KevJoTobyNoahJude

Hi Guys, we are now following your trip and enjoying your blog. Sounds like you are having a great time. It is cold and wet here in Melbourne, the coldest winter in 10 years, so lucky you. We will keep reading, love to all. Hi to all your American fans.
Kev, Jo, Toby, Noah and baby Jude.

zlaor

Love it, what a great vacation and inspiration to other traveling families.

elnap29

LOVE mind-traveling with you all, especially since you are visiting all the places we know and love! I do hope you are enjoying Kings Beach. That is the beach my children loved all the way through their teenaged years (and their choice beach despite having plenty of access to private ones).

shanek

WEDNESDAY 30th JUNE

Today was a Seinfeld Day. A day about nothing. Not really nothing, just not very much. It was a day that we all needed. No schedule. No scripting. Nothing to accomplish. Nowhere to be. We took the watches off and just did whatever, whenever.

Joel and I were up at about 7, caught up with a bit of action from Wimbledon and then took a stroll down to the breakfast room. The sky was perfectly blue, not a smear or puff of cloud anywhere. The air was fresh, but not a breath of wind. It was cool, not cold. We could see the lake as we crossed the car park. It too was still and a shade of cobalt blue, as if it was competing with the sky in a battle of perfection.

Breakfast was just a quick coffee and bagel, just what was necessary to start a day that would require very little effort or energy. We grabbed some spreads and muffins to take back to the room for Kerry and Caleb as well as a hot chocolate and lemon tea. They gratefully consumed this snack and then we all walked down to the lake to sit back and gaze out to the idyllic scene before us.

The hours passed as we read and wrote, whilst the kids found their new friends from the day before and did what kids do. It was finally decided at around midday, to take a drive around the lake and discover more of this paradise. We drove first to Crystal Bay, over the Nevada state line and past the casino. I will have to explore this part of the lake in depth at a later time. We turn right, into Incline Village and drive through a residential area that left us breathless. It was as if the homes of Rodeo Drive had been dressed up with a mountain cabin feel, and transplanted here. Each had their own character, but blended in with each other, and the environment. Not a single crooked roof tile, not a board in need of paint or a hedge or tree that called out for trimming or pruning. If you looked up “Utopia” in the dictionary, a picture of this streetscape would not be out of place. Most houses were draped with flags or banners in preparation for the weekends celebration of Independence. We were tempted to stop and enter one of these houses that had a real estate sign out front, announcing an “Open for Inspection”, but feared it may be too intimidating.

We rejoined the main road that circumnavigates the lake and soon pulled into a viewing area perched upon a rocky outcrop towering above the lake. Once again, we were astounded with the beauty surrounding us. We parked the car and walked down along the rocks to the crystal clear waters below. Caleb and Joel chose this magical moment to start an argument over who was wearing which cap and due to Caleb’s stubbornness and Joel’s desire to taunt him, this soon escalated into a fight. I take Joel and Caleb goes along with Kerry, in separate directions, to try and defuse the situation. What started as a pleasant family walk turns into a peace keeping mission and they are both placed on good behavior bonds.

We drive a bit further along and pull into the car park at Sand Harbor. This area must certainly be the jewel in the crown. I have never encounted anything so picturesque. To be able to say this after being in Yosemite Valley and the Grand Canyon is a big statement, but it was like I had just dissolved into the most stunning oil painting imaginable. Enough said, if you have the chance, go and see it.

Kerry requests that we head into Tahoe City for a browse through the shops and a bit of souvenir hunting and the boys simultaneously voice their displeasure. Their mood towards each other is still fairly icy and they are told that if they behave themselves for the next hour, they can spend the rest of the day doing whatever they want. They start to read their books, but a few little niggles turn their paperbacks into missiles and a sentence of no table tennis for the rest of the day is handed out. Joel decides to appeal against the alleged injustice and he is also slapped with a food and drink ban until dinner time. A gloom descends on our shopping trip and we decide to cut it short and head back to base.

I get a bite to eat at the Char Pit, in Kings Beach, and my burger is a huge let down after the bar was set so high by Burgermeister. Luckily, I decline the offer of fries as nothing will live up to their lofty standards. Caleb’s fish and chips appear to be very ordinary and he doesn’t even touch his fries, further justifying my decision. The boys have a swim in the pool and plead with me that their punishment not be carried over to the foosball table. I cave in far too easily.

