South Lake Tahoe

With summer vacation coming to an end for us (the girls go back to school on Wednesday the 10th), we decided a few weeks ago after swimming finished, that we needed to try and get in a camping trip before school starts.  We haven't been camping in Lake Tahoe since August 2009, so we decided to go back. 

Thursday, August 4,2011

Departed: 10:54am
2:50pm: Arrive at Tahoe Valley Campground in South Lake Tahoe

Start to set up the trailer and camp site.  Rear slide out (our bed) will not open. The button doesn't budge.  John ends up having to take everything out of the storage compartment from the outside.  Mikayla crawls into the trailer and takes everything out of the storage compartment from the inside.  John dismantles the storage compartment and after about an hour and a half John finally gets the slide out to work again.

After all that, it was time for a swim in the campground pool.  (Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures)!

Around 6:00pm we eat dinner.  After dinner I go in the trailer to wash dishes and the entire handle from the kitchen sink comes off in my hand and water begins to shoot like a waterfall out the faucet hole all through the trailer.  I am frantically putting my hand over the hole. Mikayla is trying to help. John runs in and sees the water and runs outside to shut off the main water supply.  We get the water turned off, start cleaning up the water mess,and decide that we must get this fixed NOW otherwise we will not have any water at all.  John takes the faucet off, we jump in the truck,  stop at the campground office to find out where the nearest store is where we can get a new faucet.  Luckily there was a DIY store about a mile up the road.  6:50pm we arrive at the DIY store, the store intercom says that the store will be closing in 10 minutes!  Yikes!  Luckily there was a friendly and helpful store employee who directed us to the faucet isle, helped us get a faucet and we were on our way.

The Faucet Repair:



The original faucet with the broken handle.





Friday, August 5, 2011:

Grover Hot Springs-Markleeville, CA

John just touched the water flowing from the hot springs.  The water is 148 degree's.  So hot that it is bubbling.  You feel the heat coming off the water.  See the greenish pool in the background?  The water from the hot spring flows into that pool and you can pay money to swim in it.  There is also a "real" built in pool next to it to cool off in.

 After visiting the hot springs we took a little hiking trail through the meadow and forest while we were there.  We probably would've done more, but we were totally unprepared.  No water, no food, no snacks, no mosquito repellent.  We thought we were just going to the hot spring, we didn't know there was more to do.

Odd thing happened on this trail.  We met a couple and their son on this trail.  John asked them, where the trail led and they said about half a mile back there was a river.  We started talking to them.  Asked them were they were from and they asked us where we were from.  We told them Turlock.  They said that their daughter in law works at Hilmar Cheese and their son works for a company in Turlock.  A little more into the conversation, the woman says, " we say our son lives in Turlock, but he actually lives in Ballico"  Holy cow.    That's where I am from.  You never meet anyone who know's where Ballico is, let alone someone who know's someone who lives there.  I even knew who their daughter in law was.  SMALL WORLD!

John trying to look cool.  Looking off into the meadow.

Mikayla making a wish!

This butterfly is actually blue.  But you can't really tell that by this picture.

Trying to get a family photo.  The camera wasn't zoomed in enough.

Ice Cream break in Markleeville.

Markleeville General Store.  Markleeville is a very small town.  250 people (I didn't even think there were that many)!

2:30pm Pope Beach, South Lake Tahoe.  The girls wanted to go play in the sand and swim in the lake.  We told them the lake would be really cold, but they wanted to try it.  They weren't the only ones.  The beach was packed!

"Our beach cuties!"

John relaxing at the beach.

2 hours after being at the lake John decided to "feel" the water.

"Superstar" Mikayla.  The heart glasses fit her perfectly.



John decides the lake doesn't "feel" that bad.  He decides to get in and play with Ashlee and Mikayla.



5:00pm Friday leave lake and return to campground.

John just had to take this picture.  He thought my attire was tied together with water shoes and his hat.

 5:10pm girls want to go swimming to "wash off" the beach sand.

Ashlee and Mikayla looking over the edge of the pool, begging John to get in and go swimming with them.

John looking "cool" in Ashlee's pink sunglasses.  What do you think?

The girls finally win.  They went under water and John jumped in the water and suprised them.

 The rest of the evening was spent eating dinner, going for a bike ride around the campground, playing at the campground playground, making smores, and playing UNO.

Saturday, August 6, 2011:

Ashlee really wanted to go fishing.  She found an ad for a trout farm in the area.  Found the directions on the GPS and off we went.

 Not even a minute after putting her pole in Mikayla caught a fish.

John de-hooking the fish.

John no sooner finished getting Mikayla's fish off the hook and Ashlee had caught a fish too.

Ashlee holding her fish.

We were going to stop after each one of them caught A fish.

But apparently fishing for a minute and catching one fish wasn't enough so we let them each catch 2 fishes.  As soon as their poles went in the water they had a fish. John couldn't keep up.

After catching a fish and de-hooking it, you had to wrap it in this cloth and then hit it over the head with a pipe.

Mikayla hitting the fish over the head with the pipe.

Mikayla holding 1 of her fishes.

After the girls each caught two fishes, we went back to the campground, put the fishes away and headed down by the Nevada-California State Line for the girls to see more of Tahoe.

You could pay money to ride this car/boat.  It was called the Tahoe Duck.  It went on both land and water.  Maybe next time.  Wasn't in the budget this time.

 It was Hot August Nights in Lake Tahoe this weekend (a mini version of Hot August Nights).  Only about 50 cars were there.  The big Hot August Nights is in Reno next weekend with thousands of cars.

A rare mustang.  Very few of them were made.

 While we were at the car show, we had a cookie and then headed back to the campground for lunch.  After lunch I took the girls swimming, while John took a little nap.  Later in the afternoon we went for a bike ride in South Lake Tahoe.

Mikayla on the bike trail.





We rode the bike trail to Camp Richardson.  Camp Richardson was a very crowded beach area.  Lot's of cars, people,and boats.  We didn't stay long.  Too much craziness for people on bikes.  When we were leaving there was a line of about 50 people outside an ice cream shop, and nothing but bumper to bumper traffic.  Very nerve racking when you are on a bike with children on bikes.

Ashlee and Mikayla at Camp Richardson.




Mikayla (not shown), John and Ashlee on the bike trail.

After our afternoon bike ride we went back to the campground.  The girls went for another swim.  I cooked dinner.  The rest of the evening was spent going for a bike ride around the campground, playing at the campground play ground, making smores and watching Shrek 2.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

10:50am Depart for home.

1:50pm Arrive home.  Unpack the trailer.  Start washing all the laundry, rest and prepare for the busy week ahead.  I am so not looking forward to school starting already.  I like not having to worry about homework in the evenings!