Take
a Trip to Tahoe With Me
When you have three small children, road trips
become smaller too. Setting off into the wild blue yonder is more of a
challenge with extras like diaper bags, wipes and enough toys to last for six
hours stuck in a car. Lucky for us, we live less than an hour away from one of
the best vacation spots in the United States.
Lake Tahoe (part in California, part in Nevada) is
our favorite place to go. It earns its description as the Jewel of the Sierras
with 71 miles of shoreline surrounding crystal blue water. I have to be very
honest here, and tell you that in the height of tourist season it’s almost like
going to Disneyland. I’d advise going in early summer before schools have let
out, or in the fall. The weather stays beautiful all the way up to October most
years and you’ll run into a lot less people. Winter gets crowded as well since
there are multiple world class ski resorts around the lake.
If you must come in the middle of summer, be ready
for crowds. The whole place is built around tourism. The bad news is that it
works, and many tourists come! The good news is that there’s really no way you
can go wrong if you’re visiting and want things to do, places to stay, or great
food. It takes hard work to find a bad restaurant in Lake Tahoe. There are
regular buses around the lake that make a good alternative to driving, check
out the Tahoe Area Regional Transit site for routes.
South Lake Tahoe is bigger, with more choices for
you in activities and accommodation. Things tend to be more expensive there,
although it’s still possible to find reasonable prices off Main Street. If you
ever go, walk through downtown just to look at everything and then find a place
to stay and food off the main drag or at one of the casinos on the Nevada side.
The North of the lake is smaller, with less tourist
traps, and it tends to be the place we go. Instead of one big town like South
Lake, the North shore has a string of many small towns (each lovelier than the
last). It’s easier to find the public beaches, as opposed to the pay-to-park State
Parks around the South shore, and a smidge less crowded.
Our Favorites: Regan
Beach in South Lake Tahoe is public, which means free
parking! It fills up fast in the summer. It’s such a favorite my husband and I
got married there in 2011.
We do a lot of day hikes around the Lake; there are
thousands of miles of trail all spread out over the area. One of our favorites
is to sneak into Emerald Bay by starting at D.L. Bliss State Park
(parking for the day costs around 10$) and hiking along the trail that goes
from the park to the bay. We also hike trails off of Spooner Summit, Mt. Rose
summit, above Emerald Bay and around the south parts of the Lake off of highway
89.
On the North shore we love to hit the string of
towns starting with Incline Village or Kings Beach, go on to Tahoe Vista and
end up in Carnelian Bay. The
North Shore has many options for shopping,
swimming, hiking, kayaking or bike riding.
The
Lake is so beautiful, plain words can never capture the view. It rests the soul
and treats the eyes. If you’re ever in the area it is worth the drive to visit.
Perhaps we’ll see you there!
Regan Beach in South Lake Tahoe: Kid approved!
The author at Nevada Beach, 2008.
Zephyr
Cove in April, 2017
Zephyr Cove, April 2017
Record
high lake levels bursting through the Tahoe City dam, April 2017
Emerald Bay, from a hiking trail above.
S.E. White is currently
unpublished, with a few finished manuscripts looking for a home. While wading
through knee-deep Query rejections she is also a regular contributor to the
blog Books Rock My World and a guest poster for various other sites like Writers
Helping Writers and Women on Writing (WOW). A full time mom by day and a
reader/writer at night her three children, husband and absurdly friendly black
cat keep her running but there’s always time to read another manuscript,
especially for a willing beta or critique partner. Follow her blog to get
some of the tips, tricks, and fabulous resources she stumbles upon.
