Tyler was once again up at the crack of dawn, hoping I would not figure out just how early it was and get up with him. I, however, took one look at my phone to see it was shortly after 5 and convinced him to go back to sleep. The next two hours, he claimed to be some of the best sleep he has had…so you’re welcome, Tyler!
Our plans for the day started with meeting Mom and Allan for breakfast. The kids wanted to spend time with their grandparents and Tyler and I wanted to go on a long hike. We left from breakfast and started towards the trail head about 30 minutes away. On the way, there were so many cars parked off the side of the road and people walking everywhere. It has been so busy here.
As we were driving, there was one area where we were above all of the trees. We had just driven through several steep switchbacks where the road could be seen above at least 3 times. When the road straightened, there was water on both sides and it was so beautiful. Sometimes I cannot believe how beautiful some of the places we have traveled are.
When we arrived at D.L. Bliss State Park we were given the option to park and hike down 1 mile to the trailhead or pay $10 to park at the trailhead. Knowing we had planned a 12-13 mile hike, we opted to pay the $10. Seemed like a pretty obvious decision. We made our way down the hill and parked.
I packed our waters, Tyler’s swim trunks, our phones, and some light snacks in a small backpack and we made our way to the Rubicon trailhead. The trail was 6.1 miles one way. As we navigated the trail, we came across the most wonderful views. I’ve never seen water so blue and crystal clear. We made it our plan to test out the water on our return, but our primary focus on the way was to get to the Emerald Bay Campground which would be 6.1 miles. Then we would turn around and come back, stopping at one of the many water holes we saw along the way.
The trail was busy, but not crowded and people were respectful of one another. Some wore masks, while others did not. I could not imagine wearing the mask while we hiked, but we did have ours in case we needed it. In a little over 2 hours, we made it to Emerald Bay. It didn’t feel like it took 2 hours, but it did so I was insistent on shaving some time off on the return.
Tyler and I did a mix of trail running and walking for our return. Running posed challenging, mostly because we would catch up to groups of people, and then they would not move off of the path. It allowed us time to breathe, slow down, and enjoy the incredible views. When we made it to a spot we felt was a good spot to check out the water, we detoured off the trail and climbed down to the water’s edge. Tyler was quick to get his shoes and socks off and then slowly got into the water. I took my time and when I touched the water for the first time, I knew there was no way I could swim in that.
I was able to get into my waist, but I was slow and meticulous and then quick to get back out. The water was so cold I felt like my whole lower half had a brain freeze. Tyler said his feet were numb for a half hour. We got dressed and headed back to the trail and continued our trek to the car.
The back 6.1 seemed a lot further than the first 6.1. and even with running, we only shaved off about 10 minutes. Though, we did stop to swim and a few times for water. Tyler said I was like a camel because I never needed water throughout the hike which made me laugh.
We made it back to the car and headed straight for the trailer. We did stop at the grocery store for a Gatorade and when each of us stepped out of the car, we had the same response. Our legs nearly buckled. I cannot imagine how tomorrow will feel. I typically try to go with Newton’s Law…and object in motion remains in motion. Yet here I am in bed!
The kids went swimming at their grandparent’s hotel. After we checked in on the dogs and getting cleaned up, we headed towards their hotel. On the way we stopped at Lake Tahoe AleWorx where we shared a small pizza. After we finished, we made it to the hotel and picked up the kids and before returning back to the trailer, I reminded Tyler of a little German restaurant that we visited when we were here last time.
We decided to make a small detour to reintroduce the kids to a real pretzel. The last time we came, the kids were unimpressed. We shared a pretzel while Tyler enjoyed a beer and I listed to the kids play critic. It was decided that we have found the best pretzel yet while on this trip. The pretzel was in fact AMAZING and the kids recognized that scoring it a 10/10!
We returned to the trailer and began packing the kids into bags. Tomorrow, we plan to meet my Grandma, Dad, and Aunt in Reno and the kids will be riding home to Condon with them. While they have had a great time on this adventure, they cannot wait to get to my mom’s house.
Mom and Allan came over later in the evening and we visited for several hours. It’s been so nice having them here and the kids are soaking up the time and attention. They will be leaving for Reno tomorrow as well and Tyler and I have made tentative plans to drop the kids and then hang around Reno so they can show us some of their favorite spots. We haven’t decided where we will land for the night, but as always, we will figure it out.
Our family has all enjoyed Lake Tahoe and each of us find this to be at the top of our list for favorite destinations. I am sad we will be leaving tomorrow and it feels like we weren’t here for enough time. We have already started talking about “next time” so I am very much looking forward to seeing what that will entail.
Until next time…
The Church Hideout 