Whirlwind Vacation

We went to Tahoe for a quick overnight on Sunday and Monday. It very nearly didn't happen. My husband is very difficult when it comes to committing to something (which I guess explains why he was single until he was 42) and planning ahead--but that's a whole other story, and thankfully it all worked out in the end.

(Sis didn't go with us, she had just returned from a week at fine arts camp and had to work, but before you feel too bad for her, she spends a lot of time at Tahoe since her dad's family owns a cabin up there.)

Two years ago when Mike's sister was visiting from Alaska, she camped at Tahoe, and we drove up to see her for the afternoon. It was way too quick a trip, and the girls had so much fun on the beach, that we vowed we'd make it up there again soon. Well, a couple years is soon in our books!

We packed an amazing amount of stuff into my Honda Civic. Every nook and cranny had a pillow or pack or bag of snacks shoved into it. The girls were situated snuggly between suitcases and pillows in the back seat. Have you ever heard the expression, "10 pounds of s*** in a 5 pound sack?" Well, this was clearly a case of 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound car, and it became a bit comical as we unloaded it all. It didn't help that one whole backpack was filled with stuffed animals. Next time I'll pay closer attention to what the girls are packing!

As we arrived on Sunday there were intermittent thunder storms, luckily it all cleared off on Monday, but the rain was kind of fun too, once we got the tent up!

We visited the Tallac Historic site


and the beach on Sunday, then went to State Line for dinner. On Monday we saw native trout at the stream profile chamber,

Stream profile chamber...and one of it's handsome inhabitants!
Shelby checks out the fish...
Nat looks at a crawdad and fish (not real, but cast from real specimens)--there were all kinds of surprises to be discovered in the paintings and displays--it was really cool!

then went to the Emerald Bay vista, and back to swim on the beach.

It's rare that Mike and I actually work it out to go somewhere together...him with his "non-committal-ness", me with my crazy schedule, add to that pets to care for and lack of money, so that this trip happened at all is nothing short of miraculous. I'm so glad it did though; it was well worth the effort and expense.

Some memories:

Having to shop for swim fins for Mike, because he wanted to snorkel. We spent the first 1 1/2 hours going to Kmart and all the sporting goods stores in greater South Shore, and I didn't even nag or complain!

Natalie's "snaggle tooth" falling out the morning of our trip and finding out that the Tooth Fairy will find you even if you're in a tent at Lake Tahoe.

The smell of sage brush, Jeffery pine, and Skunk Cabbage and how it brought back memories of where I grew up. It smelled sooooo good!

Seeing trout of all sizes and crawdads fighting over a dead fish in the creek on the trail to the stream profile chamber.

Telling ghost stories around the campfire.

Lying on the beach and watching the clouds roll by and change shapes.

Hearing, "How much longer?" for a good 2 hours there and back!