Lake Tahoe is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United
States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at 6,225 ft
(1,897 m) above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North
America, and at 122,160,280 acre-ft (150.7 km3) it trails only the five Great
Lakes as the largest by volume in the United States. Its depth is 1,645 ft (501
m), making it the second deepest in the United States after Crater Lake in
Oregon (1,949 ft or 594 m). Lake Tahoe is a major tourist attraction in
both Nevada and California. It is home to winter sports, summer outdoor
recreation, and scenery enjoyed throughout the year.
Getting there ...
Because Woanyu and I were not skiing persons, we did not come back to Lake
Tahoe since our last ski trip in 2010.
We decided to have a short family trip to Lake Tahoe for this holiday season to
have a chance to play snow together (Ellie's first snow touch). There was
a strong storm hitting the Bay Area during Christmas (we actually lost power at
home twice on 12/23 and 12/25 evening) and it brought a lot of fresh snow to the
mountains in the Sierra Nevada. We were lucky that the weather turned and
there was a window of a few good sunny days (12/27 -- 12/30) for our trip.
The driving condition was good (no snow chains were needed) and the mountains,
forests, and beaches were all covered by clean white snow.
Day 1 (12/28) ...
We started our drive at about 11AM and had an In-and-Out lunch (Iris's favorite
when she was back home) on the way. We stopped by a McDonald's for some
coffee and break, and finally got to our Airbnb at 4:45PM (after some detour to
avoid the traffic in the South Lake Tahoe according to the Google Map).
Since Linus could not make it today, we had only 4 people for our first night.
The Airbnb was a spacious
cabin (with 4 bedrooms) right on the lake with direct access to the private
beach.
Day 2 (12/29) ...
- Dawn
I walked to the beach and the pier for some amazing dawn color.
- Iris and Henry went to Heavenly
to ski, so Woanyu and I had some free time in the morning before Linus
arrived before noon.
- After lunch (delicious corn soup and pasta), we walked to the beach and
tried sledding at a gentle slope nearby. I think Ellie enjoyed her
first snow experience very much!
Day 3 (12/30)...
- Dawn & morning
Another amazing morning
Going Home ...
| We left our Airbnb and started to
drive back at about 9:45AM. We met again and had a lunch together
in Sacramento (a vegan restaurant Buddha Belly Burger). The
weather has changed to foggy and cloudy, and it felt so cold that we had
to put on extra jackets. This was our first family holiday
vacation after Ellie was born (it was indeed more interesting but also
more challenging when there was a baby in the family again). With
the good weather during our trip, it was the best holiday vacation I
could hope for. |
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