Well, we finished up our work day, packed, and headed out toward Lake Tahoe without any plans.
We were searching for somewhere to go that wasn't too far. As I've said before, when looking at our location in Chester on a map, it looked like places of interest weren't quite as far away as they actually are. Gotta remember to use that little mileage representation scale down in the corner. :)
Anyway, for our days off and my birthday on July 29, I chose to go to Lake Tahoe since it was only about 130 miles and we'd never been. The goal is to avoid the glitz. We might do some touristy stuff, but we'll be looking for the hidden, or at least the less crowded, Tahoe.
We left around 5:00 and headed south on Hwy 89. It is a beautiful drive on a pretty good road without much traffic.
We went through Truckee and followed the Truckee River down to Tahoe City. I figured we could find a room there pretty easily on a Wednesday. And we could have, but after riding through town, we decided to turn around. We continued south on Hwy 89 along the West Shore.
Seeing lots of promising places, we presumed they would be more money than we wanted to spend. Eventually, we arrived in Tahoma on the West Shore. It was about 8:30 by then and we needed to find a room.
After making a few stops, we ended up at Tahoma Meadows Cottages Bed & Breakfast - it was recommended by a couple of the other places. :)
So is it a bed & breakfast or cottages? :)
It's actually a group of rooms in cottages, but they serve a full breakfast in the common room above the office.
The little sign on the door said we could call the owners up until 9:00, so I did. They happened to have the Tahoe Room available.
We took a look at the room and then checked in over the phone. It's a cute little room, but not too girlie. :)
In addition to the queen bed, there is a clawfoot tub/shower ...
and a fireplace.
There was an excellent booklet about Tahoma Meadows that also included lots of tips on restaurants, beaches, lake cruises and more.
Our room key allowed us to get into the office/common room where I picked up bunches of brochures to help set our itinerary for the next couple of days. We'll get more information at breakfast served between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m.
Oh, and they have free, really fast Wi-Fi. :)
Well, that's about it so far. I'm looking forward to seeing the beautiful water I've been hearing about and getting some great photos. We'll see what happens. :)
Happy Birthday, Howard. Enjoy your birthday vacation.
Posted by: Dan and Gail Brogdon | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 11:10 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOWARD!
Posted by: Robbie and Alice Simons | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Happy Birthday, Howard! I hope you have a wonderful day at Tahoe.
And thank you for the gift you have given me in your blog and all the motivating encouragement to become an RVer myself.
Vee
Posted by: V4Vagabond | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Happy Birthday Howard!! Enjoy yourself!
Posted by: Mike and Gerri Jones | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Happy Birthday Howard! I hope you and Linda enjoy your mini-vacation! I'm looking forward to beautiful pictures.
Posted by: CowgirlCreations | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Looks like a Birthday Suite and two full days to get older! Hope your weekend in the middle of the week is wonderful!
Posted by: Charles Henry | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Happy Birthday Howard, have a great day!!
Posted by: John Hatch | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Happy Birthday Howard. Mine was the 14th but I have a few years on you (I'm 54).
Sue and I would recommend the Rubicon Trial that goes from DL Bliss State Park to Emrald Bay. Great views. You can start at one end or the other and do all of it or just part of it. Hope you enjoy your time up there, we love it and in fact spent our honeymoon at Tahoe.
Posted by: Jim & Sue Ellsworth | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 01:04 PM
Happy birthday Howard! Have a great time with Linda!
Posted by: andrée foucault | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 03:58 PM
Happy B-day Howard!
-- jc&bev
Posted by: J.C. Webber III | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 07:51 PM
Happy Birthday Howard!
Hope you enjoy your days off! Bruce was lucky enough to have his birthday (July 1) off too.
The Tahoe Room looks very nice.
Take care,
Kathy and Bruce
Posted by: Kathy Salsbury | Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 08:46 PM
Best Wishes for a wonderful birthday - get away!! Enjoy your off time and I hope you find some very interesting things to do! The room looks cute! Not girlie at all!
Posted by: Mary Lou from Franklin Indiana | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 01:07 AM
You picked a beautiful place to spend some time. I can't wait to see the pictures. The water there is so blue. Happy Birthday.
If you drive around the lake stop at Sand Harbor State Park.
Posted by: MarilynRegister | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 01:15 AM
Happy Birthday Howard! I celebrated my 46th on July 28th. If you have a chance, I recommend a tour of the Ponderosa while you are in Tahoe. It is not too expensive and it is interesting to see the set used for the TV series. We also took a horseback ride, but it was hot and dusty when we were there, so that wasn't enjoyable for me, but my daughter loved it. Enjoy Tahoe...it sure is a beautiful place.
Posted by: Darrell White | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 06:27 AM
Happy Birthday, Howard! I recently discoverd, and have read your blog from beginning to current. As soon as I saw the area you were heading to I wondered if you would hit Lake Tahoe. I was there two years ago for a beach wedding and find it has to be one of the most beautiful places in the country (not that I've seen very many).
Can't wait to see your pictures and get your take on it!
Posted by: Michelle | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 08:29 AM