Well, our adventure here in Tahoe has come to end (sadly!) and we're up bright and early to head off to the Reno Airport. It was certainly fun and a great way to start the real adventure, our life together. When we get back and get a chance to sort through our pictures, and I (Ben) figure out how to edit the longer video footage, we'll update again with links to more stuff. Thanks for following along!
Yar! Today we boarded the Tahoe Queen, an authentic Mississippi Paddle-Wheeler, and cruised across the lake for a few hours. This completed our lake viewing experience having now seen the lake via Land, Sea, and Air.
Tahoe Queen
The cruise was very relaxing and gave us ample time to sit and view the landscape from the center of it all. It was gorgeous. The Captain of our fine vessel spent a good deal of time pointing out historical landmarks and other points of interest giving great information for each, it was very enjoyable to learn more details about many of the things we'd seen on our trip so far.
Dogsledding. Not something you often get a chance to do in Texas or Oklahoma, or anywhere for that matter. However, today Marci and I got to go dogsledding through Hope Valley, a serene spot in the mountains about 30 minutes south of Lake Tahoe. Our dog sled guide was really friendly and told us all about the landscape around us and even taught us about dogsledding itself. It was very relaxing and much more peaceful than the high speed bouncing of the snowmobiles we rode yesterday. That is, while we were moving. Those dogs loved to run! When they weren't pulling the sled they were barking at us to get moving again. All in all, loads of fun.
Today we got up and left our ski cabin on the quaint shores of West Tahoe and headed to the hustle and bustle of South Tahoe. Before we checked into our new cabin we went for a helicopter flight over the south portion of the lake and emerald bay. Flying high above the crystal blue waters was absolutely amazing. The lake has already astounded us with its beauty but seeing it from the helicopter took it to a whole new level.
After we were done with our helicopter ride, we did a little site seeing around South Lake Tahoe before we went for a full afternoon snowmobile tour into the Tahoe back country where we were provided with even more great views of the lake. All in all a good day I'd say!
Yesterday was our first skiing adventure at the Homewood Ski Resort. I think we overestimated our skiing ability, because we stuck mostly to the few greens available except the really steep black that we accidentally went down (oops)! It wasn't marked, and once we got to the bottom we then had to cross country ski back to the lift. It took at least 30 minutes and wore us out! However, because it was snowing or raining all day so we pretty much had the slopes to ourselves!
Today we decided to go driving instead of skiing again. Luckily we had a planned free day, so we used it today to head towards South Lake Tahoe just so we could get a better view of the mountains and the lake. We stopped at Sugar Pine Point State Park. Not all of the park roads had been cleared so we had to tromp through the foot deep snow to get down to the beach, but it was worth it for the beautiful view (and to watch Ben make a snow angel). Perhaps we'll try skiing again in South Lake Tahoe.
Today we headed towards our Ski Cabin and stopped along the way at the Squaw Valley Resort where the 1960 Winter Olympics were held. When we got there we rode a cable car that took us 8,200 feet above sea level where we then went ice skating on the highest ice rink in North America.
When I (Ben) was booking our trip to Tahoe I knew we would be here during "off-peak" times, but I didn't quite realize how off-peak it was until we found ourselves ice skating alone on top of Lake Tahoe.
Well, we made it! After hanging out in the Las Vegas airport for a few hours (which has slot machines..haha) waiting for our flight to Reno, we got our rental car (Jeep Patriot, fun car!) and headed to Lake Tahoe. Man, That was an adventure, the fog was so thick the max visibility had to be 50ft. Needless to say the drive took a bit longer than expected. Not a problem though since our bodies were still 2 hours ahead of Tahoe Time.
Can't say much about the terrain around here as it was dark and foggy when we arrived, but the view from our Hotel room is promising.
A quick note about our hotel. Last night we stayed at the Cal Neva, I (Ben) chose this hotel for two reasons:
It used to be owned by Frank Sinatra, who's music and old movies Marci and I have enjoyed.
It has secret tunnels. No Joke. Who doesn't like secret tunnels!?
