{"id":3084,"date":"2016-07-21T15:50:37","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T20:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silverdoves.com\/blog\/?p=3084"},"modified":"2016-07-21T16:12:19","modified_gmt":"2016-07-21T21:12:19","slug":"maiden-voyage-part-2-tahoe-arcata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/silverdoves.com\/blog\/maiden-voyage-part-2-tahoe-arcata\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Maiden Voyage | Part 2 – Tahoe to Arcata"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to part two of our Maiden Voyage! If you haven’t read Part One yet, you can see that here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Tahoe<\/h2>\n

The drive from Orem to Tahoe went smoothly. We took turns sleeping, stopped for breakfast somewhere in Nevada and it was still morning when we reached\u00a0Reno. My excitement began to grow as we were driving through Reno. Childhood memories came flooding back, growing clearer and sweeter the closer we came to Tahoe. My parents lived in Tahoe when I was born and though we moved when I was three, I remember quite a bit from that time in my\u00a0early childhood and I have great memories from all the times we’ve traveled back to the area to visit. My heart was thumping eagerly as we left the city and headed into the mountains. In Reno the mountains are still scrub-topped and kind of desert-y, so I was looking forward to coming up over a mountain and seeing all the pines. I was not disappointed! Driving up into the mountains towards Tahoe was intensely satisfying. I have a pretty decent imagination and it often leads to unrealistic expectations about things, but this experience exceeded all expectations. Every worry I had that my youthful memory had saved a warped vision in my brain, my fear that those images in my mind were tinted by a child’s\u00a0emotions was for nothing. This\u00a0<\/i>is how mountains are to supposed to look.\u00a0This\u00a0<\/em>is what pines are supposed to smell like. The drive into Tahoe was so amazing, I could have cried. Maybe I did a bit, I can’t remember.<\/p>\n

We arrived at my sister, Brooke’s apartment and hugged our hellos and soon headed to the beach so we could get our first taste of the lake. I’d forgotten how bright and hot the sun was when you’re up in the mountains!!! We stayed a little over an hour and marveled at how cold the water was, how scorching hot the sand was, and how gorgeous the view was. Miles had tons of fun wading into the lake and chasing what he called “flying chickens” (seagulls lol). I chilled on the beach most of the time with Brooke and Finn. Steven waded out to a large rock off the shore and soaked it all in. Overall it was a great way to experience our first taste of Tahoe.<\/p>\n

We grabbed a bite to eat for lunch with my sister and my Aunt Beth, then we hung out at Brooke’s place until\u00a0my sweet and amazing sister cooked dinner for us. We had some great moments hanging out together and got ourselves a full night of sleep (finally!).<\/p>\n

The next day we met my Uncle Hans for a boat ride on the lake. With the exception of Miles falling\u00a0and puncturing\u00a0his cheek, it was just a relaxing chance to enjoy Tahoe from the water. We saw “Tahoe Tessie” (Tahoe’s rock shaped like it’s own Loch Ness type monster). Steven, Miles and I all got a chance to brave\u00a0the freezing cold water. I jumped in because I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t, but I came immediately back to the boat. Miles was insistent that he wanted to get in the water, but half a second into the water he begged us to let him back into the boat. It was so cold, but so refreshing.<\/p>\n

Back on land, we had lunch with another of my mom’s sisters, Aunt Jenny and her sons. We had burgers and laughed together. After lunch we let the boys take a nap in the car while we drove out to Squaw valley, where the 1960 winter olympics were\u00a0hosted. The drive out was gorgeous, following the Truckee river and enjoying the scent of the pines with the windows down. The\u00a0ski resort was gorgeously situated in the valley and offered a glimpse\u00a0of more memorable vistas.<\/p>\n

From there we drove back to the lake and followed it around to Emerald Bay. We reached the bay right before sunset, which was a pretty time of day, but it left the area in shadow from the nearby mountains. We took some time at the lookout and continued on to South Tahoe where we found a local Scottish Pub, called McDuff’s<\/a>. There\u00a0I had some of the best fish and chips of my life. We sat outside and I could just barely spot the lake through the buildings down the street, where the sky turned pink as the sun set. The air turned cool and we let Miles run around in the grass near our table, then headed back to the north side of the lake in the dark.<\/p>\n

<\/div>