Creative Reflections: Catching up!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Oh my gosh, I'm sure having problems keeping up with the travel blog this time around! Our days are full but no more so than on previous trips. The time at home in the evenings however seems to fly by and finding an extra half hour or so to post on the blog is proving difficult. Anyway, I think I'll just do a compilation of the last few days in order to catch up.

On Thursday the boys, Tramp and I had planned on going to DL Bliss state park to hike the Rubicon Trail. This is a beautiful trail that we haven't hiked in years. It skirts the west side of Lake Tahoe and has some amazing views of the lake, if my memory serves me well. However, we had to change our plans when we reached the park and found out that dogs are not allowed. It is a curious thing; on the Nevada side of the lake we have no problem bringing Tramp wherever we want to go as long as he is on a leash but NONE of the California state parks allow dogs...just one more thing that is wrong with my fair state I say! Anyway, since we didn't feel comfortable leaving Tramp alone in the car for several hours we quickly changed plans and headed over to Cascade Falls.

We have hiked these falls SO many times! The hike itself holds fond memories as it was one of the very first hikes that my boys hiked when they were little. I have to admit to feeling a little bit disappointed and almost blaze about hiking this familiar trail once again. However, I didn't take into acount the VERY late start to summer and the record snowfalls that Tahoe experienced this winter. The falls were AWESOME! Normally when we hike this trail the falls "cascade" from small pools. They meander here and there and we are even able to jump over portions of the falls and walk from one side to the other. But not this year! The falls were a rushing, roaring current; really something beautiful to behold.

Our Trio of hikers:

This was one of the few spots where you could negotiate from one side of the falls to the other, it was pretty far up the mountain and Austin was only able to do so with the help of fallen logs. Normally this section of the falls would just be small rivelets of water meandering amongst the boulders.

The boys found an overlook at the main part of the falls.

Cascade Lake with Lake Tahoe beyond

Taking a breather on the way back.

Friday, June 24, 2011

I had to work on the July issue of the magazine in the morning so the boys hung out at the condo playing ping-pong and swimming in the pool. After lunch I thought it might be fun to take the boys for a bike ride. We drove down to S. Lake Tahoe to the Camp Richardson area, rented bikes and rode the 9 mile bike trail that runs along the lake. As we were riding I realized what a different experience people have of Tahoe depending on how they approach it and where they stay. For us, because of the blessing of staying in my sister's condo Tahoe has become something of a "second home." Riding through Camp Richardson we were in the midst of people camping in tents and RV's and staying in rented cabins. I think this would be a much different way to experience Tahoe; filled with its own kind of adventures and special family memories. I think it might be fun to "camp" Tahoe at some point just to experience Tahoe in this way. But for now, I'm happy just to bicycle through the camp and experience it vicariously.

The S. Lake Tahoe Bike trail is officially called the "USFS Bike Trail in the Woods." It runs through the S. Lake Tahoe wetlands, a thickly forested low-lying area of the lake. It also goes through Camp Richardson, Pope Beach, the Tallac Historical site (a collection of historic vacation homes from the turn of the last century), Kiva Beach and Baldwin Beach. The area is beautiful and it is so much fun to bicycle here! I ended up not taking a lot of photos because I was having too much fun racing along with my boys! Here are a few I did take:

We stopped at Pope Beach which features miles and miles of sandy beaches....and Canadian Geese "with attitude!"

Baldwin Beach was the last stop before we circled back to head to the starting point. It is another beautiful sandy beach with gorgeous views of Mt. Tallac. It also features this lagoon with lillypads. I've seen a lot of things in Tahoe but I have to admit this is the first time I have ever seen lillypads!