Digital Nomad Family – Course Update #8 – Spring & Summer by Lake Tahoe

Summer has finally come to South Lake Tahoe, but it dragged its feet. We were still getting occasional snow through my birthday in late May?!

When I woke up on my birthday, looked out the window, and saw 3” of snow all I wanted to say was “Who ordered this?! Can I send it back?” But, in the way of spring snow rarely did it even last the day before melting again. And there were a few mornings when the light off the snow and that vibrant spring green of the leaves made South Lake feel even more magical.

Nevertheless, even with the occasionally uncertain weather and temperatures, we’ve packed a LOT into the 6 weeks since my last update. There’s no question that we’re here during a “shoulder season” for the area, so many attractions didn’t even open until Memorial Day, but we’re now going full-tilt into Tahoe’s summer.

We did our best to take advantage of the nice days (40’s-60’s F) to get out and explore, but we did much of it by car driving around the lake and through nearby mountains and valleys. We’ve driven all the way around the lake numerous times now (72 miles around each time), and one of our favorite mid-way points to stop is Kings Beach, which is on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe (opposite of our home in South Lake Tahoe).

There’s a lovely stretch of sand, walkways, and a park with playground that has definitely kept Pumpkin entertained for a few hours, and given us some beautiful views, photos, and memories.

In early May, we were delighted to have a visit from my good friend, Lisa Montanaro, and her husband Sean for a couple days. We did the “around the lake” drive with them, since Sean had never been to Tahoe before. Packing all 5 of us in our little car (with Pumpkin’s car seat) was a bit tight, but fortunately Lisa’s petite ;).

It was fun to get to spend time with friends and show them around the area a little bit. They’re big hikers too, so I bet they’ll be back again soon for future hikes.

Unfortunately, we’ve also had a few bumps in the road (literally and figuratively) while we’ve been here. I wasn’t able to share in their hiking adventures because I’ve been working with a PT and Chiropractor to deal with some weakness and issues in my right leg, hip, and lower back, but finally after about 8-10 weeks I feel like I’m making progress. So, keep your fingers crossed that I can keep up my exercises when we move on and continue to improve. I’m certainly very motivated, but it’s definitely held us back from doing too many longer hikes.

re: the literal bumps in the road…

Brian went out to pick up a pizza for us (because why pay the delivery fee…), but that didn’t quite workout as planned. A concrete pole next to his parking space jumped out and bit him (ok… maybe not, but you can imagine what happened.) So, our brand new car had to get a bit of body work.

Obviously, he’s fine, and Pumpkin and I were both home at the time… so no real harm, just cost. Thank goodness for car insurance… but that deductible was still a lot more than the delivery fee would have been. Fortunately, it took about a week in the shop for the repairs, and now it’s “good as new.”

However, we decided that while we had the rental car (with unlimited mileage,) we’d take it down the mountain and go visit Old Sacramento (Old Sac, as locals say.) Brian and I agreed that it felt like a “Western” version of New Orleans in many ways. Building mostly from the 19th c. with tall and wide porches, which really came in handy since it was pouring rain most of the time we were there. Still, it was fun to wander around and Pumpkin really enjoyed watching the trains go by… “Choo choo train!”

Then, we had our adventure going back up the mountains to Lake Tahoe. Before leaving Sacramento we notice that we had about half a tank of gas. With our car, a half tank will usually last me several days, but we failed to consider that this little rental car climbing the mountains was going to GUZZLE gas. Half-way up the mountain roads toward Tahoe, the idiot light goes on (aka low fuel). Now, we’re in the section of the drive where there’s truly nothing but mountains, road, and a few private houses. The closest gas station was 14 miles UP the mountain.

Do you remember all that rain we were getting down in Old Sac? Well, at this elevation, it was snow. Not a ton or making conditions too dangerous, but enough to make sitting on the side of the road with no gas… concerning. Then, add on that, of course, there’s no cell signal for long stretches of these mountain roads.

I watched the numbers on the car display click down… 14 mile range, 6 mile range, 0 mile range. Lots of prayers and deep breathing… but we gratefully made it to the first (very expensive) gas station on top of the mountain. Some deep breathing, and a few gallons of gas got us all the way home (and to a slightly less expensive station to fill the tank.)

