Another favorite place for my husband and I is Lake Tahoe. The incredible blue color of the water is not something you will ever forget. Nestled in the Sierra Nevadas, it is America’s second deepest, but largest alpine lake. Lake Tahoe is as long as the English Channel is wide. It is said that the water is so pure and clear that if you dropped a white dinner plate into the lake it would be visible for 75 feet below the surface of the water. Surrounded by some of the most beautiful panoramic views in the country, it’s not hard to understand anyone’s infatuation with this place.
Lake Tahoe rests between California and Nevada with most of it in California. Famous for the casinos (on the Nevada side), water sports, and gorgeous landscapes, it has been a playground for the rich and famous for years.
My sisters live in Reno, Nevada so it was an easy choice to make for a vacation. We flew into Reno from Chicago and rented a car to drive up to the lake. We used our timeshare and stayed in a fabulous place carved into the side of a mountain on the south side of the lake. Since we actually arrived a day earlier than our timeshare was going to be ready for us, we booked a room in a smaller resort in Incline Village in the northern part of the lake.
The drive from Reno was great. You are almost totally surrounded by mountains as you wind your way up. The highest elevation at Lake Tahoe is 6,229 feet. There seemed to be a slight valley where we got off to go to the smaller resort because there was a large area of fairly level land. Several bicycle riders were participating in some kind of race all along the road and down a trail that led under the interstate as we entered the resort road. The buildings were built right in the forest and we had a balcony (with a large drop-off, even though we were on the first floor) that looked off into the woods. The pine tree smell was intoxicating and all along the ground were those huge pinecones that you only seem to find at Lake Tahoe. Before we left, I was out back gathering as many as I thought I could bring home with me on the plane and not get broken. I still have them!
I can’t say we spent a quiet night there as there was a party going on next door, but we still managed to sleep.
We were able to check into the timeshare the next day. Those of you that have had a timeshare or have ever used one know how nice they can be. We had a large suite with a nice kitchen and a fireplace in the living room. Both bedrooms had the Jacuzzi tubs. The strange thing was that there was no air conditioning, but in the mountains I guess you don’t need it. I remember we opened our windows throughout and the cool night breeze ran through the suite. It was never hot in the daytime, not that we spent much time in the rooms.
My oldest sister was able to get off work for a few days and stayed with us at the beginning of the week. Since she was very familiar with Lake Tahoe, she took us to see the sites and the shops. There are several neat shopping areas that are fairly new and we had fun looking at all the outdoor gear as Tahoe is a big ski, mountain biking and hiking area. You have to be in really good shape to participate in the outdoor events because the altitude can take your breath away. If you have enough time to get acclimated, you will probably be fine. My husband had a hard time, but I seemed to not mind it as much. Since we were only there a week, there wasn’t much time for him to get adjusted.
The drive around the lake was just awesome. The guide books say you can drive it in three hours, but that is without stopping and no one can do that! Every time you came around a bend, the views were breath taking. There were several cars stopped at the pull-outs with folks taking pictures. We joined them at several stops. My husband is the big photographer so he took all the pictures while my sister and I just gazed and talked.
There were crazy bikers pedaling the same windy, elevating road that we were driving and it utterly amazed me, but my sister said that a lot of them bike that road around the lake every day. That’s 72 miles around let alone forgetting the elevation involved! When I told my husband that I wanted to rent bikes and ride some of the road, he said I was on my own as he didn’t have enough air to pedal around town, let alone the lake.
One of the most photographed sites is at the Inspiration Point at Emerald Bay where you can see Fannette Island. The remains of a stone structure that looks like a miniature castle called the “Tea Room” sits on top of the island. Mrs. Lora J. Knight had it built in 1929 where she would take her guests to have tea. She also had an authentic Scandinavian castle built at the head of Emerald Bay that is pretty spectacular. Imagine the kind of money that took! You can tour this structure on weekends during the summer.
We had started on the southern end of the lake and by the time we reached the northern end of the west side of the lake (the California side), we were ready for lunch. We stopped at a marina café where we were able to sit outside on the water front. They had wonderful fresh fish sandwiches that just seemed to melt in your mouth. That’s saying a lot for me as I’m not a big fish person.
I was surprised that there wasn’t more activity on the lake, but it was the beginning of September and a low time for tourists. Besides, the water in the lake only gets up to 68 degrees. There are of course, several sporting activities you can participate in on the lake. You can enjoy swimming, water skiing, boating, kayaking, fishing or whitewater rafting down the one outlet of the lake, the Truckee River. The surrounding area also offers great options for outdoor activities. I already mentioned the snow skiing and biking, but you can also go hiking, horseback riding, golfing, and camping. There’s a lot of backcountry to explore. Several outfitters are in the area to take you on any number of adventures and most have equipment you can rent.
As we continued around the top of the lake we saw some fabulous houses that made us wish we had a place on the lake. Since most of those places are millions of dollars and jobs are not very plentiful in Tahoe, we were brought down to earth pretty fast. Oh well, maybe some day. When we made it back to Incline Village we went past the Ponderosa Ranch theme park where they used to film the show. It had just closed before we visited Lake Tahoe. After that we headed to Reno to have dinner with our other sister.
We also visited Virginia City, NV while we were there, or I should say we drove through it. There was a huge annual motorcycle rally in Reno the week we went and consequently, we spent ages in line behind a thousand bikers trying to see Virginia City. By the time we got to the city, there were no places to park so we drove through and on to Carson City and back to Reno. I had been to Virginia City when my son was a baby and really liked it-rugged old-western town with unique gift shops, but my husband had never been there. We’ll have to catch it next time.
A few days were spent exploring the shops at Lake Tahoe, visiting Reno sites, and taking lots of pictures. There are plenty of good restaurants at the lake to choose from so eating is never a problem. We visited a few of the several parks surrounding the lake and not far from the lake. Taylor Creek Visitor Center, located 3 miles north of South Lake Tahoe, has a number of self-guided tours and a unique underground chamber with a cut-away of the stream where you can see the fish behind the glass, called the Stream Profile Chamber. This gives you a cool 180 degree curved diorama showing life above and below the water. There are so many neat things to see and do at Lake Tahoe that it will take more than one visit to see them all. That’s another reason I like it so much. There’s always a reason to go back.
By Corie Marks