One of the best things about being in a place like Bay Area is access to opportunities. No, I am not talking about Silicon Valley, I am talking about opportunities to getaway every weekend. One such weekend destination is North America's second deepest and alpine lake, Lake Tahoe. At an elevation of 6225 ft approx. Lake Tahoe, is easy to get to, and gorgeous as heaven. It has two seasons - gorgeous summers and snow-clad gorgeous winters.
My nephew is visiting from the east coast and instead of doing a trip to the city again, this time around we planned on a day trip to Big Sur, the past weekend to Lake Tahoe. Not that these two places are not the usual to-do's but at least I hadn't been to either before.
We live in the south bay so its about a 4 1/2 hr drive keeping in mind a pitstop since we were traveling with a toddler. Up until Sacramento and Folsom, it was just a regular drive through the US cities but once we hit the hair pin turns and mountainous terrain of Eldorado National Forest, the scenery changed to postcard worthy picturesque landscape covered with Pine trees. It was a refreshing change to the concrete jungle we are used to. Lake Tahoe or the route to it might not be the most beautiful thing in the world but its got everything that nature has to offer to you all in one place. Most tourist places tend to be good for winters or good for summers. Lake Tahoe is one place thats good for both. It has the beach for summers and alpine terrain for winters. From what I gather, its the go-to place for most people for ski season.
Day 1: We got there around 6 in the evening and hit the Lakeside beach immediately. After an hour of the usual at the beach, we head to the heated pool at Harvey's (the hotel we were staying at). The best thing to happen to my toddler after being strapped into his car seat for a good 4 hours. We wrapped up the day with dinner at Hard Rock and a gigantic brownie sundae for dessert. Yes, its my go-all-out weekend after 3 weeks of working out regularly and controlled eating.
Day 2: I woke up at 5:30 A.M (wasn't in the plan)! Couldn't get myself to go to sleep again. I call it the 'let me not waste time sleeping during vacation' syndrome. I did some random chores for 2 hours, fed my baby and stepped out to get coffee. One thing led to another and I was on my morning walk to the Lakeside beach. I love that hill station cold in your face with a hot cup of coffee in your hand. It reminds me that life is good, and its these quiet moments that make waking up that early a good thing. Traveling with a toddler can be tiring not because the toddler is troublesome but it just simply means taking care of a number of things and not being able to do everything you want at the time you want to. When you combine this with a family trip, it just increases the number of things you might have to do or accommodate. Don't get me wrong, I love family trips. In fact if it weren't for my family, I wouldn't have had this affinity to travel but there are times you just want that quiet walk for yourself or that silent 10 mins to stare in to the vast expanse of whatever form of nature lies ahead of you.
We kicked off the day with some sight seeing and the Vista point. To be honest the point itself is like a typical viewing point that has a ton of crowd some info boards, and ok visual stimulation. The husband managed to find parking a 5 min walk away and that's where we truly got a good look at the castle side of Lake Tahoe. Getting to the Vikingsholm castle meant climbing down a good steep trail. Doing that with a toddler and a 60yr old was not going to be fun so we just took in the views from the road.
Post lunch, we headed out to do our adventure sport for the day, Parasailing. I am somebody who's jumped off the plane a couple of times, bungee-jumped, rafted, kayaked, abseiled, and all the other basic adrenaline pumping activities but for the first time I was a tad bit nervous but it is indeed one of the easiest and smoothest things you can do. The higher you go the smoother the ride is so if you are somebody who wants to give it a try, don't be afraid of going higher because thats actually easier and more relaxing. The beach by which we did this had one great thing that I hadn't seen previously, it had shallow waters for almost 20-30 feet in. I saw a bunch of toddlers walking in and playing with their parents like 20 feet into the water.
We soon wound up our trip to Tahoe with a 2 hour cruise which was the better way to look at the Vikingsholm castle I think. Although baby S spent most of his time just staring at the wheels at the rear of the boat but overall it was a nice cruise. I am not a big fan of cruises unless there is something spectacular awaiting so I just whiled my time away sipping on some cocktails.
