Freedom

This weekend was all about freedom!  Freedom to do whatever we want for 4 days straight!  Such an amazing feeling and we certainly don't take it for granted.  Last year Mike would have been at work at the dealership and I would have been at home by myself.  This year, we planned a weekend FULL of adventure... which is easy to do here.

After work on Thursday, my long weekend began with YOGA!  Here's the thing about yoga: it looks so relaxing but in reality... it hurts!  Yoga is really tough!  After that challenge, I headed home just in time to take in the beautiful sunset.

Friday morning we slept in... lazily ate our breakfast... and when we were ready, we got dressed and headed down the street to Heavenly.  There is still snow in the highest elevations.  I have new skis and Mike has new ski boots and we were DETERMINED to use them this year!  So we strapped them to our packs and hiked up.  

One of the ski trails... LOTS of big tree stumps!  

Time to stop for lunch! 

See that patch of white snow in the distance?  That's where we are headed!  

My tracks... hard to see in the soft snow.  

So Mike regularly follows a website called TetonGravity.com .  As he was scrolling through the page, he noticed that someone in the Tahoe area had taken a picture of the "fresh tracks" on Milky Way bowl.  Sure enough, they were our HARD earned tracks!

(http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/251493-Tahoe-Weather-Conditions-Stoke-and-What-s-Up-Thread/page154)  

Mike's tracks are the pretty ones from the top... mine come in about half way down and are MUCH much wider.  Whatever... I'm still learning and he's a pro.  

Not many people will hike that far up a mountain just to get one good ski run.  Hiking in that area is beautiful... carrying the heavy packs is a good workout... and getting to ski on Memorial Day weekend is just a bonus! 

Friday night was low-key.  Mostly resting and relaxing after a strenuous day of activity.  Saturday we headed to Donner Lake for the 1st of 3 stand up paddle board races that make up the Tahoe Cup.  We didn't race... just spectated (is that a word?).  It was hosted by O'Neill and there were some big names in the SUP world present.  

Beautiful day... a little windy but better than the SNOW they've had the last 2 years!

 We missed the start of the race because we stopped for breakfast at an adorable but slooooow cafe in North Lake.  We each had egg and cheese croissant breakfast sandwiches which were DELICIOUS but took a little longer for them to prepare than we expected.

But... we made it eventually and we were able to see all the paddlers crossing the finish line!  Rob Rojas came in 1st.  This guy is an O'Neill team rider and he is a regular feature in the SUP magazines.  It was a 5 mile race around the lake and I think he finished in under 50 minutes???  Crazy.

As the racers jumped off their boards and sprinted to the finish line, the volunteers in the water would shuttle the boards down in an assembly line method... lining them up along the beach.

 

After the race there was a chance to demo some of the boards... 

Mike chatting with Ronnie Ayers - a TAHOE SUP team rider.  

Mike on a demo paddle. 

Even Truckee Police have Tahoe SUPs

 Afterwards we drove to Squaw Valley for lunch before heading to our campsite for the night. 

It was windy and a little chilly, but we had a campsite right along the Truckee river so we stuck it out.  

We set up our site and started our dinner: turkey burgers and corn on the cob on the charcoal grill.  

Despite it being a little cooler than we would have liked, we had a really good time.  We were surrounded by nature (and a highway... oh well).  

A family of geese floating downstream.  They made it look pretty fun! 

We woke up to birds chirping.  

Sunrise on the river. 

After a mug of hot coffee and a steaming bowl of steel cut oatmeal around a morning campfire, we packed up our campsite and headed home.  We cleaned and put away our gear, showered, and headed down to Heavenly village for an impromptu date night.  We rode the gondola and had dinner at a local pizza place.  It has been an awesome weekend here in Tahoe and it's not even over yet.  Thankfully, I still have tomorrow off from work.  There's a good chance of rain, so instead of sitting on the beach like everyone back in NC, we'll probably have a lazy day inside.  

Looking toward North Lake from the gondola.  

This memorial day, we are so very grateful to our friends and family who have served our country.  Without your unbelievable bravery we wouldn't be free to explore this amazing country!  It is because of veterans and those currently serving our country that we can live the life that we want!  We are doing our very best to live every single day to the fullest in appreciation of all that has been done to EARN us this freedom!  

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!!!!  

Last Weekend

One thing is for sure, Mike and I try to make the most of our free time here in Lake Tahoe.  Last weekend was no exception and we filled every moment with activities.  My work schedule includes working on Sundays, so my weekends are Fridays and Saturdays.

Thursday evening, I requested that we sleep in Friday morning.  I LOVE sleep and by Thursday mornings I am struggling to get up early for work.  All week I look forward to Friday mornings... waking up when my body is ready... no alarm... lounging in bed as long as I want before getting up... savoring every leisurely sip of coffee without rushing... and making breakfast that I can sit down and eat (as opposed to grabbing something on my way out the door).  

After a lazy morning, we headed to Van Sickle Bi-State Park, appropriately named because half the park is in Nevada and half is in California.  We were aware the park existed, but never really had any interest in going there (not really sure why???) until we heard from some friends that the hiking is really good.  That was definitely accurate information.

The terrain is moderately difficult, the views of the lake are SUPER, and there's a waterfall!  What more could you ask for in a day hike?

Snow remains on Mt. Tallac. 

Left of the casinos (tall buildings) is Cali... to the right is Nevada. 

