Hello, Lake Tahoe!

 When we left California in 1995 and moved to Indiana we found out pretty quickly that Indiana is flat. Off to Florida, then Georgia. Flat. Moved to Vegas and the views of the mountains were awesome! A short drive to Mt. Charleston and it was wonderful to drive a bit of winding roads and see the pine trees! It was awesome! Another relatively short drive and we could be in Utah where we discovered Duck Creek and some beautiful mountain driving! 

I grew up going to Big Bear where my grandfather had property. A lot of good memories there. When Bill and I got married (in Lake Tahoe) I found my new mountain paradise. We didn't go too often, but it was close to home in Sacramento. We went camping a few times and made the drive a few times. I didn't know how much I would miss it when we left California.

But we're back!

I tried to visit Tahoe a couple of times since we've moved back to this side of the country, but it never worked out. It's no news that this move back to California has been a pretty stressful one, so Friday Mary and I decided to take a drive and see Lake Tahoe. It's only a couple of hours away and we needed some driving time. Mary has never been there, so she was looking forward to seeing what I'd been describing for a while!

My favorite memory of Lake Tahoe is when we stayed at Zephyr Cove  along with my brother and his family. And this picture is still a favorite. 

That's Bill and Dayna walking along the beach. I love the snow on the mountains in the distance.

Mary and I got up to the Lake around noon and, of course, it looks a lot different these days, but enjoyed the drive through town, passed the casinos and found Zephyr Cove pretty easy. We decided to drive a bit and see what there was to see because I don't remember every driving past Zephyr Cove. We hoped to find someplace to stop and visit the lake. Say hello. Feel the breeze.

Turned out there wasn't anywhere obvious along the way, so we turned around.

We pulled into a turn out to get some shots of the lake. The first thing we noticed, though, was this huge pine cone just sitting on a rock. Maddie would love it! (She loves to play with pine cones)

Except for the power lines, the view was beautiful! 

Then we headed back to Zephyr Cove, noticing the dozens of cars parked along the highway just before the entrance, and pulled into the parking lot. To the fee station. Where it cost $12.00 to park, but we were welcome to go park on the highway and walk in for free.

No thanks.

We drove around a bit nearby hoping to come upon someone leaving so we could snag a parking spot, but the walk would have been too much for us (right now) especially since we didn't intend on spending the day. We just wanted to say hello and snap a few pictures. 

We headed back toward Emerald Bay. We saw the turnoff for that earlier and decided to take a gander. The drive there was really pretty, but certainly not a big highway. There were a couple really scary hair-pin turns along the way, but everyone was driving responsibly (surprise!) so we did not end up over the cliff. 

We pulled into a viewing spot and were lucky to find a place to park.

 

Mary brought her 'big' camera and probably got some really cool shots, but I haven't had a chance to steal those from her yet.

We headed toward home after a bit. I didn't really want to drive down the mountain in the dark. It was a short visit, but it was fun showing Mary what was there. She'd heard a lot about Lake Tahoe and the mountains and my love for the pines, but growing up in Florida and Georgia never understood why I loved pine trees. They are very different here. 

Someday we will go and spend more time and, maybe, just maybe, we'll get to get to know the lake better.