A wind has leapt up, and by 4pm, it is no longer comfortable to sit by the beach, so Kerry and I take the soft option of retiring to the room. After much flicking, we decide it is a case of 80 channels on TV but nothing to watch, and I delve into my hard-drive and find a chick flick that Kerry hasn’t seen. We leave the kids to their own devices and watch “She’s out of my League” on my 10.1” screen. The kids drift in and out but we ignore them sufficiently, and they keep finding something else to do.

By 6pm, Joel’s food ban is lifted and he devours what is left of last nights bread and chicken. We are still not very hungry after a very late lunch and decide to end the day as it started. Doing Nothing.

janisj

Oh - I'm soooooo glad you made it to Sand harbor!! I'm pretty sure it was recommended on one of your planning threads but I was going to post a reminder just in case. Isn't it Amazing?

You described Lakeshore drive in Incline just perfectly. Pretty much jaw dropping. I'm lucky in that I have access to acondo in Incline for 3-4 weeks a year. God's country -- but w/ slot machines

MichelleY

shanek: I may take you up on your offer for Oz. My DH wants me to plan a trip for Feb. or so. He is a wine grape grower and wants to check out the grapes just befor harvest. He wants me to come along for fun afterwards. So many choices and places to see. I may need your expert opinion on where to go.

Excuse any typos. I am in San Diego on a week of college visits with my daught4r. We have jus t had dinner and I have been drinking since I only have to walk 2 blocks to our h0otel.

Glad you love Tahoe. Sand Harbor is always a must on or annual trek to Tahoe. We end uyp spending from 11 am to 5 or 6 p.m. Love it, love it. Buy a cheap beach umbrella, bring a lunch and kick back.

MY

SOCALOC

Shanek- I'm glad you & your family are enjoying a little down time and Lake Tahoe is the perfect place. You've definitely been pounding the pavement. I don't believe you, that Joel & Caleb are misbehaving. LOL Wishing you & yours a fantastic 4th of July! I think you'll be in Santa Cruz?

Hi KevJoTobyNoahJude- Curious do you know Shanek and his family? Lucky you, if you do. Welcome!

MichelleY- we're heading to San Diego soon today for the holiday weekend. Say it isn't as foggy and drizzle as South OC Coast. Seriously, weather won't stop us from having a great time.

Cheers all!

AtlTravelr

Shanek - I happened upon your thread and have been glued to the computer reading all of it. What a wonderful writer/traveler you are! Though I live in Atlanta now, LA area is where I was born and lived my first 27 years - and San Francisco is one of my favorite places. I have truly enjoyed reading and seeing this through your Aussie family's eyes. I especially like how the minor disappointments or annoyances all appear to translate into part of the adventure. And your comments about IHOP are too funny. I think I've become pretty snobby about my eating out these days now that my kids are in their 20's - it's fun to remember how much I liked IHOP even when I was little! I'll second the motion of you making your next trip to the U.S. "down south" - some great beaches, history and ballparks here. Happy to help you with suggestions...

crefloors

I've been going up to Tahoe since 1955 and honestly, I hate to see what's happened to Incline Village, all the Mc Mansions blocking the lake view. Most of that happened in the 80's and 90's. The property values soared, especially for lakefront property and most people bought the older homes as a tear down. I remember when the first houses were going up along Lakeshore drive and the were hidiously expensive, about 35,000 ot 40,000 dollars, including the boat dock. LOL

I'm looking in for your next installment Shanek.

Lezdar

Shanek, how long did it take for you to plan this trip?

welch

I'm now reading from Mexico- on vacation myself but I don't want to miss a minute!

Barbara

"Good behavior bonds". LOL! Caleb and Joel have been soooo well-behaved.

Can't wait for more.

shanek

Hi SOCALOC, You hit the nail on the head. Kev is my younger brother and Jo is Kerry's older sister. We were married in the same year about 9 months apart. Toby and Noah are of similar age to our 2 boys and they may have accompanied us on this trip, but for the arrival of Jude this year.

crefloors, I can imagine your disdain, it is very exclusive down there and hard to find a bit of beach that isn't "private".