P.S: This trip again was wayyyyy back in 2016 but ofcourse i am lazy but you know that by now!
My nephew is visiting from the east coast and instead of doing a trip to the city again, this time around we planned on a day trip to Big Sur, the past weekend to Lake Tahoe. Not that these two places are not the usual to-do's but at least I hadn't been to either before.
We live in the south bay so its about a 4 1/2 hr drive keeping in mind a pitstop since we were traveling with a toddler. Up until Sacramento and Folsom, it was just a regular drive through the US cities but once we hit the hair pin turns and mountainous terrain of Eldorado National Forest, the scenery changed to postcard worthy picturesque landscape covered with Pine trees. It was a refreshing change to the concrete jungle we are used to. Lake Tahoe or the route to it might not be the most beautiful thing in the world but its got everything that nature has to offer to you all in one place. Most tourist places tend to be good for winters or good for summers. Lake Tahoe is one place thats good for both. It has the beach for summers and alpine terrain for winters. From what I gather, its the go-to place for most people for ski season.
Day 1: We got there around 6 in the evening and hit the Lakeside beach immediately. After an hour of the usual at the beach, we head to the heated pool at Harvey's (the hotel we were staying at). The best thing to happen to my toddler after being strapped into his car seat for a good 4 hours. We wrapped up the day with dinner at Hard Rock and a gigantic brownie sundae for dessert. Yes, its my go-all-out weekend after 3 weeks of working out regularly and controlled eating.
Day 2: I woke up at 5:30 A.M (wasn't in the plan)! Couldn't get myself to go to sleep again. I call it the 'let me not waste time sleeping during vacation' syndrome. I did some random chores for 2 hours, fed my baby and stepped out to get coffee. One thing led to another and I was on my morning walk to the Lakeside beach. I love that hill station cold in your face with a hot cup of coffee in your hand. It reminds me that life is good, and its these quiet moments that make waking up that early a good thing. Traveling with a toddler can be tiring not because the toddler is troublesome but it just simply means taking care of a number of things and not being able to do everything you want at the time you want to. When you combine this with a family trip, it just increases the number of things you might have to do or accommodate. Don't get me wrong, I love family trips. In fact if it weren't for my family, I wouldn't have had this affinity to travel but there are times you just want that quiet walk for yourself or that silent 10 mins to stare in to the vast expanse of whatever form of nature lies ahead of you.
We kicked off the day with some sight seeing and the Vista point. To be honest the point itself is like a typical viewing point that has a ton of crowd some info boards, and ok visual stimulation. The husband managed to find parking a 5 min walk away and that's where we truly got a good look at the castle side of Lake Tahoe. Getting to the Vikingsholm castle meant climbing down a good steep trail. Doing that with a toddler and a 60yr old was not going to be fun so we just took in the views from the road.
Post lunch, we headed out to do our adventure sport for the day, Parasailing. I am somebody who's jumped off the plane a couple of times, bungee-jumped, rafted, kayaked, abseiled, and all the other basic adrenaline pumping activities but for the first time I was a tad bit nervous but it is indeed one of the easiest and smoothest things you can do. The higher you go the smoother the ride is so if you are somebody who wants to give it a try, don't be afraid of going higher because thats actually easier and more relaxing. The beach by which we did this had one great thing that I hadn't seen previously, it had shallow waters for almost 20-30 feet in. I saw a bunch of toddlers walking in and playing with their parents like 20 feet into the water.
We soon wound up our trip to Tahoe with a 2 hour cruise which was the better way to look at the Vikingsholm castle I think. Although baby S spent most of his time just staring at the wheels at the rear of the boat but overall it was a nice cruise. I am not a big fan of cruises unless there is something spectacular awaiting so I just whiled my time away sipping on some cocktails.
P.S: This trip again was wayyyyy back in 2016 but ofcourse i am lazy but you know that by now!
Comments