This area caught on fire in 2002 when some idiot person threw their cigarette butt out of Heavenly's gondola.  Almost 700 acres burned and you can tell by the pictures... the land is still scarred.

Waterfall in the burn area

The lack of limbs and leaves on the trees made for a pretty hot hike.  We stopped at the waterfall and had a picnic lunch.  The doggie rehydrated and cooled off by standing in the icy mountain water.  

On the hike back down we took a different route and followed the gondola back down to the bottom.  

The view from the gondola is amazing. 

 Below the gondola we stumbled across a message in sticks... "I  LOVE TAHOE."  No, we didn't write this.  It was already there.  But we are in agreement!  Who doesn't love Tahoe???  

After the hike, we headed to Zephyr Cove to sit on the rocks and soak up some sun.  We climbed out to 2 private, flat rocks and stretched out for some relaxation.  We sat for hours just watching people and dogs play on the beach, and people parasailing out on the lake.  There were storm clouds on the west side of the lake that we watched move from north to south... but they couldn't cross the ridge so they never came close to us.  

Saturday morning I woke up to an alarm (grrr) and headed out to a training run for the race coming up in June.  We ran along a trail that paralleled Taylor Creek... to Fallen Leaf Lake and back.  It was beautiful.  We ran through meadows, wooded areas, with views of Mt. Tallac through the trees, and the rushing sound of the crystal clear water of Taylor Creek.  SO much better than running 6 miles on concrete.  

When I got home, we loaded up the paddleboards and headed to Donner Lake near Truckee, California.  It's about a 6.5-7 mile paddle around the perimeter of the lake.  We decided to paddle with the wind to start... then we would paddle into the wind along the entire south side of the lake for a good workout... and we would finish up riding downwind again back to the dock.  GREAT idea except that mother nature had a different idea and the wind changed direction half way through the paddle so we paddled INTO the wind for 3/4 of the lake.  Wonderful. 

We rewarded ourselves for all our hard paddling, with a new set of skis (for me) and new ski boots (for Mike).  Ridiculous. 

AND there is 1 pair of skis hiding behind the green board. 

7 pairs of skis... 3 pairs of ski boots... for 2 people.  A bit excessive?  YEP!!!!  Needless to say, some of them are for sale.  

So far this weekend, we've had a relaxing Friday around the house (plus a little grocery shopping), which is exactly what I needed after a busy week at work. Not sure what is in store for tomorrow though!  

Mothers

Tomorrow is mother's day... a day we would typically spend celebrating with our moms.  But this year we are 3,000 miles away and we will have to tell them how much we love them via skype.

To Blair's Mom:

Mom, please know how amazing you are!  I am so incredibly blessed to have been raised by you and Dad.  I had the most amazing childhood, and I am the person I am today because of you and Dad. Thank you for always challenging me (by making me take 2 trips when I REALLY didn't want to)... and thanks for helping me find my "sense of adventure!"  I hope one day I can be HALF the mother you are!  I miss you TONS and I can't wait for you and Dad to come visit.  I hope you have a wonderful mother's day and I wish I could be there to celebrate with you.  XOXO - Blair (and Mike and Zater)

To Mike's Mom:

Mom,
I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you for mother's day.  Thank you for being supportive of our decision to move across the country.  You have done so much for me over the years and I can't possibly thank you enough.  I hope you have a wonderful mother's day!  Miss you and love you!!!  - Mike (and Blair and Zater)

We love you both to the moon and back!  When it comes to mother's... we both hit the jackpot!  Wishing you the VERY best mother's day EVER from 3,000 miles away!  Love you both!

Waterfalls

Last week Mike and I were able to take an afternoon hike to Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake.  We hiked to Eagle falls back in February when the trail was covered in snow (see previous post here).  This time, we were able to continue the 1 mile hike to Eagle Lake.  What a difference a few months makes, there was NO snow on the trail this time.  There were waterfalls EVERYWHERE and they were all rapidly flowing from all the snow melt.

Eagle Lake 

One of MANY alpine lakes around Tahoe. 

Little island on Eagle Lake 

A waterfall feeding the lake.  

Part of the river/falls leaving Eagle Lake. 

The river running toward the Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe. 

Eagle Falls

Over the weekend, we took another short hike to Cascade Lake and Cascade Falls.  It was approximately a 2 mile hike to the falls.  At the trailhead there was a huge sign with the trail map and this quote: 

BEAUTIFUL waters of Cascade Lake. 

Cascade Lake with Lake Tahoe in the background. 

Cascade falls leading down to the lake.  

We stopped for a break at the top.  

Spring mountain flowers.  

After our morning hike to Cascade Lake/Falls, we had a picnic lunch and headed down to the lake to paddle out to the sandbar for some beach time.  We took a cooler and some chairs... and Mike paddled with the pooch on his board... and we soaked up the rays while staring in the direction of beautiful Mt. Tallac.  Not too shabby.  

Z chased away the birds, and swam in the lake.  He LOVED it.  

The sandbar.  We had it all to ourselves for most of the day.  

Low flying plane - that would be a very scenic flight! 

Overall, 2 really great hikes and a relaxing day at the beach!  We are getting really used to this.  But, yesterday we were wearing our bathing suits and today it's raining/snowing.  I thought this kind of drastic weather changes only happened in NC... but I guess it happens everywhere!