I feel like ALL year long we've been anticipating this time of the year. We knew we had a lot planned (trip to NC... friends visiting us in Tahoe... etc). So, the past month and a half has been pretty busy.
After our friends left, we got back into a "somewhat normal" work routine for about a week. Then, it was OFF to NC for my dear friend's wedding. What a whirlwind trip. I had 2 full days at home. I spent Friday visiting with my "adopted grandmother" who I haven't seen in over 2 years. Friday night, my parents and I enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL wedding of Katherine Phelps and Daniel Laymon. I can't even explain how happy I was to be there. The bride's family is like a second family to me. After getting home late Friday night, I got up early (for me since I was still on West Coast time) Saturday morning to meet one of my closest friends for breakfast in Raleigh. After catching up on life over bagels and coffee, I drove to my mother-in-laws house for a quick visit. Then, headed back to my parents house to play with my adorable nephew and niece!!! Just watching those kiddos play, and listening to their adorable conversations makes me SO happy! I know I'm biased but I really think they're the cutest kids in the world. After the kids went to bed, my brother and I sat on the floor all night building with Lego's. Ahhhh...it brought back so many childhood memories in the beautiful home I grew up in.
I flew back to Tahoe on Sunday, and rested up for the work week because I had a PT student starting an 8 week clinical internship with me on Tuesday.
NC will always be home! But Tahoe is a pretty awesome second home!
Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake
Yeah... I'd say we're in a drought.
Finally, last weekend, we had no plans. There was nothing we HAD to do. That's a great feeling sometimes. So, we decided to go camping out at Blue Lakes which is less than an hour from our house. We packed up the paddleboards and all our camping gear Sunday morning and picked an awesome spot right by the lake. We relaxed in the hammocks (lakeside of course) and paddled to the end of the lake where there are LOTS of big rock islands. The rocks are especially exposed right now due to our severe drought. We made turkey burgers and corn on the cob over the campfire and naturally we ate s'mores for dessert. We discussed life as we sat by the campfire until the stars came out, then headed to bed (where our sweet old dog had put himself to bed hours before).
Corn on the cob over a campfire. YUM!
Even Z gets his own chair.
Not a bad view from the campsite.
Goodnight sun!
Beautiful sunset over Lower Blue Lake.
The temps are getting cooler. Fall is arriving in Tahoe. S'more by the campfire is an awesome end to summer.
The next morning, I woke up feeling horrible. Sore throat... kinda achy... just feeling crummy. We decided to pack up and get breakfast in town instead of making oatmeal at the campsite. After getting home, unpacking, cleaning, and showering, I was feeling a little better. I drank 3 emergen-C packets (each with 1000mg of Vitamin C) and took some Zinc. By the next morning, I was feeling alright! Thanks goodness. I don't have time for being sick.
On an unrelated note... in my last post, there was a video that was "private" and couldn't be viewed. That video is now "published" and it's worth watching.
Well, that's the latest from Tahoe. I've got about 8 more weeks of work before PERU! Stay tuned!
Our dear friends Dacia and Nathan came to visit for a week. It was so great to see them. We had 5 full days of awesome adventures together.
Our first full day we did a little sightseeing and then hiked up to Angora Lakes to check off a bucket list item... JUMPING OFF A CLIFF!
It was an interesting hike over some pretty large boulders...
Angora Lakes
The cliff was only 25 feet tall, but that was plenty high for me. Any higher and I might not have jumped.
After the hike, we went home to shower and headed to the Chart House... a pretty nice restaurant near our house with amazing appetizer and drink specials during happy hour. It was delicious. After dinner entertainment was a concert by the beach...
The second full day we hiked to the top of Mt. Tallac. It was a long but rewarding hike with awesome views from the top.
Views of Aloha Lake (hard to see but it's in the middle/center)...
and Susie Lake (where we camped a few weeks ago).
You can also see Gilmore Lake at the bottom right.
On the hike down we stopped at Gilmore Lake for a swim.
The hike was awesome but it's always tiring. We rewarded ourselves with Base Camp Pizza in Heavenly Village for dinner. It's one of our favorite restaurants in town.
Day 3 was all about relaxation. We drove to Truckee to walk around the cute downtown area. We ate tacos at an awesome little taco bar before heading to the Truckee river for a long, slow float in the beautiful blue water.
The sky was awesome. There were small, wispy clouds overhead which were actually very beautiful.
The float was a LOT of fun... but this happened a few times too...
Obviously, we had a float for the cooler. Even without "adult beverages" it would have been a fun float. The water level is pretty low right now so that made for some adventurous floating.
We had dinner in Tahoe City at a local brewery before heading back down to South Lake.
Day 4 was overcast with a chance of rain. Rain in Tahoe makes for great mountain biking. So, we borrowed a couple extra bikes and headed to the trails. Our main adventure for the day was riding the flume trail which offers more beautiful views of Lake Tahoe.
Looking out over Marlette Lake...
one of the stops along the ride.
Someone likes mountain biking!
After a long bike ride, we hit up the "all you can eat" Sushi Pier.
The 5th and final day was a total washout by Tahoe standards. It rarely rains here but it rained ALL day. Did that stop us? NOPE! What do you do when it's raining but the lake is calm? GO PADDLEBOARDING!
It was chilly. And generally very "blah." But, we have awesome friends who don't slow down for "a little rain." We paddled in a couple different spots around the lake. We also stopped in North Lake for breakfast at a little coffeehouse (one of the best southern style biscuits I've had since moving to Tahoe).
After spending a sufficient amount of time in the rain, we rode the Gondola at Heavenly which put us up above the clouds.
We chose to do dinner at home that night since I had to work and they were leaving EARLY in the morning... but it might have been the best dinner all week. We grilled filet mignon and shared some wine that our friends brought from their travels through Napa.
We had such an amazing time. I hated to see my 5 day vacation come to an end. I'm so proud of all the adventures that our friends were willing to embark on. And although we are 3,000 miles apart, I'm so glad that we have kept in touch. We can count on them be adventurous with us!
Thanks for visiting Dacia and Nathan! And thanks for being SO much fun to hang out with! Come back anytime (maybe in the winter for some skiing/snowboarding adventures). Miss you guys!
