Summer Vaca Part IV: Lake Tahoe

Before I get to my final installment of our vacation recap, I want to go back in time to Part II: Yosemite. I forgot to mention that while we were in the park James and I got our little bean her first books. Can you tell which one I picked out and which was James' pick? Humm...

Going back even further to Part I: Mountain Wedding. I also forgot to mention that James got a chance to go downhill mountain biking at the resort we were staying at with our friends Molly and Greg. He and Greg rented bikes and spent the morning of the wedding biking. Sounds like they had a great time. I'm glad James was able to get on a bike while we were in the Tahoe area or else I might not have heard the end of it. =)

OK, on to Lake Tahoe! This was our last stop on our week long trip. We decided to stay in South Lake Tahoe because it's a little cheaper than lodging on the northern side. I had only been to Tahoe once before and it was in the winter to ski with college friends at Northstar. James had never been. Lake Tahoe is really, really beautiful and SO BLUE! I didn't have it in me to convert any of my photos to black and white and I swear these were only edited with a very light hand. It really is that blue.

We spent some time driving around the lake, finding short hikes where we could explore the coastline. We also rented a motorboat for a morning (James was in heaven!) and toured the lake on the water. It was really stunning and the water was so clean and clear. You could see the bottom of the lake to almost 40 feet! Crazy. On our last day we took the Heavenly gondola up to the top of the ski resort and hiked around the ski trails for a bit. The weather was perfect making for some great views from the top.

 

 

On our way back to Reno we took a scenic route and drove around most of the lake, stopping in some of the ritzy towns in north Tahoe. There were some amazing mansions right on the lake! I didn't snap any pictures but I have to think a few famous people have vacation houses in that stretch. They were unbelievable. Our last stop before flying home was the Patagonia distribution center and outlet. One of my favorite places in the world. Our timing was perfect because not only was everything marked down to outlet prices but it was all an extra 40% off for their summer sale! James and the little bean both got winter gear - an awesome jacket for James and a matching down puff suit for the bean! I can't wait to snap a picture of the two of them in the snow.

 
So that's it. Our big summer vaca is behind us. It was a great trip and probably our last biggie for awhile. As summer winds down we have other things on our plate to think about. Big. Exciting. Things. To. Come!