We chose to sleep a little longer last night.  The trip to Lake Tahoe was only two hours so we decided to make the most of the comfortable bed and the 11.00am check-out.

Breakfast in the dining room was nice.  The choices were simple but there was more than enough for us to select.  We are getting better at keeping our intake down to what we think is “normal” (for us).

With the car re-packed we headed out of Jackson on Route 88 toward Lake Tahoe.  We passed through the small but scenic towns of Pine Grove and Pioneer before climbing up the mountains toward Lake Tahoe.  The road passes through areas that are higher than 8000’ in elevation and past some beautiful mountain lakes near Kit Carson and Kirkwood.  The mountains are still covered in snow and this made a wonderful backdrop to the drive.

Apart from a short stop for a morning brew in Pioneer and some photo’s near Kit Carson we drove through to South Lake Tahoe.  The trip took less than two hours.

After a quick drive around “town” we settled on a place called Murphy’s Irish Pub for lunch.  We shared a very nice sandwich and I had my first beer for the trip.  The beer was a pale ale called Sierra Nevada.  It reminded me of a Coopers Pale Ale – very nice indeed.

One of the young waiters recommended a drive along the Western side of the lake to a lookout.  We were not due to check in to our accommodation until 4.00pm so we decided to take a drive and check out some of the scenery.

The drive is close to the lake but not insight of it all the way.  You drive through reasonably forested areas and you have to get some elevation before seeing the lake in all its glory.

We stopped at a vantage point that over looks the beautiful Emerald Bay and Fanette Island.  The bay was formed from the forces of a glacier and the Island is the only island in the lake.  A huge waterfall flows into the bay and the whole scene is stunning.  Needless to say we took quite a few photo’s.

We continued driving north toward the waterfall and stopped there for a short hike up into the valley that the waterfall comes from – very nice.

Given that we are here for the next three days we decided to hold off on the exploring and return to South Lake Tahoe to check in to our accommodation.

Finding the accommodation was not as easy as we thought so we saw more of the town that we had intended to.  However, after getting some help we found the Tahoe Lakeshore Lodge and Spa and check into our room.

The lodge is located right on the southern shore of the lake and from our third floor room balcony we could almost dive into the water.  The view is stunning.

The balcony is a very inviting place to sit so we broke open the complimentary bottle of French wine and sat in the afternoon sun and relaxed.  A very nice way to spen

d an hour or so.

We also had a complimentary dinner provided in our package so at 7.30pm we walked along the beach to the Blue Water Bistro.  The bistro is situated upstairs on a pier and it faces west toward the mountains.  We sat inside beside a window and enjoyed a sunset backdrop while devouring the excellent food.  Most of the ingredients in the dishes are organic and cooked to perfection.  We washed our meals down with some excellent Californian red wine – a perfect ending to the day and start to our time in Lake Tahoe.

The moon and stars in this part of the world are unaffected by bright city lights so walking under the evening sky was a treat.

“Home” at a reasonable hour so I have plenty of time to “pen” this blog.

We will retire tonight with memories of a beautiful snow capped mountain drive, an excellent meal and stunning views of Lake Tahoe.  The sound of the small waves breaking on the shore outside our window will ensure we fall asleep rather quickly.

Goodnight and G’day (depending on your location).

Roey and The Princess

Tags: coffee, driving, Lake Tahoe, North America, Photography, Princess, Roey, travel, we go two, WeGoTwo, wegotwo travel, wildlife

This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 10:00 pm and is filed under California, North America, On The Road. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.