One of my favorite adventures (which is hard to say because we’ve had so many great ones) was our Mother’s Day Paddleboat Ride on the M.S. Dixie II, which took us across the lake from Zephyr Cove to Emerald Bay. A brunch buffet, pink roses for all the mamas, and we were blessed to have beautiful 70 deg sunny weather.

It was a precious time to share with my sparkling daughter and wonderful husband (who took the hint I dropped *hard* about what I wanted for Mother’s Day ;).) The food was good (not great), the mimosas were wonderful, and the view and memories are unforgettable.

The end of May had more of those cooler, snowy, rainy weeks… so we took things a bit slower (PJ days and movies,) which is one of the great things about slow traveling. You don’t feel like you’re massively missing out if you take a bit of down time to just relax. Then, once Memorial Day hit and the weather started warming up, our adventures went into high-drive.

We were invited to a barbecue with local preschool friends and discovered a shared love of craft beer (sours, gose in particular), and the kids discovered their shared love of watermelon and Elmo. We spent a jaunty day at the local Renaissance Faire watching the arms demos, listening to music, watching falconers, and various period dancers.

Then, since all the “historic houses” opened up on Memorial Day weekend, we’ve been working our way through many of those visits.

Vikingsholm sits at the end of Emerald Bay and was built in the 1920’s in the Scandinavian style. It reminded me of my trip to Norway/Sweden years ago, and definitely would have been a magical place to spend the summer “back-in-the-day.”

The house is well worth it… but the one mile hike down the mountain to visit (and then BACK UP) were a definite workout. I was particularly proud of our Pumpkin who actually walked up 3/4s of the mountain road back to the top by herself. I also made it a lot easier for us, since we were walking up at toddler pace ;).

Then, at the suggestion of our Preschool family friends, we drove up to Truckee, CA. It’s an adorable little “hipster” town with many of the things we love (craft beer, fun restaurants, art galleries, historic buildings and architecture, etc.) Pumpkin was delighted to see more “choo choo trains” as they drove through the center of town. Personally, sticking my face in all their blossoming lilacs was my highlight.

We could have chosen a better restaurant, but we were enticed by the patio seating right in the middle of town. The location was nice, and the food was OK, but the beer selection was kinda sad. I wish we’d done a little more research before going to find the places with the best craft beer selection, but it was rather a spontaneous decision to go at all… so, *shrug* sometimes that’s just what happens.

This past weekend we continued our exploration of the local historic houses with a visit to the Hellman-Erhman Mansion near Tahoe City. It was built a bit earlier than Vikingholm in more of a Craftsman style… and wow. It was similarly beautiful with all the beams, solid wood moulding, and leaded-glass windows.

The house and lands are now part of a CA state park, so many people go to enjoy the lake, dock, and small beach area. The intimate wooded areas and beautiful clear water of Lake Tahoe make it easy to see why folks would love to spend their summers here.

Then, on Father’s Day we started by enjoying some local barbecue (at Brian’s request) and spent the afternoon at Sand Harbor over on the Nevada side of the lake. Unfortunately, the temperature dropped a bit by the time we arrived so it was only high 60’s, but that didn’t stop our Pumpkin from enjoy some time splashing in the lake and lots of playing with the sand. I wish we could have spent a bit more time there… but sometimes it’s good to leave something “incomplete.” It encourages you to come back ;).

We’ll be just days away from leaving South Lake Tahoe when this post goes live next week, and while there are definitely things we’ll miss (Pumpkin’s school & friends mostly), Brian and I are both feeling ready to move on. We’re delighted to have enjoyed this beautiful place for the past 3 months, but we’re ready for our next adventures.

From here, we’re driving down the mountains to visit our friends Lisa & Sean in Davis, CA and we’ll be leaving our car and stuff with them while we fly back to the East Coast for the first several weeks of July.

We’re looking forward to seeing our friends and family (and getting all those dentist, doctor, etc. appointments done.) So, my next update will share our stories of “going home” for the first time in 6 months, before we fly back west again for our fall on the ocean between Seattle & Tacoma.

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