My friend Tim and his family, minus one daughter, came down from Washington to spend a few days at South Lake Tahoe. His daughter Melissa is turning 21 soon and chose the vacation. They rented a small house not far from the lake and had another longtime friend and her family stay with them. Rotchana, Victoria and I came up on their last full day there to visit.
South Lake Tahoe is only about 100 miles from home so it’s an easy drive up the mountain. We arrived shortly after noon and met up with everyone at the house they were staying at. We then headed over to Heavenly Village near the California/Nevada border to have lunch.
The restaurant we ate at was located at the base of the mountain and was called “Fire & Ice Grill”. It was a fun place to eat, and the food was good, too. Once you get a table you go to a bar full of ingredients including proteins, vegetables and sauces. You fill up a bowl with the items of your choosing and then take it to a large Mongolian BBQ type area where cooks prepare your food in front of you. They work in a circle and manage to cook about a dozen or so orders at once. You can go back as much as your stomach will allow and we all took advantage of multiple trips.
After we finished up lunch we hopped on the gondola that takes you from lake level up a couple thousand feet to an observation area up on the mountain. From there you could see across the lake for a 270 degree view. It was a little hazy, but you could still see all the way across the lake. The different shades of blue on the lake made for a nice scene.
After spending about 20 minutes at the observation deck we headed to the top of the gondola ride. The dropoff is down in a small valley where a lodge is located along with several activities. There are hiking and biking trails, another ski lift to take you up higher, and a tubing activity.
Tim, Danny and Melissa decided to do the tubing while the rest of us watched. They rode a small conveyor type of lift up the hill and then proceeded to slide down a track that’s probably a quarter mile long and drops about 60 to 70 feet. Once in a while a worker would hose down the track to speed it up a bit, as well as spray some water on anyone sliding down the hill. They took a total of 3 trips down the hill each, with the last two done as a big group. Looked like fun!
After about an hour we headed back down the hill and went back to the house. We sat around and visited and enjoyed some barbecue hot dogs and hamburgers. I had to be at work early the next day so we left around 7:00pm.
It was a lot of fun visiting with Tim and his family. I wish the distance between us wasn’t so far, but it is what it is. We’ve done well to keep in touch and taken advantage of the opportunities to visit when we can so I’m thankful for that.
