Altitude, Weather, and Time Differences

Living in Lake Tahoe is very different than living in North Carolina.  For one thing, the LAKE itself is at 6200 ft in elevation.  The tallest mountain on the east coast (which happens to be in NC of course) is Mount Mitchell whose summit is located at approximately 6600 ft.  So, Lake Tahoe is ALMOST as high as the tallest mountain on the east coast.  Crazy.  

Of course the Lake is surrounded on all sides by towering mountains that make up part of the Sierra Nevada range.  Mike and I live near the top of one of those mountains, at 7400 ft.  We have definitely noticed some differences due to the high altitude.  First, we get short of breath MUCH quicker.  Things that would seem "easier" near sea level are definitely a little more challenging up here.  Surprisingly, I feel like we have adjusted pretty quickly.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still huffing and puffing as I walk my dog through our neighborhood which we will refer to as "fairly hilly."  But, we have been able to be a little more active lately without getting headaches from oxygen deprivation.  We are still fatigued at the end of every day but even that seems to be improving.  

So, let's talk about the weather.  It has been BEAUTIFUL!  Sunny skies, temps in the 30's and 40's.  Just beautiful.  It has only snowed once so far since we have been here, and that only left 2 or 3 inches to be shoveled.  The sun comes out and the temps increase during the day and it dries out our freshly shoveled deck, stairs, and parking pad.  Now, not too long before we got here, Tahoe got a pretty good snow storm.  It dropped several feet of snow.  So, I know it can get bad here but I am very grateful that our first week in Tahoe has been mostly dry and sunny.  

Even though the air temp can get cold (highs at the end of the week are in the low 20's), for some reason it doesn't feel quite as cold as it would in NC.  You know how everyone in Arizona says, "Yes it's 112 degrees out but it's a 'dry heat.'"  Well, I kinda think there is some truth to that.  It's cold here, but there is less humidity and so it doesn't feel like the heavy, wet cold in NC.  It's a dry cold and if you layer up, it's really tolerable.  

Oh yeah, and we get some pretty wicked icicles here... although these are mostly melted.    

Snow plows run constantly here.  Even if fresh snow isn't falling, they are constantly skimming the roads to clear them of slush.  Despite living up a curvy mountain road, we have driven on mostly clear, dry roads since we've been here.  Again, I have no doubt that it can get "ugly" during a snow storm but I'm grateful that the roads are kept in pretty good condition the majority of the time.  

Speaking of roads, cars, etc.... please check out my husbands truck: 

That's right.  It is filthy.  And, there is absolutely no point in washing it, because as soon as you drive up the mountain again, it looks like JUST like it did pre-washing.  So, for the remainder of the winter, we will just have to drive dirty cars. No big deal.  

My car... AFTER a "bath"

We anticipated the time difference to be a little bit challenging but since we drove through all the time zones, I think our bodies adjusted gradually and we seemed to get on West coast time pretty quickly.  I sometimes forget that our friends and family on the East coast are 3 hours ahead.  I always seem to think of people that I should call to catch up with around 9ish at night... which of course is midnight their time.  It's going to take a little longer to get used to it.  

Well, we are happy with our move so far.  It is a completely different world than what we were used to in North Carolina but it's all been part of our adventure.  I am completely out of my comfort zone, that is for SURE but I'm proud of us for being adventurous and it has already changed us for the better.