Beautiful Lake Tahoe

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Geo: 38.8654, -119.993

We drove across California from the coast to South Lake Tahoe with a stop at the Sterling Winery near Calistoga. The winery was definitely worth a stop even though it was a bit out of the way on the trip across the state and put us going through heavy traffic in the northern part of the Napa Valley. Philip likes their Reserve Cabernet so we wanted to stop and try out a few of their other wines. To get to the winery you must first ride their gondola 300 feet up the side of mountain to the top. The views from the gondola were quite nice; we could see the valley for miles around.

In South Lake Tahoe we stayed at the Embassy Suites on the state line, but in the California side. Right across the street were two huge casinos in Nevada. The hotel was nicer than other Embassy Suites we have stayed in, but it was busy and popular with families, so kids were running everywhere.

During our stay we took the paddle boat ride to Emerald Bay on the Tahoe Queen. Mark Twain and a few of his contemporaries joined us on the cruise and were eager to talk about their lives. Pretty interesting. The view on the cruise was just beautiful. The color of the lake changes dramatically in two places from a pale blue to a rich turquoise then to a deeper blue. The photo taken from the midpoint of the gondola ride shows the variation in water color.

We took the Heavenly Gondola ride up on the second day we were in Tahoe. From the gondola we could see all around the lake. We spent a little bit of time looking for souvenirs, but since we are not big shoppers, we tired of it quickly. There was a spa/salon in the strip mall between the hotel and the gondola base so we stopped in for a massage (Philip) and a pedicure (me). They did an okay job, but nothing particularly spectacular.

Our time in Tahoe was very easy and relaxing--just what we needed.

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