Tahoe (Part II)



At Raleys.  Do I need this hat?


With two days spent on the lake and NO wakeboarding, Saturday was our day. It had to be!  We got up early and drove down to the lake to check out the water conditions (and grab some more chips/sunblock at Raley's). 
Unfortunately, the water wasn't quite as flat as we were hoping. It just makes wakeboarding way easier when it's smooth as glass. But we went out anyways, and Shannon's mom came along for the fun.  Even with the wind, the lake didn't disappoint.  It was still gorgeous as ever.

We drove around for awhile trying to find some good water in a cove, and eventually settled on a spot on the east shore. 

 

 The water was so so SO cold. So being the nice girlfriend I am, I made Matt go first and test it out, haha!  He was he most anxious to try wakeboarding again anyways!  

 

We had a lot of barely-up-for-a-second runs, but he was getting closer with every try!  He's a very determined person, and even though he was turning blew and shivering uncontrollably, he kept saying, "One more try!" 

I went next, and after running my mouth about, "never NOT getting up on the first try," I thankfully did just that.  (Note to self:  I really should stop telling people that for no more than I do it these days...)  It wasn't pretty though. Once every two years really isn't enough to remember how to do it well. But regardless, I lasted for a long run and just let go because my leg was tired. After that, I was too cold to keep trying. That water just sucks it out of you! 

Shannon was up next, and looked like a pro, of course. I've always been jealous of how easy she makes it look!  She just acts like it's nothing - floating over the waves.

Matt wanted to go again after watching us (or Shannon, really), and he popped right up! Apparently we hadn't told him to just stand up once you feel the boat pulling you. ??  He was a daredevil and tried right away to go outside the wake, which didn't work too well, but I was so proud of him for finally really getting it down! He's a wakeboarder now!! 

We cruised along the shore and stopped in Skunk Harbor for a little bit to warm up.  That's Shannon's moms favorite spot on the east shore, and it sure is pretty.  We got some good pics there!

There was a "Beer Fest" event going on at Northstar Saturday afternoon that we wanted to check out, so we didn't stay on the water too long after that. We went back up to the house to shower and set off over the mountain to Northstar. Every time I go back, I'm surprised at how much it has changed. It's grown SO much since I lived there in 2007/08. The place was packed, so we grabbed a beer a Mikunis, people watched, and shopped a little before making our way to the actual "Beer Best" tents. Some friends hooked us up (and by us, I really just mean Shannon and Matt) with some free beer tastings, and I enjoyed catching up with a few old friends I hadn't seen in years. 

      

Matt and I eventually left Shannon to do some more shopping and ended up grabbing a sushi roll to hold us over until dinner, while Shannon closed down the beerfest! We really couldn't decide on where to go to dinner that night, but we knew we wanted someplace with either A) really good food or B) a really good view. We called Garwood's - which is kind of known as one of the best places to eat on the lake - and of course, they were all booked. But with our luck, we decided to just go there anyways and see what they said. 

Shannon pulled up, I ran in, and the place was a packed zoo. People waiting all over the place. So I started joking around with the girl at the stand...who had just told the guy in front of me it was a 1 hour wait - and she said she could just go ahead and sit us right then. Whaaaat!? I still can't figure out how I pulled that one off, but we walked right in to Garwoods, past lots of waiting people, and got the perfect table in the corner (away from the madness) with a lake view. Amazing. 

                      

 

             
 
And on top of that being amazing, the FOOD was amazing! Ribs for appetizer, and Matt and I split the pork chop while Shannon had a salad.   One of the better meals I've had in awhile.  Either that or I was just that hungry from not eating much all day long...

We may have caused a slight scene when Shannon decided she wanted to pay for dinner - which was not happening. She actually threw all of her credit cards at the server, while Matt held her off with a steak knife. Yes, that actually happened. You can't make that stuff up. ;) It was such a fun last night in Tahoe!  So many laughs that night...

Here, Matt is threatening Shannon with a knife .  Because that's normal...

Since I hadn't done my "long run" for the weekend yet (marathon training doesn't stop on vacation unfortunately), and the weekend was almost over, Sunday morning was it.  We decided to have Shannon drop us off at Emerald Bay and run along a hiking path to DL Bliss State Park Beach. Shannon said it was around 6 or 7 miles she thought. When we got there, the map said it was only 4. I was supposed to run 8! Thinking it was going to be an easy / short run, we took off ... aaaaaannd were walking about a mile later, haha. Turns out running on a little trail with rocks and trees close to a cliff...all while going up a mountain...is quite challenging. It felt like we walked half of it - and were still sore!  On top of that, we had to stop for pictures every 10 feet because the scenery was just ridiculously beautiful. I just chalked it up as not one of my best runs. 

We did eventually make it to the beach, where Shannon was waiting on us.  I hadn't ever been to that beach before, and it was just beautiful!  The water was FREEZING though!  There was even a WARNING sign stating "Extremely Cold Water."





Shannon soaking up the sun while waiting on us to make it to the beach



From the beach, we drove along the west shore looking for food - and stopped at an arts and crafts fair along the way.  I wanted every single painting and picture I saw of Tahoe!  Somehow I managed to get out of there without actually purchasing anything though.  Thank goodness. 

We ended up at a little hole-in-the wall deli inside a convenience store kind of place.  Ordered some sandwhiches and they completely botched our order, haha.  Oh well, they were edible!

Back at the house, Matt and I showered and packed up (I snuck Shannon's present in the back seat of her car) and we hit the road - up and over Mount Rose to Reno for our flight. 

Saying good-bye

We got there plenty early, even with stops at Jamba Juice and Marshalls, so we spent some time trying on sunglasses since we each lost a pair in the lake! 

It was an easy flight to Vegas, where...of course...our flight was delayed. Twice. For two hours. We were already supposed to be getting back to KC late withOUT the layovers, so we weren't too pumped about any of that.  

I sent Matt to check on the flight, and he came back and said there wasn't a change. I went to look like 15 minutes later...and the plane had already boarded, haha. Once again, we almost missed our flight. And once again, we didn't get to sit together. NOT HAPPY. They didn't announce anything - not that either of us heard anyways, and we were just sitting two gates down. Oh well, right?  I think Matt secretly enjoys it when I can't lay on him the whole flight.  I sat between two old men and got zero sleep on the flight and was practically a zombie when we got to my house...AT 3:08AM. Yikes. Monday sure wasn't cool, but as always, it was worth it for such an awesome weekend in my favorite spot. :) 
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I literally could not wait a day longer. The day after we got back, I printed off the hilarious pic Shannon's mom snapped of us jumping in the water at the same time and put it in my new Lake Tahoe frame. Next to a Tahoe original pine cone, of course. :)