In 2017 we did a family reunion in Tahoe. Oh man. It was amazing!!! We ALL loved it sooo much! So that was part of the reasoning for going through Tahoe was just to see it all again. It’s so beautiful.
Driving in it was a cool 50 degrees but they had just had a huge storm and they don’t use salt on the roads in Tahoe so they had to wait to move it. The road we were driving on had been closed for like 12 hours only two days prior! Some of the sections we passed were insane with the amount of snow piled up!
We saw people snowmobiling and skiing down the mountains. I could see that being a fun winter vacation even.
We got into Tahoe only at like 6pm and we stayed at a family friend’s place in incline village which is the northern end but we had been up since like 4:30am and we were exhausted. So we went to bed.
Squaw Valley
Next day we woke up well rested and decided to drive all the way around the lake to get to Squaw Valley because why not.
Squaw Valley was where the 1960s Winter Olympics were held. It’s now a super nice (and expensive) ski resort. We drove in, bought tickets for the tram ($45/person) so we could see the museum and everything. Up at the top you get off at High Camp – and the crew tells you about some of the stuff from the Olympics and how Walt Disney saw the rocks on this tram and recreated them on one of his rides in Disney Land.. fun little facts like that, I won’t repeat all because you’ll need to learn when you go!
High Camp had a museum inside and a pool/hot tube outside. Really pretty panoramic views of the mountains and you can barely see the Lake at all even though you’re so close. It was just a neat place and a fun quick stop. People were skiing there and there was a really pretty place to eat inside with panoramic windows but we walked around, saw the museum and that was it!
At the bottom of the this mountain where the resort is, there are a ton of places to eat but we wanted to get to Truckee to continue our drive! We had to get all the way to Marysville CA so we needed to continue.
Truckee
We drove to Truckee and it looked like a little mining town but I don’t think it was. The main downtown area was super cute on Donner Pass RD. Lots of places to walk in and out of and little shops. We stopped and ate at Marg’s Taco Bistro – small sized tacos but good however Ricky and I both remember waiting a long time for water. I don’t know why but that’s what we remember! That was all we did in Truckee and then onto Marysville!
Driving out of Truckee to Marysville was pretty. It’s weird, you leave these mountains and lake and start going through really green lush forest with huge Ponderosa Pines and then you get into farming land where it’s totally flat and green for as far as the eye can see! Just totally different terrain.
We got to Marysville and stayed with a friend there that night. Got dinner in Yuca and hung out with our friend Jenny.. saving up energy for the next big day!
