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Published: October 25th 2006
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Lake Tahoe was our home for the next two days, which quickly turned into 4 as we liked it so much.
The roads here were unbelievably windy. But lots of fun to drive. I think I was close to making Jo feel sick, which would have been an achievement in itself as with all that flying she’s got an iron belly!! We were scheduled to do a slight detour so we could take in Plymouth…. unfortunately we ended up going wrong somewhere and missing it…never mind!
It was on a dual carriageway bit on the road to Tahoe that I was driving with my face quite close to the windscreen to straighten my back (This may have looked a little strange to oncoming traffic!) when I noticed a cop car pass in the opposite direction. For some reason I felt a bit anxious and was relieved as I watched it disappear over the hill. I glanced again and there he was, lights-a-blazing in my rearview mirror……what the….why the….oh Sh*T!!
The friendly officer politely asked for my license and insurance documents before going back to his petrol ve-ic-kal to check them over. I took this as an opportunity to
document the event and took a quick snap. Jo got a bit annoyed at this and read me the riot act….“we’re in someone else’s country” ….. “ show some respect” type of thing. I came round to her way of thinking and was getting anxious at the thought that I‘d done something wrong, “seriously, I don’t think I was speeding”?? I said to Jo. About 70 MPH I thought. We gave each other one of those go-faster, squashed smile type faces as we watched the officers long slow walk back to our car. On returning my documents he leaned forward and said “Well Mr. Hedger all seems to be in order, just to remind you that over here, we drive in Mile per hour, not Kilometers“!! (I was doing 72 MPH in a 55 : s) I was a bit surprised at his sarcastic remark (didn’t know the yanks had it in em!), even more so at Jo! As soon as we pulled away I nearly had to restrain Jo from wetting herself as she sat there giggling like a naughty school girl.………
Our first view of Lake Tahoe was stunning. It looked just like you were on the
coast. A massive expanse of water went as far as you could see, with the mountains and cliffs in the distance sloping into the water. Even a golden sandy beach and promenade stretched along beside the road. It just needed the fairy lights and it could have been Torquay!
It didn’t take us long to find our Hotel and we were pleasantly surprised at the size of our room. We made a quick cross into Nevada for dinner. Well we crossed the road!! Our Hotel was in California, but the casino we had dinner in was in Nevada!! Anyway, it amused us for a bit!!
The next morning I woke up and opened the curtains to a snow covered scene!! Great. After the 80 degrees at Yosemite hiking up the hills we were hoping to do some sun bathing….well not for today it seemed. Without the beach we instead went on a sight seeing trip around the east shore of the lake. Emerald Bay, Meeks Bay, Fleur du Lac’ estate, filming location for the Godfather II were all snapped as we wove our way round the roads. With the weather being like it was the Lake was quite
Morning Snow!!
Whats going on.... choppy and it made for a compelling scene as we sat in the car at the roadside looking out the window at the view.
Over the course of the next day the weather improved, although the waters of the lake were still pretty unsettled. We had decided that today we would go fishing with Tahoe Sports fishing at the Ski Run Marina. I was excited about this as I’ve wanted to go fishing for some time. The problem being is…well I’ve got a bit of a dodgy stomach and knowing that quite often when I’ve been at sea I either have, or have been very close to, you know….feeding the fish instead of catching them!! Well it was this that had been the main reason for me wanting to fish a lake and not the sea. Calm waters, calm stomach and all that. Anyway, like I said I’ve never fished before so I was really excited about the trip. We met Gemma and John a couple from San Fran who were great company. Lake Tahoe is about 72 miles long so it was good to chat to them and take my mind off feeling sick. Our destination was Dollar
Point to the far north east of our start point. Quite far then??? An hour or so later I was feeling a little bit giddy, it wasn’t quite as fun as I had hoped, I thought to myself as the waves hit the side of the boat. And yes on this occasion I very nearly was! Fortunately I had my guardian Angel with me and
she helped me find my sea legs!! What a whimp!! Anyway, before long feeling sick was a distant memory as I was captivated with trawling the shelf for Lake trout. It was a learn as you do it experience and it took me a bit to get to grips with bobbing the weight off the bottom of the lake. Soon after getting the knack, I got a bite and after a furious struggle!! A GIANT trout was hauled aboard and before you knew it I was finger deep in fish gills smiling for the camera…..My very first catch, what a beauty. Thanks to Steve for great skippering in keeping us steady over the fish in difficult conditions & Dusty for your help with teaching me the rod and helping me bag my first catch. A
brilliant day, very memorable.
That night we had a delicious meal, chef’s special…catch of the day!! The guys at fishing arranged for everyone’s catch to be delivered and prepared at a nearby restaurant for us to enjoy as an evening meal. And the chef did a fantastic job as the fish certainly didn’t look that tasty that morning!! One was cooked with lemon and herbs, the other was blackened (not sure what or how but it was a bit like Cajun style) fresh veg and garlic mashed potato. YUM YUM!!
And that was that really, the whole hunter gatherer thing, done and dusted. I had proven to Jo that I could go out there and put food on the table ; )
We had another relaxing day the day after, hanging around town doing some shopping and washing our clothes. We took a drive up the ski run that overlooked the town. The snow had all melted by now and the temperatures were back up to a t-shirt wearing level. The drive up to Heavenly was windy!! All the roads here are windy!!! Again, we got some incredible views as we sat on a rock overlooking the
town and the lake below. We sat up there for about 2 hrs, it was very relaxing just sitting there taking in the view with the warm sun on our faces.
Well that was Lake Tahoe….. and if you were thinking it, then yes you must come and visit this place. It’s got the snow and skiing in winter and the Lake, beaches and fishing in the summer. What more? Even a MacDonald’s…..
Happy Birthday to my niece Lauren who is 5 on the 26th of October. Happy Birthday darling I hope you have a lovely day. Lots of love Uncle Ben& Auntie Jo xxx
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Dad & Amy
non-member comment
Hi Guys - no sick buckets or carpet cleaner required after saturday night (for a change) we were all very well behaved! It hasn't stopped raining here for what feels like a whole week so reading your blog and looking at the fantastic pics cheers us up no end. Make sure you stick to that there speed limit Mr Hedger - miles not kms, don't forget now ;-)