Lezdar, my preparation began in late March. We were originally going to spend most of our time in Carmen Del Playa with a quick stop at Disney and San Diego, but I received so much advice about making the most of my opportunities in California that it just evolved from there. I have spend countless hours on this site, planning and reviewing my itinerary. I think in the end that I may have nailed it with the help of all the good folks on Fodors.

Enjoy Mexico Welch, where are you staying?

Barbara, The boys are angels..... some of the time.

TigerMatt

Wow shanek you are a celebrity. I hope that I can meet you one day down in the land of Oz. Going by your writing you sound like a Tiger as well. Your wife, Kerry is it? sounds like a lovely lady who would come from a lovely family. I hope you enjoyed the baseball and I hope someone in the family was barracking for the Sawx. (I am hoping Joel was!)Enjoy the rest of your trip.

KevJoTobyNoahJude

Yes SOLCALOC Kev is Shanes brother and I'm Toby, Kev's 12 year old son.Jo my mum happens to be sisters with Kerry!

KevJoTobyNoahJude

Hey shane the tiges are off the bottom!!!! http://www.richmondfc.com.au/

shanek

Hi TigerMatt,

Yes indeed, I am also a Tiger and I very much enjoyed the game last night. You seem to have some insight into my background. You will have to reveal your sources.

The only thing that you are off the money on is Kerry's family. Unfortunately, Kerry comes from a long line of charlatans, rouges and gypsys, 26 siblings all told, at last count. It was only by a chance, that I met her youngest brother, the biggest rouge of them all, at a racetrack and he gave Kerry to me to pay off a bet. He was about to sell her into a life of prostituation, to a gang of Russian white slave traders if I hadn't offered to take her off his hands.

You may also be dissapointed to know that Joel now claims to be a Giants fan.

Barbara

"Joel now claims to be a Giants fan."

Only because he hasn't seen the Padres yet!

shanek

THURDAY JULY 1st

Did you know that if every person in the entire USA was to drink 1 gallon of water per day from Lake Tahoe, It would take 350 years for the lake to run dry? This little piece of trivia astounded me. 308,000,000 x 365 x 350 !!! That is a hell of alot of water. Today we would get up close and personal with that massive body of water. It was a little too cold to swim it, so we thought we would rent some kayaks and paddle over it.

It was another glorious day. The wind from last afternoon had subsided and there was barely a ripple on the water. I was eager to get up and go early, but I had promised that I would set a more leisurely pace so I had to control myself. By the time that we had all got ready and consumed a light breakfast, it was on the north side of 10.30.

The beachside hire shop was right next door to the hotel, literally 30 steps from our room. We arranged 2 double kayaks at $30 per hour with our third hour being free. I had wanted to try and paddle across to Sand Harbor, only to be met by that “stupid tourist” look when I enquired if this was possible. It would seem that I may have underestimated the size of the lake and overestimated my paddling ability. The guy who assisted us was actually very nice, but a little disorganized, and by the time we had signed the necessary disclaimers and been shown the basics it was about 11am. He asked if we would be requiring life jackets for the kids, we accepted, but instead of fitting them on the boys, he placed them under a strap at the front and rear of our vessel. We are all strong swimmers, and, as the conditions were so benign, we set off without a second thought about how useful these jackets would prove to be in case of an unexpected capsizing. At least the kayak wouldn’t drown.

As Joel was, arguably, going to be a slightly more capable paddling partner than Caleb, Kerry recruited him for her boat, and by default, I ended up with Caleb. My first mate was a willing student, but was finding the mechanics of kayaking a little difficult to grasp. His paddles spent more time propelling us through air than water, and when he did manage to submerge his blades, it generally resulted in his captain being soaked . To his credit, it must have been all of 7 minutes before he decided to simply sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenes around him. Kerry was doing considerably better in getting some teamwork implemented, but they seemed to be having problems with direction as they were covering a lot of ground but still falling behind.

