Question on Lake Tahoe

[Hughman]

I think the lake is about 22 miles tall by 13 miles wide. At least half a day given how much sightseeing you want to do.

I haven't been to it but the ponderosa ranch from Bonanza was somewhere on the east side of the lake. It use to be an attraction.

 

[Hughman]

I think the lake is about 22 miles tall by 13 miles wide. At least half a day given how much sightseeing you want to do.

I haven't been to it but the ponderosa ranch from Bonanza was somewhere on the east side of the lake. It use to be an attraction.

Closed...

Ponderosa Ranch - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[kenmbz]

We stayed in South Lake Tahoe and rented a boat at one of the local Marinas on the California side.
Their is a Gondola up from the town, which is a large area of shopping and restaurants.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Wife and kid got desert at the Baked Bear and it's kind of a mild party atmosphere there.

Lots of little beaches, many charge at least parking if not beach access too.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Wish we could have spent more time there.
Keep us updated on your adventures!

The stack of casinos on the Nevada side is in stark contrast to the more relaxed timeshare area in California, I was surprised how many time share places in S Lake Tahoe.

 

[RobertN]

Out of curiosity, how long does it take to drive around the whole lake? Looks like 50, 89, and 28.

The drive around Lake Tahoe is about 72 miles. It's mostly slower road. You could drive in a couple of hours, but there are places to stop/sightsee all the way around. You could easily spend most of the day.

Fallen Leaf Lake is nice.

Palisades Tahoe (Formerly Squaw Valley) hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics

 

[ericm979]

Larger hotels/motels in the gambling district or a few miles across the border can get some loud customers. At one place we stayed in a few times when I was there to do a cycling event we kept getting neighbors who would come back drunk at 2am and have loud arguments. Bad enough normally but extra tough when we were going to get up at 3:30am to drive to the event.

The last time we stayed in south lake tahoe for that event we found a small motel off the main drag that was quiet even though it was closer to Nevada.

 

[kenmbz]

We stayed at Basecamp South Tahoe.
Smallish clean rooms, walk to town or beach.
Kinda hippie vibe, nice and quiet.

 

[Sigarms]

Wife has been down at her mothers last couple of days as apparently she (mom) took a fall.

Looking like the same type surgery next week my father had when he fractured his own back (in and out same day).

Have a aunt who lives closer to her mom, but her and her husband are probably both worse than my MIL health wise.

My mother in law will be no different than my own father when it comes to admitting they need help.

I know my wife lol I've already told her to cancel the trip and we will replan in late spring, but she's hanging on hope that we can still get away. We go, my wife will be so worried about her mom that she probably wouldn't enjoy the trip. If anything, I'll be the one convincing her it's fine to cancel. She lost her dad a couple of years ago, has one sister who totally different than her and really doesn't have a close relationship with her, and if anything were to happen to her mom, I know she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

Point being, when you book a vacation, ALWAYS pay a little extra on the insurance in case you have to change the dates or even cancel. You don't plan on it, but it can be a life saver...

 

[kenmbz]

Wife has been down at her mothers last couple of days as apparently she (mom) took a fall.

Looking like the same type surgery next week my father had when he fractured his own back (in and out same day).

Have a aunt who lives closer to her mom, but her and her husband are probably both worse than my MIL health wise.

My mother in law will be no different than my own father when it comes to admitting they need help.

I know my wife lol I've already told her to cancel the trip and we will replan in late spring, but she's hanging on hope that we can still get away. We go, my wife will be so worried about her mom that she probably wouldn't enjoy the trip. If anything, I'll be the one convincing her it's fine to cancel. She lost her dad a couple of years ago, has one sister who totally different than her and really doesn't have a close relationship with her, and if anything were to happen to her mom, I know she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

Point being, when you book a vacation, ALWAYS pay a little extra on the insurance in case you have to change the dates or even cancel. You don't plan on it, but it can be a life saver...

Agreed, my parents just lost all the money they put down on a trip when he fell a few weeks before the scheduled sail dates. By the time I was able to figure out how to unravel the trip, it was past the refund date,

 

[Sigarms]

Both my wife and I agreed, by far the best part of the trip was Donner Pass. At times, I can be a big history buff, and the Donner-Reed party has always fascinated myself due to all the intertwining family stories and how the party was basically screwed over by the Hastings cutoff and the lack of info the party received and why.

Actually being there in person and actually getting an idea of how cold it was in early November with some snow, gave me a new perspective on what those people endured.

Looking down at Truckee (now Donner) lake

 

[Sigarms]

The road up Donner pass road. Can't imagine trying to make the climb through that pass going up a mountain without a road trying to get help...

If you look at the second pic, you'll see a structure going around the one mountain. That is actually a rail road box to protect the trains going around the mountain.

Reading up on the history on how the Chinese built those protective devices for the trains over mountains was a new find for me.

Both my wife and I got a chuckle... This was the second day there, and originally we were in Tahoe city at the visitor center and I wasn't planning on going to Truckee due to the drive time. The "host" at the visitor center convinced me I could make the drive and check out Donner state park and museum no problem. I asked about Donner pass road, and she told us there was no reason to go up there because there wasn't anything up there.

Yes, there are no buildings to see up there, but dang, the beauty and history of the area was the highlight of the trip for us (at least for me, but my wife agreed, it was her favorite part of the trip as well LOL).