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!