Back Blog: Lake Tahoe - October, 2013

It was never in our plans to make a trip to Lake Tahoe, until I got word that my grandfather had passed away. In the years I knew my grandpa, he was always a "back-woods" type person. For the majority of my life, he and my grandma owned a resort in northwest Wisconsin. This resort was on a modest lake with a bunch of little cabins dotting the property. My mom, aunts and uncle can still tell you the names of the cabins when asked. This is the type of life I knew my grandpa to have. I spent my childhood jumping off their dock, pretending to drive the pontoon and it was a treat to take the boat out on the lake. Family gatherings were always held at the resort as well, cramming up to the dining room table looking out over the lake. So, after I found out that he had passed, I knew I wanted to go somewhere to honor and remember him, as he had requested long ago not to have a funeral.

Robbie and I decided Lake Tahoe would be the perfect place to remember him, so we took a weekend made the 8 hour drive north to the lake. The drive up was pretty nice. After we got out of the desert climate, we were surrounded by lush scenery, and we got to see the trees as they were changing color...a luxury that is missed in Vegas. There is a point in the drive where we had to get on the other side of the mountain in order to be in Tahoe, and that drive was beautiful heading up, then down the other side of the mountain. We were finally in South Lake Tahoe where we were staying.

 

 

The first thing we did after we checked into our room was walk down to the lake. As we were walking there, my decision to come to Tahoe to remember my grandpa was solidified. On either side of the road that we were walking on, tiny cabins stood, just like the one's at his resort. And when we got to the lake, it was gorgeous. We got there just as the sun was down and there was a little bit of pink left in the sky from the sunset. Yes, Grandpa would have liked this place.

The next day, we took a drive around the lake. The nice thing about driving the lake was that there were a bunch of look-out points to take in the beauty. Here was the view of our first stop. It was a little early in the morning when we set out, so there was a little ice in the cove still!! Sweet!

 

 

Our second stop was Emerald Bay. Emerald bay is probably the most visited, and in my opinion, the most picturesque part of the lake. In the Bay is a tiny little island, and just beyond that, the Bay opens up into the rest of the lake. It was just beautiful!

 

 

From Emerald Bay, we made our way further north to Tahoe City where we stopped for lunch. The weather was just nice enough still to enjoy our meal on the restaurant patio. And just across the street from where we were sitting was Lake Tahoe, as seen through colorful trees.

 

 

After lunch, we finished our drive around the Lake, making a few stops at lookout areas to see the beauty of Lake Tahoe. I had never seen anything quite a gorgeous as this since we moved to Vegas. After we finished our drive, I had to call my grandma and let her know the perfect destination we had chosen to honor my grandpa.

 

 

 

 

 

South Lake Tahoe has 2 casinos in the town, and we found that the one closest to the Lake has a restaurant on the top floor overlooking the lake, so we went and timed it perfectly to see the sun set over the lake. Simply amazing!

 

 

After noticing that Carson City was so close to Lake Tahoe, we made the drive to visit our state capitol for the first time! Nice little town!

Our trip to Lake Tahoe was a quick one, but my grandpa was in the forefront of my mind the whole time, and he will always be missed!

After seeing how pretty northern Nevada is, we have plans to do more exploring in the future; maybe next time we will drive through the Sierra Nevada mountain range...who knows!

"Take only memories, leave only footprints." -Chief Seattle