{"id":803,"date":"2012-05-28T09:46:18","date_gmt":"2012-05-28T14:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=803"},"modified":"2012-05-28T09:46:18","modified_gmt":"2012-05-28T14:46:18","slug":"vacation-day-5-onward-to-lake-tahoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=803","title":{"rendered":"Vacation Day 5: Onward to Lake Tahoe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rich reminded me that he woke up this morning.\u00a0 It was going to be a good day.<\/p>\n

This morning, we started off on another leg of the adventure called the Zurek Family Vacation.\u00a0 Today, we were heading into Lake Tahoe to look around and then to Placerville for a visit with Rich’s Aunt Fran and Uncle Larry at their house.<\/p>\n

From Winnemucca into Reno, it was pretty much still high desert.\u00a0 I didn’t see any tumble weeds, but you still got the sense they were out there waiting to roll across the highway. We stopped at a rest area by the Truckee River and read the signs.\u00a0 Did I mention that we were following the California trail here?<\/p>\n

Highway 80 at this point is just about on top of the old California trail taken by many emigrants from across the U.S. I could see how desolate the landscape was, but I didn’t think about the water sources out here.\u00a0 There was a white substance lying\u00a0in large pool shapes in the desert.\u00a0 We thought it was salt at first.\u00a0\u00a0This substance mixed with the water making it\u00a0a very alkaline combination. \u00a0They went weeks without fresh water, until they got to the location where the rest area was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rich decided that he wanted to see Lake Tahoe.\u00a0 We were here and it wouldn’t take us any longer than going the highway.\u00a0 We took 50 out of Reno down to Carson City.\u00a0 From here, we climbed a very tall mountain.\u00a0 I think we finally got to 7,500 feet in elevation, but no snow.\u00a0 Of course\u00a0for every action, there is a reaction.\u00a0 This meant that we had to go down and it was one long hill!\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the way back down, we came over a hill and around a curve.\u00a0 There was Lake Tahoe stretching out before us.\u00a0 It was so much larger than I expected.\u00a0 It was huge.\u00a0 We stopped at a marina to take pictures.\u00a0 The water was cold since it is fed from high mountain runoff.<\/p>\n

We continued around the south side of the lake to the Visitor’s Center.\u00a0 We walked into the building to discover it was all the way in the basement. So down all of those stairs.\u00a0 The room was large with a bear painted in blue and a lot of names written all over him.\u00a0 Dan came from behind the desk to welcome us.\u00a0 Come to find out, he was from Niles, IL!\u00a0<\/p>\n

We have this strange thing that happens to us.\u00a0 Wherever we go in the U.S., we always find someone from Illinois.\u00a0 Dan knew exactly where McHenry was.\u00a0 We talked about Chicago, the weather, and how he came to be in California.\u00a0 Last year, we were hiking in Bandolier National Park in New Mexico with a lady who grew up in Carpentersville and another couple originally from Aurora who lived in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

Dan told us about a good spot to get to the lake and see some history on the lake.\u00a0 We said good-bye and headed around the lake to Camp Richardson.\u00a0 There stood the Baldwin house and the Pope house.\u00a0 Not really mansions, but very nice summer cottages with their own estates and outbuildings for the help. We were able to get right down to the water on a sandy beach that was dark brown underneath and golden sand on top.\u00a0 Really cool to look at.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, I found a couple of labs on the beach and talked to their owner.\u00a0 The dogs were wet from swimming in the lake for their afternoon exercise.\u00a0 But I got to pet a dog.\u00a0 I miss Sascha.<\/p>\n

After hiking around and looking at the estates, it was time for lunch.\u00a0 We had seen an interesting place on the way in, so we made our way back to it.\u00a0 We pulled into the Burger Lounge.\u00a0 The parking lot was full at 1:30, which is a really good sign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inside, we had to choose our burger and side.\u00a0 I went for the Just in a Jiffy burger.\u00a0 This came with bacon, cheddar cheese, and peanut butter.\u00a0 Yeah, peanut butter.\u00a0 Rick got the Smokehouse with bacon and cheddar cheese.\u00a0 Rich got the Hangover Helper, which came with an egg on top.\u00a0 The guys split a basket of garlic fries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sarah S., the other Zurek sister, had told us about having a peanut butter burger, so I thought I would try it.\u00a0 It was great.\u00a0 The guys enjoyed the garlic fries, but I think there was more garlic than they were prepared for.\u00a0 Jon Zurek would have loved it. We had a really great lunch sitting outside.\u00a0 Yep, Rich finally ate al fresco.<\/p>\n

Time to head on down the mountain to our stop for the night.\u00a0 It was a ride, too!\u00a0 We went from 6,000 feet to about 2,000 feet, which was all curves and 6% grade. I can now say I’ve driven the Sierra Nevadas.\u00a0 It was exciting.\u00a0 But then, I love hills and curves.<\/p>\n

After getting settled in our hotel, we headed over to Aunt Fran’s.\u00a0 Now this was also adventure.\u00a0 The roads getting back to their house were narrow, curvy, and went almost straight uphill.\u00a0 Their house hangs on a hillside and is the only one on that hill.\u00a0 It’s like being in a treehouse looking out over the tree tops around you.\u00a0We found it alright after driving very carefully.<\/p>\n

Aunt Fran had prepared chicken alfredo, fresh bread and salad.\u00a0 It was delicious.\u00a0 We talked and talked.\u00a0 The guys took a walk around the property with Uncle Larry.\u00a0 I stayed behind since I have trouble with inclines.\u00a0 Bear, the dog, and I had a good conversation and waited for them to return.<\/p>\n

Aunt Fran is an artist and she took some time to show Rick some of her work and her studio.\u00a0 She does some beautiful work.\u00a0 Rich enough found one that he really liked.\u00a0 Wonder if Aunt Fran would sell one of her pieces?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Uncle Larry took the guys through is winery in the garage.\u00a0 Rich said the tasting was very good and stuff that he would think about drinking.\u00a0 Good think we don’t live close by.<\/p>\n

We said good night to Aunt Fran and Uncle Larry and crawled back down the hills to our hotel.\u00a0 Rick had a night time swim while I did some laundry for the days ahead.\u00a0 As typical, the hotel dryers always take longer than you want them to.<\/p>\n

We had a really good.\u00a0 This is what vacations are about!<\/p>\n

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Our first good view of Lake Tahoe from the marina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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That's me with the I want to be a birdy bear in the Visitor's Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Rick was too tall to climb into this old fashion lodge. He had to settle for a manly pose outside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Rich and Joy outside of the Burger Lounge. Rich made a halfhearted attempt at a Rose pose. Must have been the garlic fries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rich reminded me that he woke up this morning.\u00a0 It was going to be a good day. This morning, we started off on another leg of the adventure called the Zurek Family Vacation.\u00a0 Today, we were heading into Lake Tahoe to look around and then to Placerville for a visit with Rich’s Aunt Fran and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,13,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}