We're Not Lost, We're Exploring

My dad comes out to visit us twice a year, at Christmas time and then again in July for a longer stay. During the Christmas visit he and I thought it would be nice if we could have a day of just the 2 of us hanging out. We had a great time so we decided this should be something we do every visit.

This time we thought it would be fun to go up to Tahoe. Years and years ago my dad used to live out here (he now lives in Mass.) and he used to ride a motorcycle with friends (and my mom sometimes) all around this area. If you like to ride, this is the area to do it. So he loves all the back scenic roads and avoids highways if at all possible. And that’s my set up for how what normally would be an hour drive to Tahoe took us 5 hours.

We live in Placerville, right on highway 50, which is the highway that you take to get to Tahoe. Instead what we did was take highway 49 to 88 to 89. That means instead of going straight across, we went down, back up and then over. It was absolutely beautiful, but it took us 5 HOURS.

Of course all the stopping we did along the way may have had something to do with it. Now I'm not sure where we were most of the time, but it was beautiful.

Our first stop.

And with the 2 of us.



We couldn't get over that there was still snow way up on the mountains when it was 80* outside.



Another great look out point.



On the other side of the dam was a lake and there were lots of people fishing at it. Dad thought this would be a great place to come to and do some fishing. We're pretty close to Kirkwood here and about 7000 ft up. It's probably good we did stay out there too long since I didn't bring any sunblock.



It was about 1 o'clock when we got to Kirkwood so we decided to stop at the resort to have lunch. They had a little convenience store/deli that was open where we grabbed a sandwich (dad) and a salad (me) and a couple of apples. No pictures of the food, I was way to hungry. I did have my Klean Kanteen bottle too so I didn't have to worry about buying water, yay for me. ;)

This was our view while we ate. And I'm pretty sure that was the snow I was taking pictures of out the window of the car. In case you're wondering we're at almost 8000 ft.



We did find out that Kirkwood is open during the summer (it's a ski resort) for hiking, biking, rock wall climbing and some other things. It sounded pretty fun and something we may have to keep in mind for another summer.

So after all our various stops we finally made it to Tahoe and the first thing we did.....we went to a Flea Market. I did find a cute glass pendant though.



We decided to go up the left side of the lake and then swing around to South Lake Tahoe. That way we were right along the lake's edge the whole time. The first place we stopped along the lake was a look out point where you could see the tea house built by a Scandinavian women who also built Vikingsholm castle.



And saw some cute wildlife.





And guess what I found....



A greenfest of course. When we pulled into the parking lot the lady told us it was going to be $10 to park. After the silliest bartering I've ever heard from my dad she let us park for free since it turned out it was only open for 20 more minutes.

It was pretty small and was probably a lot more interesting when it first started, but we did find our very favorite thing.



I'm pretty sure I get my love of ice cream from my dad. This ice cream is from Tahoe Creamery, which I'm pretty sure you can only get in Northern California. But let me tell you, if you like ice cream and you're ever up this way, I highly recommend getting some. Real ingredients and soooo good.

Part of Lake Tahoe is actually in Nevada so on our swing back around to South Lake Tahoe we made it back to California.



And then we were on our way back. With one last weird stop that we just couldn't pass up.



So all in all our crazy adventure took us 10 hours and through 2 states. We had some great talks, great laughs and great ice cream. I would definitely say it was a great success.