Lake Tahoe, California

June 5, 2023

We had a beautiful travel day and arrived at our campground near Lake Tahoe without incident.

We passed by some areas in Nevada flooded by the winter snow melt

Ahh--trees and flowers again!

Didn't see a "Welcome to California" sign, but Nevada thanked us for visiting

Back into the Sierra Nevada's, after a brief hiatus

Our campground just outside of the town of Truckee

There was a highly fragrant bush right outside our front door 😊

After setting up, we walked to nearby Martis Creek Lake, which was about a mile from our campsite.

Martis Creek Lake

We'll have to find a different venue for our next party 😉

We settled into our campsite for the night and then drove out the next morning to the San Francisco area to visit Rick's brother's family for a couple of days.

Still quite a bit of snow near Donner Pass

A rest stop somewhere in California

If you look closely, you may be able to see Golden Gate Bridge in the background

We arrived mid-afternoon, and after a walk through a pleasant neighborhood park, Ken and his fiancé Maura treated us to a scrumptious dinner, where we had the pleasure of meeting Maura's son, daughter-in-law, and new baby granddaughter.

Ken and Maura

The next morning we headed out to Santa Cruz to visit our niece (Ken's daughter), her husband, and their new baby. Their home is located right on the beach.

Kelly and baby Rosa

It's hard not to take too many pictures of babies

Quite the chilly day at the beach

Grandpa reading a bedtime story to Rosa

After a very nice 2-day visit, we headed back to the campground. Ken and Maura soon joined us in the neighboring campsite, and we enjoyed spending the extra time with them.

Maura has an adorable little teardrop camper

On Saturday, we did the grand tour of Lake Tahoe, with Maura acting as our tour guide. She had previously cycled the 75-mile road that encircles the lake, so she knew all the best spots. Our first stop was Sand Harbor State Park in Nevada. We got there mid-morning when it was still a bit chilly, but there were plenty of people in bathing suits swimming in the frigid water. 

We were comfortable in long pants and light jackets, but there were people in the water! 🥶

The water was so incredibly clear and inviting. This picture is from Ken's phone, and it captured the water color better than Julie's phone. Rick promised to get her this phone for Christmas if she wanted 😁

We walked a scenic pathway along the lake for quite a while (4.5 miles total)

There were several places to venture off of the paved trail

After a picnic lunch with way too much food, Maura chauffeured us around the rest of the lake. We made several stops to see the sites.

Emerald Bay

Lower Eagle Falls

Lower Eagle Falls, up close and personal

Upper Eagle Falls

The upper falls were across the street and up the hill a bit

We would like to extend a warm "thank-you" to Ken and Maura for their wonderful hospitality and for joining us on our visit to Lake Tahoe!

There is a google group email list which can send you an email when there is a new blog post. Instructions for signing up here: Subscribe OR directly join here: Google Group