Summer 2011

There were two reasons that we came to the Lake Tahoe area, one was to see the area and the other was to relax. We really haven't had a "down" day since we left the Minneapolis area over three weeks ago. Our days have been spent getting from point to point or exploring an area. We plan to explore the Lake Tahoe area on Tuesday and sit on the 4th of July.

What we have seen of South Lake Tahoe is the main street, Lake Tahoe Blvd, and it was what you would expect of a tourist oriented town, the hotels, big and small, shops and eating establishments. The setting of Lake Tahoe is spectacular, located as it is in a basin surrounded by the Sierras. This being the 4th of July weekend, the town is quite crowded.

The campground we are staying in is located about 1/3 of a mile off the main tourist area. It was not our first choice of places to stay and I wish we had gotten our first choice. When we planned to visit this area last year, I had made a reservation for an RV Park a few miles east of South Lake Tahoe that was highly rated and looked good when we passed it on the way into town. By the time we were decided on an itinerary, that RV Park was full. The Tahoe Valley Campground is quite packed. It seemed that when they laid out the sites they tried to keep as many of the trees and shoe horn the sites between them. Interior access roads are a bit narrow and this is compounded by the fact that they allow multiple vehicles in the sites and they park along the narrow roads, making maneuvering a large RV less than fun. Most campground limit one camping unit (Motorhome, trailer, or tent) and one vehicle per site. We have seen sites with multiple camping units and two or three cars... a ridiculous situation in such a tight environment.

Today we went to visit friends in Folsom... not the prison. Susie and Terrie have known each other for at least twenty years when they worked together on a distance learning project with AT&T. The professional relationship has evolved into a friendship that has had Terrie and three of her children visit us in New York and us attending the wedding of the oldest daughter in 2006. The drive to Folsom is straight forward only in terms of routing... turn left on to US 50, drive 76 miles, get off and drive 1.2 miles to Terrie's home. The drive is not so straight. More than two thirds of the trip involves climbing the Sierras on a road full of curves and dropping down the other side over similar curves. The highest pass is 7,377 feet at Echo Summit and the low point on our route was about 200 feet at Folsom and the campground is at about 6,000 feet. We spent the day with Terrie, her husband Richard, three of their children and two active grandchildren. We left Folsom before sunset as I preferred to see where I was going on US 50 and got back to the campground just around sunset. Our thanks to Terrie, Richard, Chela, Cameron, his wife, Shayna, and Molly for a great day.