Sunday, March 21, 2010

Spring Break in Lake Tahoe!!

Matt and I used 2 more free flights from Southwest this last week and headed out to Lake Tahoe. Why Lake Tahoe? I was asked that several times. It was just a place that we haven't ever gone to before. Some place new. I could have gone to Vegas again, but I felt guilty not trying something new!

Dylan and Collin spent the week in Marquette...Dylan was on Spring Break and so was Grandma, so it was perfect timing! This way Dylan can have a Spring Break story to tell about when he goes back to school tomorrow...even if it wasn't tropical or exotic!

We flew out on Tuesday morning...very early...7:30 a.m. I didn't realize that the clocks were going to spring forward last weekend...so when we got up at 4:30, our bodies still felt like it was 3:30 a.m...ugh!!!

We changed planes in Vegas...we had a 2 hour layover there. We were sooooo tempted to take a cab to Mandalay Bay for a little bit, but knowing my luck, we would have gotten delayed in security or traffic or something and missed our plane. So we hit a few slot machines in the airport...Wheel of Fortune!...and called it good.

The trip didn't continue very well when we got to Reno, and 2 of our suitcases had been flown to Burbank, CA from Vegas. Of course, it was my suitcase and also the suitcase with the skiwear. They were supposed to arrive in Reno later that afternoon.

So we headed out to South Lake Tahoe...we stayed in a Marriott Grand Residence Club...it's a timeshare place, but they also have hotel rooms that are rented out for a nightly rate. It was perfect...just right outside was the gondola up to Heavenly Ski Resort!! And tons of little shops!!!

We ate at Cafe Fiore on Tuesday night. It is a tiny Italian restaurant...only 7 tables!!! It was soooo good!!! Thank goodness Tahoe is very casual...I was still in my traveling clothes!

When we returned to the hotel, our luggage still hadn't shown up yet, so we told the front desk to just hold onto it until the next morning because we were pooped and we were going to bed!!

Of course, the phone rang at 11 p.m...."your luggage is here...do you want to come down and get it?" Good grief!!! Expedited, HAHAHA!!!!

I went up with Matt on the gondola Wednesday morning, and sent him off onto the ski slopes. Then I headed back down at 10 a.m....the shops had just opened and they were calling my name!!
One of the restaurants in the village where our hotel was located was having a St. Patty's Day party that afternoon, so I got us a table, and waited for Matt to head down from the slopes. Here he is in the gondola...looking very pleased with himself!!

Thursday we headed back to Reno (since our flight out on Friday morning was another early one). We took the scenic route around the other side of the lake. Here is our view from a lookout above Emerald Bay...I believe this is probably a very popular landmark from the lake...I've seen tons of pictures of it on different websites while researching our trip.


The weather was so perfect....50's and the snow was still on the ground!!!


We stopped for lunch and to watch the KSU basketball game in Squaw Valley, CA...home of the 1960 Olympics. After watching the Olympics earlier this year, I knew I had to see this!!! I was picturing a huge complex because the current Olympics are held in such large areas. Well, they only had 5 or 6 events at the 1960 games...it wasn't very big at all.
Here is the actual Olympic flame cauldron at the entrance to the park.
We went up to High Camp in a cable car to look around. This ski resort is huge!!! And the runs were very wide....I think I could have even skied and not run into anyone else!!

It was a great day topped off by K-State's victory over North Texas in the First Round of the Big Dance. (And as I'm typing this on Sunday night...we also won our Second Round game over BYU, and we're heading to Salt Lake City on Thursday night!!! GO CATS!!!!)

We headed back home on Friday with a whole bunch of laundry and a whole bunch of pictures. It was so good to see the boys!!!

No comments: