| After checking in with the property manager, we headed to Rosie’s Cafe in Tahoe City for a very late lunch | It’s a very fun place to eat, with lots of quirky-yet-locally-relevant decor, including many classic bikes | Ready to hit the trail at Factory Bike | The lake spills through this small dam (under the windows), becoming the Truckee River | Running around the boardwalk over the dam | The Gatekeeper’s Museum in Tahoe City is chock full of interesting stuff |
| Innaias checks out the Squaw Valley Olympics display | Local geology | The museum was running a great exhibit about bears | The museum had a couple of scavenger hunt options to choose from: a general one, and one specific to the bear exhibit | Pete and Innaias worked on the general one together, while Flynn and Guinness each did the bear one on their own | Tracing bear paw prints |
| Bears in Tahoe throughout history | Samples of fur, rubber paw print molds, skulls all were very engaging | The Gatekeeper’s Museum building | Truckee River scenery | The trail between Tahoe City and Squaw Valley is a joy to ride…if only it were longer | The gentle grade makes for a reasonably placid river |
| Water break | There is one narrower stretch just north of Squaw Valley, where it gets more rapid | Watching Uncle Matt at his shop | Relaxing after a long day | The good-sized table was put to good use during our stay | Jenga makes for good building blocks |
| Stories before bedtime | It’s always a real treat for the kids, to have their grandparents read to them | A short break in the meadow | Short rest in the woods | Peapod kept up quite well…just a very short steep section that needed walking | Navigating the gap |
| The more experienced rider just goes over the obstruction ☺ | Catching up with Debra and Innaias, just before Pete took his fall | Kids played on the playground while the Tans played tennis | The North Tahoe Regional Park is huge, with lots of fun activities | Including this playground that the kids really enjoyed | Slides, good jungle gym equipment, swings, the works! ☺ |
| Just hanging around | Squirrel! | That’s a lot of upside-down | During our visit, now and then we’d see a Coast Guard C-130 like this one fly over | The Tans make their way down from their game | A small beach near Matt’s home |
| Blue skies over blue water | Splashing | Spraying | Wading | Digging | Scooping |
| Granny Dani and Innaias | Flynn and Guinness stir things up | Of course, boating is very popular on Lake Tahoe | Flynn finds a rock | Back at the shop | Betty tries a cruiser |
| Flynn tries a bike on for size | Checking out the Electra Townie | At the Squaw Village gate | Flowers and an operating fountain are probably not part of the scene during the winter | Boarding the aerial tram | Leaving the station |
| The Olympic village below | Albert and Betty are seated, surrounded by what is apparently considered just a “light crowd” | It’s a quick and easy way to enjoy some of the scenery | Wind-smoothed rocks | Another tram car heads downhill | Out-of-bounds, one can only assume |
| Of course the question is, how does someone get so far that this sign matters | They really are enjoying the view | Teeny tiny lake | Flynn had fun too | Lake Tahoe, from (almost at) the top of the mountain | Tourists |
| The boys, lake in the background | The tram departs back down the hill | A remarkable feat of engineering | Clear blue skies over the mountains | Most of the slopes at “High Camp” actually seem reasonably gentle | Debra and the kids catch up |
| Tomato! | No doubt there’s a reason these specific six foreign flags — South Africa, Norway, Liechtenstein, UK, Germany, and Bulgaria — are flown at High Camp | It gets a bit steep beyond this point | Braving the wind | Not a good place to throw your disc out of bounds | One of few vantage points around Tahoe where one doesn’t see mountains in the background ☺ |
| Resting at the picnic table | Almost time to catch the tram back down | The arrival bay for the south tram | We shared the tram back with a couple and their Golden | Leaving the High Camp | Those are some determined trees |
| Life looks easier for these trees and shrubs, but not by much! | Past the half-way point | The tram takes a pretty good drop coming down this cliff face | Albert was excited to see the tennis courts. They may not be open year-round though. | Moon setting over the mountains | Waiting for lunch |
| The Auld Dubliner was quite good | They didn’t have one big table for us, but we were fine spreading out | An Irish folk group arrived to provide musical entertainment | The exterior is much more ski resort than downtown Dublin | One last look at the fountain that greeted us | Wildflowers and lift chairs |
| A walk in the neighborhood where we stayed | We were greeted by a gorgeous view every time we drove down the hill to go do anything | Fancy houses on the shore | Boats and boats moored along the Kings Beach area | Some afternoon relaxation | A quiet lunch of leftovers |
| Having failed to find the Magic Carpet Golf in Carnelian Bay open, we headed to Kings Beach | They have a couple of themed 18-hole courses, both lots of fun | Some holes are very challenging | Debra tries to get just the right touch for the hill | Tricky getting past those pool balls | Timing is critical to get the shot past the rocket |
| Scoring was made more complicated by the mid-course swap of players | But it was a fun way for everyone to get a little bit of time with everyone else | Coming down the home stretch | Time the wheel, make it to the other side | Checking out the 19th hole | The icing on the cake was that we could pick our balls from a collection of dozens of different kinds of patterns |
| Back at North Tahoe Regional Park | In spite of Pete’s poor showing on the previous ride, Matt kindly went riding with him and the older boys again | While the boys were riding, Debra and her family played some more tennis | Dinner at the lake-front Sunnyside Restaurant | Besides this beautiful sunset, once it got dark we were treated to the view of lightning beyond these mountains to the east | The more Flynn tried to avoid being photographed with his giant burger, the harder his father worked to get the shot |
| The Ehrman mansion at Sugar Pine State Park | We’d already visited with the kids in the winter, and it was fun to see it in the summer and finally get to tour the inside | No surprise, the mansion is built on prime lakeside property | The ranger provides some history | The main staircase, seen from the outside | It’s a unique and impressive structure |
| The bulbs look like they are from when the building was originally electrified | The main living room | The phone booth under the spiral staircase | The dining room included wall paneling made from these woven strips | The spiral staircase probably was a lot more elegant before the elevator was installed | One of several guest rooms |
| Tennis anyone? | New technology was incorporated throughout the mansion over the years | The kitchen was no exception, with things like a water heater, gas stove, and electric ice box | The servants’ passage between the kitchen and dining room | The water tower | Bird on a rock |
| No doubt in bad weather it can get hairy, but on a sunny day with a light breeze, it’s idyllic | This squirrel spent a lot of time just relaxing in the sun | Walking around the mansion grounds | Ice cut from the lake in the winter would last all summer | Self-explanatory | The Ehrman boats |
| Some smaller row boats | Some historic pictures of people in the displayed boats | The cabin of the first known non-native settler to the Lake Tahoe area, William “General” Phipps | There’s even a nice sandy beach | The Safari Rose makes its way past the mansion | Just passing by |
| This chipmunk seemed very interested in our sandwiches | The Safari Rose heads back up the lake | Just a short while later, the Tahoe Gal motors by | Our lunch, on Matt’s recommendation, was sandwiches from the Tahoma PDQ Market | They were delicious! | Mr. Squirrel still hanging around on his stump |
| On our way back from the park, we stopped in at the Tahoe Maritime Museum | Power boats, used for bootlegging and then recreation and racing, were the predominate artifact | A restored Reo Speed Wagon was a notable exception to the maritime theme | Still dripping oil…maybe it could even still be driven | Kids are getting tired | Early outboard racing boat |
| The boys really enjoyed the motorboat simulator | It seems crashing the simulated boat is as fun as making forward progress | One can imagine this engine in a very fast power boat | Innaias gets a turn | One boat was still in great need of restoration | Driven by a UK competitor, presumably |
| Guinness practices more knots | Looking at the museum from the north | From the parking lot, looking east at the museum | Since the kids hadn’t completely exploded yet, we took them over to the UC Davis research center | It’s at the site of an old fish hatchery | This apparatus is intended to experiment with natural groundwater filtration and other wetland features |
| Looks like a very snow-friendly roofline | Innaias checks out the interpretive drawings | Everyone getting a look at the experiment | A quick stop by Matt’s apartment the night before we leave | It’s quite comfortable, but the best feature is no roommates ☺ | Packing up the trucks for our departure |
