Day 1 – Off to Lake Tahoe

Amazing huge metal statue on the side of the highway

The day started early as we woke the kids around 5am. We wanted to have enough time to get the last minute things together and not feel rushed. The clan was off to the airport at around 6:15am and still had plenty of time to pack away some calories at 1897 restaurant. Breakfast didn't take long and before we knew it, we were off to our first stop - Denver. There wasn't much time to waste as the layover was quick. Back in the air we went and onto Reno.

Touched down in Reno at 1pm local time and everyone was excited, as the vacation had officially begun! With a quick stop at the Thrifty car rental to pickup our Forerunner, we were off to the races. 

Anna posing with the friendly bear

Lake Tahoe is about an hour’s drive south of Reno. The route took us south on a gorgeous drive on I-580 until it ended and dumped into State Highway 50. The change of highway went drastically from the valley floor quickly up to a mountain climb. The trees and landscape changed dramatically. It was wonderful to see. Everyone couldn’t wait to breach the mountain top to get a glimpse of the majestic lake and it wasn’t long before the crystal blue waters made their appearance.

For first leg of this trip we are bunkering down at the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel. It sits directly on Stateline Drive, where one side of the street is in California and the other half in Nevada. There is no gambling in California, but you can walk out of our resort's front lobby and walk about 20 yards to reach the doors of Harrah’s.

We checked in to the hotel and shortly after stopped in at California Burger, a local burger joint. We sat outside and wolfed down some well needed nourishment. The joint was really hyped up by several people, so we were expecting a WOW factor. The outdoor patio was awesome – The food was okay, unfortunately no WOW though!

California Burger Restaurant - Sun shining and a beautiful 60 degrees

After the early dinner, Anna and I ended up heading to Harrah’s for some quick sin, as the kids went back to the hotel for a little rest. Anna managed to win our retirement, so we took our winnings and headed to the ski school and signed Olivia up for a short lesson for the following morning. I think she will definitely get a lot out of some personal coaching. Once we got her set up, I took the kids down to the rental place at 6:30 and we all managed to get fitted, ready for the morning.

Seeing that we rolled back three hours today, everyone was starting to fade around 8pm. It wasn’t long and the jammers were on and all were checking their eyelids for holes.

Lights out and ready for some amazing views tomorrow!