Page, Andy, Margaret and Henry's Travelblog

Lake Tahoe Vacation!

Our family went to the shores of Lake Tahoe, California for our summer vacation in August. We stayed in the Berghoff, the cabin above, for a week. The cabin is located in Tahoe City, CA, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and can sleep up to 8 folks.

It was a fantastic week, in which we went miniature golfing, hiked at Squaw Valley, visited Reno, cruised on a boat on the Lake, and simply relaxed, reading books, watching movies, eating good food (except for a really bad Mexican place - but there's always one of those on every trip).

Just as with our Kauai trip, this blog is set up chronologically from top to bottom (unlike other blogs which are bottoms up). So sit back, relax, and enjoy the pics from our trip to Tahoe!

Near the 18th hole.

Margaret putting away!

Henry claimed it was a two putt, but we all know it was a not-so-pretty double bogey.

Squaw Valley!

On Monday we visited Squaw Valley, where we did some shopping at the Village at the base and we rode the cable car to the High Camp at 8200 feet, where we hiked a trail.

A bench made from skis.

An oversized "Paul Bunyan" chair.

With a miner! In the Village at Squaw Valley...

HIking at High Camp

High Camp at Squaw Valley is at the 8200 ft elevation. We hiked a trail called the High Camp Loop, which is a little more than a mile and is classified as easy to moderate with minimal climbs.

Hah! Even the minimal climbs at this elevation are a little tough to get adjusted to. But we had a wonderful hike with fabulous views of the mountains (amidst the quiet chair lifts).

A meadow along the trail.

In wintertime, this area is flush with skiers. But it was a beautiful hiking these trails. We'll be back one day to hike more trails here.

The Olympic Museum

At High Camp, there is a small Olympic museum dedicated to the games of the VIII Olympic Winter Games in 1960 at Squaw Valley. We enjoyed looking at the assorted artifacts and displays about those Games.

Some of the nations who attended.

Henry got the Gold! It was in the luge...

Can you hear the Olympic theme?

Views from High Camp

Lake Tahoe is in the distance...

...a view sans family in the way...

...and more views from 8200 feet...

Riding Back Down

One of the cable cars that we rode back down from High Camp.

Looking down from the cable car.

Once we passed this hill...

...we saw this view of the Squaw Valley base camp.

It was a wonderful morning and early afternoon hiking at the High Camp at Squaw. Once we arrived at the base, we walked around and shopped at the Squaw Valley Village, which is a little community of residences above retail and restaurant outlets, evoking a European village.

Wednesday AM

We walked into town on Wednesday morning, and visited a small museum on Tahoe history and its surrounding grounds. There were a couple of brief trails that we walked as we awaited the museum to open.

The shoreline outside the museum.

A massive ant hill near the museum - the ant hill's large enough to merit its own sign!

The kids outside the museum.

Commons Beach

While Page and Margaret were at the dentist on early Wednesday afternoon (to replace a filling that Margaret had lost), Henry and I walked down to Commons Beach in Tahoe City, where we played catch, had a snack, and Henry played at the playground adjacent to the beach.

Fortunately, all went well at the dentist, and the four of us eventually had lunch together at a local Mexican restaurant that shall remain nameless, due to food quality that was not even up to the standards of Mexican food at a Denny's, and service that moved at the speed of a turtle.

That aside, it was still a nice afternoon...after all - we were still on vacation!

The pier at Commons Beach.

Sun worshippers at the beach.

Henry enjoying the beach!

The Tahoe Gal

On Wednesday afternoon, we took a happy hour cruise on the Tahoe Gal. We had an appetizer and drinks on this brief hour and a half cruise along the northern shoreline of Lake Tahoe, cruising from Tahoe City to Tahoe Vista and back. It was very relaxing, with wonderful views of the surrounding Sierra mountaintops.