21.5 Weeks...Lake Tahoe

We flew out of Columbus on Thursday and arrived in Reno, NV around 4:30 p.m for Baby Lude's second vacation.  After landing we quickly hopped in the car and headed over to Lake Tahoe.  The reason for our trip was to attend a perfusion conference.  After the last couple of weeks being so hard emotionally it could not have come at a better time.  As our coworker Dave said "nothing like nature to reset the soul".

By the time we arrived in Lake Tahoe and got settled into our hotel it was getting dark so we didn't have much time to explore.  We were hungry and  kind of randomly found a place to eat called the Lucky Beaver.  Food was AWESOME! The weekend was filled with delicious food all within minutes of our hotel.  On Friday we explored Heavenly Ski Resort.  Best part is Heavenly Village was within walking distance of Harvey's, our hotel.  This is funny because it took us about an hour to actually get there after making multiple trips to and from the hotel (and through the casino) because we either forgot things or were tricked by Joe's "smartphone"  into thinking we actually needed to drive there.  I laughed really hard.  How are we ever gonna get ourselves and a kid out the door?!  I guess there will be more planning involved.

We got tickets for the Heavenly Gondola.  It is a 2.4 mile ride up the mountain with panoramic views of Lake Tahoe.  There is an observation deck on the way up.  Once you reach the top you can take another ski lift to get even more views and access to hiking trails (not to mention a zipline we would have loved to try, but apparently that is not an activity for pregos).  My belly has gotten much more noticeable and draws lots of attention, especially when out for hikes.  A Mom was hiking alongside her daughter and mentioned when her daughter was getting tired that "the pregnant lady was going to beat her up the hill".  Also after we had reached the top a couple guys made it after us and were out of breath.  The one commented "look she made it and she is even breathing for two!".

Beautiful view of the lake.  Would love to see the mountains snow covered.

Joe wishing there was snow and he was on skis.

Can't wait to come back here to ski!

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby at over 10,000 feet.  Yes we hiked some of that :)

The view from our room was amazing.  It was wonderful to watch the sunset after busy days out exploring, and then wake up to a totally different yet equally beautiful view.

Sunset

Morning view, with a hot air balloon.

Saturday we got to enjoy a different side of Lake Tahoe.  We boarded the M.S. Dixie II and enjoyed a cruise from Zephyr Cove Resort to Emerald Bay.  We learned that Lake Tahoe is the highest altitude lake in the U.S. measuring 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, with a maximum depth of 1645 feet.  As cold as the water and temperatures get in Lake Tahoe, the lake never freezes over!

You can see the line for the Gondola we rode up in the middle of the mountain, alongside some ski trails.

We really enjoyed our time in Lake Tahoe.  We had to laugh because it is becoming very apparent our lives are changing.  The entire week all we were noticing were parents traveling with their children (where as before we were always checking out bikes and running shoes).  We were constantly like "look at that Dad carrying their kid in that really cool backpack" or "Wow look at that BOB stroller go!".

Sunday afternoon after collecting our conference paperwork we hit the road and headed to Yosemite!  It was about a 4 hour drive from Lake Tahoe but we enjoyed every minute.  It's amazing just how little there is along HWY 395.  We came into Yosemite along the Tioga Pass which is an incredible drive (and also not open during the winter).

We'll call this the 21.5 week bump!

Hello Yosemite!

Our first glimpse of Half Dome.

Baby, Joe, and I can't wait to tell you about our even bigger adventures in Yosemite next time!! We stayed at Housekeeping Camp in the Yosemite Valley (highly recommend by the way!).  The accommodations weren't anything special, but it was totally worth it to be surrounded by nature and enjoy a campfire every night. 

Morning view from our campsite.  Could definitely get used to this.