Because the train was late picking us up, we were also late getting into the lovely historic town of Truckee.  We had a small debacle renting our car, but then we were on our way to the picturesque Lake Tahoe.  I have been here once before on a trip I did about 25 years ago in the month of December – so it was all white and frozen.  This looked very different.  We’re staying in Carnelian Bay on the north end of the Californian side, however we decided that right then and there would be a great time to drive around the whole damn lake!  There was a bit of  road work in places which slowed down the process, but  we got to see some amazing sights.  There aren’t many photos, because I find it hard to drive and photograph at the same time, also there are not a huge amount of places to pull off the road on the way around.

Our first glimpse of the lake.

So here’s what we know about Lake Tahoe:  It’s pretty deep and it has enough water in it to flood the entire land content of the USA with about an inch of water.  The border of Nevada and California runs right through the middle of it.  The Californian side is way prettier than the other and there are lots of hiking paths, camping sites, ski runs and black bears.

The drive around was absolutely breathtaking in places…. like this one.  Apparently there is a little tea room on that island.

This is where we’re staying…. so lovely.  We both decided that we’d like to come back here and stay for an extended time (ie: longer than 2 nights!) it was so peaceful.

It was very cozy sitting up high with a view of the lake and into the top of the trees – just stunning.

This is the view from the balcony.

On our way home on the second day we were driving up to our cabin and saw what looked like a dog… but as I slowed down and the animal stared me down a little, we realised that was a Sierra Nevada Red Fox.  She was absolutely magical.  She walked away from the road, but stopped a couple of times and looked back at us.

Our first morning we tried to have breakfast at a lovely little place right on the lake, but the woman wasn’t open just yet as she was just headed out for a paddle because she’s in a race next week and needs the practice.

I’m not sure how fast you can go on a stand up paddle board though.  So we walked up the road a little to the Old Post Office Cafe…

Which is where I discovered bacon waffles…. the bacon is actually IN the waffles, like in the batter before they’re cooked.  Amazing!

After brekky we had another drive into some villages that we saw, but missed yesterday… Look how clear that water is!  We had planned to go kayaking later on…..

It was such a perfect morning.

In the villages we drove in and our of the streets checking out the houses.  These peope had a lovely silver bullet in their drive.

Jodie perusing Kings Beach over yonder…

Where a lot of the water activities happened.

Then, back in Carnelian Bay we got back to our lake spot to hire the kayak for an hour… the wind had picked up a little bit, but not enough for us to say we weren’t going.

Then within 10 minutes of us being on the water the wind picked right up and we were surrounded by white caps.  It wasn’t one bit pleasant, so we turned and headed back in.  The young girl who sent us on our way was a little concerned when we were back in 15 minutes, but at least we can say we kayaked on Lake Tahoe!  It wasn’t enjoyable, but we did it.

It doesn’t even look that windy, but look at that flag!  I rest my case.

Home for dinner, a repack and a beautiful sunset before our early morning train back in Truckee…

So, we woke up to the train having been delayed giving us more time to look around the lake and to take in the historic town of Truckee.

Did you know that Lake Tahoe held the Winter Olympics in 1960?

Truckee – a lovely historic town with a population of about 17,000 people.

A  lot of the shop doors were cut in half, like a horse stable.

I so wanted to buy this…. it looks pretty easy to travel with.

So after another debarcle with dropping the car back, we boarded the train.

(I don’t know where I was looking… the train came from the other direction)