Mid-Week Vacation

Randy and I recently returned from a mid-week vacation.

We had a bit of a hectic May, at least by our standards:

• a dozen catering jobs 
• a sick dog who was on pain pills and antibiotics
• my in-laws moving into a new home  
• us thinking we had to move only to be told at the last minute that we could stay another 6 months
• back-to-back house guests (even fun things can be stressful!)
• our annual spring ant-infestation
• the highs and lows of thinking we'd sold our Indiana home, followed by yet another delay, then finally selling it, only to receive the wrong check in the mail. 

I mean, I know housing is cheap in Richmond, Indiana, but a $500 check made out to State Farm wasn't exactly what I was hoping for when the envelope I'd been waiting two years for finally arrived in the mail.

Needless to say, we needed a vacation! And lucky for us, Randy was given a two-night stay at a resort in Lake Tahoe as a "thank you" for one of his catering jobs. Sweet!

Even though Tahoe is only a two-hour drive from home, two nights still isn't a long time to be away. So we intentionally planned our adventure to make the most of it.

Wednesday, Day 1 -

The primary objective for Day 1 was simply to get to South Lake Tahoe.

I recently read in a magazine that, when on vacation, you shouldn't plan more than one thing per day. The article was talking about traveling with children, so they don’t get overly tired and thereby ruin everything when they melt down in the middle of your fancy dinner, but I think it can apply to everyone. Especially if one of your objectives for going on vacation is to relax.

So the only “planned” event for our day was arriving. But there were certainly lots of “unplanned” moments as well. We took the motorcycle which is always an adventure, from dodging bumble bees to taking in the spectacular vistas with no windshields blocking our view. We came into Tahoe City from the north, had a delicious lunch, then took our time driving around the lake, taking in views like Emerald Bay and Cascade Falls, before arriving at South Lake Tahoe.

We picked up a trail map so we could plan our hike for the next day, and grabbed several brochures that caught our eye, from a dinner cruise to kayaking and paddle boarding.

And the rest of the day was spent doing whatever we felt like in the moment, from walking into Heavenly Village for a cold drink, listening to locals perform live music and eating at Base Camp Pizza, to watching a movie in our beautifully air-conditioned hotel suite. That’s what I call vacation!

Thursday, Day 2 - 

Despite that magazine article telling us not to over-plan our day, this was our only full day at the lake and we wanted to make the most of it. So our intention was to go for a morning hike, an afternoon paddle-board, and an evening dinner cruise.

We were up before 7, took advantage of the free continental breakfast offered by the hotel (eggs and bacon and french toast!), pocketed some fruit off the buffet, and headed out on the motorcycle to find the trail we had selected the night before.

The ride was absolutely gorgeous, as we skirted nearby Feather Fall Lake, through the trees, past waterfalls, and finally to the parking area for the Glen Alpine Trail. We took our fruit and a couple bottles of water and headed out, immediately bumping into two female park rangers.

"The trail is a little washed out," one of them said, "but you can get around it."

For the next 6 hours, we had one adventure after another "getting around" the washed out trail. From jumping rocks to using fallen trees as balance beams, bushwhacking through the brush and eventually just walking through the water, giving up on keeping our feet dry. It was fun and daring, but also potentially dangerous. One of our granddaughters lost a friend this week who wasn't so lucky in crossing a flooded creek. And we've all been following the news about the tragic loss of the soldiers in Texas due to the floods. Even as we enjoyed the adrenaline rush, we were reminded to be thankful for our safety and to be smart with every step.

Since our morning hike turned into an afternoon hike as well, we decided not to try to squeeze in paddle boarding before our dinner cruise. The thing about plans is that you have to be willing to change them!

After our 3-hour dinner cruise, we were certainly exhausted, but that’s part of vacation too!

Friday, Day 3 -

The really good thing about a mid-week vacation is that there are far less people. Even on Friday morning we noticed how many more people there were at breakfast than on Thursday. We were packed and on the road by 9:30 am, ready for a slow ride home on an alternate route that offered breathtaking scenery. Our primary objective today was simply to take in the vast beauty all around us.

We stopped for gas and snacks and then made our way to Grover Hot Springs State Park. The landscape reminded me so much of Wyoming. I felt overwhelmingly peaceful, remembering what it was like to be surrounded by mountains and fields and streams and a sky that goes on forever.

Our next stop was Silver Lake. We’d taken advantage of the hotel’s continental breakfast and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the road. Sitting and eating on the water’s edge was another moment of peaceful beauty.

As we got closer to home the temperatures started to rise, from the 70 degree temps at Lake Tahoe to over 100 degrees. We came to a roadblock along our scenic drive – a forest fire – and had to backtrack a half-hour. But eventually made it home, hot and road weary, but blessed by our adventures!