, we arrived there just in time for me to attend my Sunday meeting at the Kingdom Hall. Such welcoming people here! After the meeting we continued along the lake and passed Camp Richardson where there was a Renaissance Festival. We encountered lots of cars parked in any off road area they could find all along the lake as everyone gets out to enjoy the great weather and scenic area. And this is a "shoulder season" when school is just about out for the summer. We are told it gets far more congested in two more weeks through the summer.

There are several State Parks along the route. After 30 miles we reached Tahoe City and took the left turn to continue up 89. About 5 miles more at the traffic light we turned left on Squaw Valley Rd, with the large Olympic Welcoming signs on both sides of the entrance road, each with the Olympic flames burning in front. The 1960 Winter Olympics were held here. A couple of miles more and we reached Squaw Valley Village and Olympic Village Inn where we spent the whole week relaxing in the lush green gardens. We unpacked and settled into a suite for the week. There were a few activities at the Inn in which we participated in. Early morning water Aerobics (just me and 5 others), Biking down the maintained bike paths, Exercise Room, swimming pool and spa. The hike we'd planned up Shirley Canyon was canceled due to threats of a Thunder-storm. On Tuesday evening I was able to meet at the Tahoe City Kingdom hall too and got to feel their excitement after having their 3 day regional assembly this past weekend!

On Wednesday we headed up to Truckee to have our truck oil changed and we found a car wash too, since we had taken the camper off. We did a good hike down to the historic downtown area while the work was being done. Lunch at Best Pies was tasty too! Then we headed to the west side of town to the Donner Lake State Park. (Remember the Donner Party?) They held their Grand Opening of the Memorial on Saturday, but we checked it out now. It was astounding that the winter of 1846 (I believe) there was such record snow and the Donner Party had so many things go terribly wrong. We watched a documentary at the Inn also and saw the large memorial statue attesting to their hardships. It's base is 22 feet high so the drifting snows may not cover it. That was the depths of the snow pack than encased the emigrants as they tried to make it over the Sierra Nevada range. They were stuck here at this site for the entire winter. Only half survived.

Thursday was a contemplative day with occasional showers though we were productive in the exercise room. Friday we headed down to Tahoe City for our 3 1/2 hour lunch cruise to Emerald Bay and back. The forecast was for stray afternoon thunderstorms. There was a party of 26 with reservations for the boat too, but they did not show up on time so we sailed without them. Seven of us in total! The boat usually holds up to 120 so we had our pick of seats topside, inside or outside,or back out of the prevailing easterly winds (usually it's westerly!)

The views were lovely and the sky remained relatively clear the entire trip. The Captain gave a descriptive overview as we traveled to Emerald Bay. The entire property here was eventually bought up by a wealthy woman. She even built a stone tea house on top of the only island in the bay. (It's also the only island on the whole lake!) The water took on hues of greens especially in this bay and cobalt and many different blues throughout the whole lake! The bedrock is volcanic rock and there are no sediments to cloud the waters, this attributes to the colorful clarity. On the return voyage we sat topside with the 2 other couples while Josii the teenage grand-daughter of one, piloted our vessel with the Captain standing beside her. She was all smiles!

From there we went to the Tahoe City Brewery and tasted their sampler. We both thought the Oatmeal Stout was their best brew. I had beer batter fish and chips while Bob had a tasty Cuban with pulled pork and ham and a special hot sauce they created. Saturday we completely repacked the truck and camper and got everything ready to go for our check out on Sunday. The plan is to drive up to Truckee to Route 80, then Route 50 all across Nevada. Hoping to find a site at one of the Federal forest campsites near Ely.

"Going Places With Smiling Faces!"