Danielle & Jay's 2012 Summer RV Adventure travel blog

The drive to Lake Tahoe goes through Tahoe National Forest on Hwy...

We stopped at a view point on Hwy 20. Gorgeous view of....

the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Our first stop is Truckee, a small mountain town on I-80. Freight...

The train station is now the tourist information office and shops.

Loved this Flying A gas station that has been refurbished.

Lots of cute shops in historic Truckee. Beatiful weather too.

Loved these flowers as we walked down the main street in Truckee.

There are so many historic buildings in Truckee. Another mining town in...

Cute drawing on the side of a building in Truckee.

Headed to Squaw Valley where the 1960 winter Olympics were held.

Squaw Valley is so beautiful with....

ski lifts and...

The Squaw Valley Resort at the end of the valley surrounded by...

From Truckee to Lake Tahoe the road ran next to the Truckee...

Lake Tahoe is soooo blue. The pines & mountains surrounding the lake...

It's a 72 mile drive around Lake Tahoe and it's over 1600...

The water in the lake is 99.994% pure, making it one of...

We visited Tahoe City which has a beautiful swimming beach on the...

Jay went down to the lake to take a good picture but...

Lots of beautiful views from the shore of Lake Tahoe.

And one more final view of the area. The Truckee River on...


Today is my birthday and I wanted to go to Lake Tahoe for the day. So we started out early, as we wanted to drive to Lake Tahoe via Truckee, a small mountain town which is on the way to Lake Tahoe.

The drive starts out on Hwy 20 in Grass Valley and goes about 35 miles on this windy, pine lined two lane road through the Tahoe National Forest. It’s a gorgeous drive. Then the rest of the trip to Truckee is on I-80 over Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at an elevation of over 7,000 feet. The ascent and descent are extremely steep and I’m not looking forward to going this way with the motor home at the end of the week on our way to Reno. :(

You may recognize the Donner name because of the “Donner Party”, the pioneers who were delayed in their migration through this area in 1846 due to severe weather. Their delay caused them to resort to cannibalism to survive. Quite a story!

Well, luckily, we had eaten breakfast before leaving, the weather was beautiful and I-80, although under construction, was passable. Whew! Jay is cute but I don’t think he’d make a good main course!

We stopped in Truckee to check out the historic downtown along with its shops and historic buildings. But before going there, we stopped at a local antique show which brought vendors from many areas of northern California. There were lots of beautiful antiques there and I managed to find an interesting silver serving knife to buy.

After leaving Truckee, we headed on Hwy 89 toward Lake Tahoe. The scenery included MANY more pines and views of the Truckee River. We even passed one area where people were tubing and rafting in the quiet part of the river. This looked so inviting, as I LOVE tubing. So Jay and I decided we’ll try to come back here when we’re staying at our next stop in Reno, as Reno is closer than where we’re currently staying.

We also saw the sign for Squaw Valley, which was used for part of the winter Olympics in 1960. We took a quick drive to the village and things were quiet, as this is more of a winter ski area. But the views of Squaw Valley were really something. One of those things that pictures really can’t capture.

Then we stopped in Tahoe City, which is in northern Lake Tahoe and walked the path on the lake toward the swimming beach. Lots of nice boats, people riding bikes on the path and gorgeous views of the VERY blue lake and pines. What a beautiful area. Can’t wait to come back next week.

Since Jay was tired, I drove us back to Grass Valley. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some steaks for my birthday dinner and Jay grilled a great meal for us back at the RV. Not a bad way to spend my 61st birthday!

Share |