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Published: August 26th 2007
our rental van
lake tahoe is up ahead to the rightMa(mother in chinese) came to visit my sister and her family. well, actually she came to babysit Mii, my nephew also. Mook(my sister), Tim(my brother-in-law), and Mii(my newphew) live in Albany, CA. i and Doug flew to visit them from Virginia(VA). it was great to visit west coast again. the weather was pleasant and cool not muggy and hot like northern VA.
my departure flight from VA was delayed for close to 2 hours so we arrived at oakland airport at around 2 am in the morning and got to my sister's apt. at around 3 am. that was exhausting so when the morning came i didn't really feel like doing a long drive to Mendocino as originally planned. instead we drove up to Stinson beach located on the north western side of San Francisco by way of route 1. it was absolutely gorgeous. i enjoyed every bit of the views along the way and the beach itself. Doug fell in love with a twisty and winding road that he would not let anybody drive on the way back. fortunately, no one offered to drive.
our trip to lake tahoe started on the second day. roughly 3 hour-drive before
we reached south lake tahoe by way of US50. i was in awe with 3 shades of blue of the water that i could not take my eyes off of it. I, Doug, my ma, and Mii rode a scenic gondola ride up to the top of the mountain for better views. the observation deck located at the first stop and the mountaintop does not have an observation deck but a restaurant and some few activities to draw money from your pocket. after a gondola ride located on CA side we drove up one block and found ourselves in NV. how can you tell? well first of all there's a sign and secondly you'll see a few huge casinos located right at the stateline. why's that? because gambling is legal is NV but not in CA in case some of you aren't aware. our next stop after being turned away by Zypher cove beach that was so packed and expensive parking fee($8) was a small beach where we had to pay $8 for parking, Doh!!!! 😞 it appears that all beaches and recreational areas charge for parking pretty expensively. I, Doug, tim, and mii took a dip in lake tahoe.
views of lake tahoe from a gondola ride
i'm facing the lake at 90 degree angle. you can probably tell how steep the mountain is. gave a chill when i looked down. water was so cold and sand was rough. i enjoyed every moment of the it though except having to walk bear feet on those sand, real painful and just before we left the beach i found out i had a small cut under my right foot.
the sun was going down and it was time for exhausting people like us to be spoiled with a nice shower and comfortable bed. so we were off to our hotel in carson city, 13 miles away from lake tahoe. why carson city? it was cheaper by half compared to the exact same hotel that was in lake tahoe.
after having an unexpectedly fine dinner at an indian restuarant close to our hotel, ma expressed an interest in checking out casinos. what a heck, there was nothing else to do anyway so we all went. there were 2 casinos right on the main road in downtown carson city. I and Doug accompanied ma into the casino since mii was not allowed so Tim and Mook stayed with him outside. My first step into the casino I was overwhelmed by cigarette smell. I thought I would not be able to make it back
out safely during our 2 minute-tour.
on the way back to the hotel, Mii repeatedly made a concerning comment to my ma that "gambling is not good". Tim suggested that he should say it in Thai so my ma can understand. Mii quickly repeated his comment again "gambling is not good" with slow speed in Thai accent hoping that my ma would understand. well, Mii nice try.
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Heather Kilpatrick
non-member comment
smoke
I know what you mean about the smoke! It's awful. Alx and I were touring an old gold mining town turned casino town up in the mountains outside of Denver. The casinos are often located in old, tourist worthy, hotels. The museum parts are lovely, but the casino parts will kill you quickly!