The wake from a passing speed boat forced us into a temporary change of tack and as I headed towards the centre of the lake, I could here I female voice behind me. I assumed it was Kerry asking me to wait, so I chose to ignore it, but to my surprise, it was getting louder. I turned to find that the voice belonged to a Coast Guard on the boat that had just gone passed me and she was motioning towards us. “ By law, children are required to wear a life vest” she was saying. I really should have assumed this from the start, but the lackadaisical approach by the young man that we had hired our craft from, had obscured this thought. I gave her the most charming, apologetic smile that I could muster, put down my paddle and shimmied closer to the middle of the kayak, to assist Caleb with strapping on his essential piece of safety equipment. As this was happening, Kerry and Joel paddled past us, grinning and waving, and I noticed that Joel was now also wearing a bright yellow life vest. The Coast Guard also smiled, as if she was in on the joke, waved good bye, and before long we were on our way.

We paddled around to the next beach passing over enormous rocks submerged below us. The clarity of the water revealed some wonderful views of the sandy bottom of the lake, and these smooth boulders, even though the depth must have been in excess of 20 feet. We were about to stop off at the shore for a rest but as we got close to the bank we spotted several signs stating that this beach was private, that it was under video surveillance, and that fines would apply for trespassers. This was a shame as there was hardly anyone on this stretch of sand and it would have been a beautiful place to have a quick stop over. We turned our Kayaks away from the shore and headed further east and around a large rocky headland. Perched high above us were huge houses that would have had the most stunning views of the entire lake and surrounds and as we cornered the cliff, more and more of these stunning mansions became visible. It would seem that we were passing the same area of Incline Village that we had driven through yesterday, but from the other side.

Many of the houses that we passed had their own piers and boat docks with large cabin cruisers tied up along side them. Most also had their own private beach areas with more warning signs and video cameras that challenged you not to get too close. It was the ultimate display of wealth, and also, a great pity to see that such a beautiful shoreline could be bought rather than shared with all. Every inch of this coast that would have been possible to pull up our Kayaks, and sit on a stretch of sand, was private property.

Rather than give up completely on finding a place to stop, we went back to the headland and managed to find a tiny inlet between all the rocks that we could wedge our boats into. Caleb and Joel jumped out and climbed along the rocks for a while, but, as there was nowhere that we could find to tie up, or lift our kayaks up onto, Kerry and I just lay back in our respective vessels and drifted along for moment. It was a really peaceful, just looking up to the impossibly blue sky , surrounded by crystal clear water, and snow dusted mountains. I really could have stayed there for hours but I was jolted out of my vegetative state by the sound of the boys yelling out that it was time for us to come back and get them.

As we paddled back around the headland in the direction of Kings Beach, the wind suddenly came up and started to create a current that was running quite strongly in the opposite direction to which we were paddling. This continued to get stronger, and with Caleb doing his best impersonation of Sally Robbins,
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Robbins ) the going was getting increasingly more difficult. This was such a contrast to the conditions that we set off in and if we had known that this would have been the case, we probably would not have gone so far. By the time we returned to our departure point, every muscle in my arms and back were screaming out in pain. I understand know why the third hour was free, no one in their right mind would have paid for that torture.

The time was now around 2pm and after a shower and rest, we needed to refuel and decided to go a few doors down to the very pleasant looking Jason’s Saloon and Grill. This appeared to be one of the few eateries in our area that had absolute lake frontage and we had a wonderful, very reasonably priced lunch and a few beers whilst absorbing more incredible views. They have a deck area that is glassed in, so we could sit outside without being effected by the cool winds that had set in, and with the sun still shining brightly, it was another magical experience.

After 3 hours of paddling and a couple of very large beers, Kerry decided that a late afternoon nap would be in order, and with the kids absorbed in another battle on the table tennis arena, I took the opportunity to sneak out to the Crystal Bay Casino, just over the Nevada State line, perhaps a mile and a half from the Hotel. This proved to be a lot of fun as even though I only walked out even, I managed to get my $40 to go around for about 2 hours. This was aided by me getting my first ever hand of 4 Aces, but unfortunately, at this stage my funds were so depleted that I had resorted to 1 credit bets instead of the customary 5.

By the time I returned, everyone had settled in for the evening, so I went to the Rite Mart across the road and grabbed some drinks, picked up an excellent Pizza from the place next door to us, and joined the rest of the family for a movie.

shanek

Barabra, It is a real shane that the Padres wont be playing at home for the entire time that we are in SD. I will have to schedule our next trip a bit better.