As much as we enjoyed southern California, we loved northern California equally as much! We spent a full week in Truckee, California which is only a few minutes from Lake Tahoe. Katie, Joel, and Delia were kind enough to let us crash at their house and borrow their car. I felt badly staying there since Mike developed a bad cold (which he often gets when he travels on an airplane) and Adam had a nasty cough. Thankfully, after a few days, they were much better.
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| Two sleepy boys |
Adam was so exhausted the night we arrived in Truckee. He fell asleep on the airplane. Once it landed, I carried him off the plane, plopped him down in his stroller, wheeled him all the way outside of the airport to where Katie was meeting us to pick us up. We carried him into the car where he continued to sleep on Mike. Then, when we finally arrived to Katie and Joel's house, Mike carried him straight up to bed where he slept until the following morning. ha!
Tahoe is beautiful!!! No bugs, no mosquitoes, no ticks, no humidity, no rain (which can be a bad thing!), bright blue skies and crystal clear water. The nights got very chilly- down to 30 degrees, but during the day it got up to about 70 degrees.
We went on a lot of bike rides. There are miles and miles of paved (yes, paved!) trails everywhere! We could easily hop on a trail and in a couple minutes be in downtown Truckee, an adorable little town near Northstar Ski Resort.
I didn't bring my big camera on our trip because we already had so much. I brought a smaller camera and Mike brought his infamous GoPro. Here he is holding the GoPro on his GoPole :) I make fun of him, but it does take GREAT pictures and it's tiny. He's working on a video of our trip. I can't wait until it's finally finished!
Who knew pine cones could provide hours and hours of entertainment?
Campfire time
Even though the weather didn't get very hot, we still had the chance to go swimming a few times. Both pools we went to were heated and had large hot tubs. The water in the hot tubs wasn't too hot, so kids could enjoy it too. We were all sitting around the hot tub talking, drinking yummy drinks, when I looked down and saw Adam swimming on his own!! I couldn't believe it! He taught himself how to swim in a hot tub. He's definitely not a strong swimmer, but it's a good first step! The night after he learned to swim he was so proud of himself. He woke up twice in the middle of the night, sat straight up, and said "I can swim!!!".
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| Eating pizza and french fries while standing in a hot tub- life is good! |
Mike had the chance to do some mountain biking. I'm pretty sure that was one of his favorite things about our trip.
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| Mike, Joel, and Skyy selfie |
Here he is on the Donner Trail pretending to eat his arm. Nice.
We went to a pump track one morning. Owen and Mike loved it!
We visited Donner Lake on Father's Day.
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| Such lucky boys to have an amazing daddy |
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| Mike taking Adam for a ride |
And here is Mr. Adam doing a little SUP on Donner Lake.
This was my first time ever trying it. I loved it and surprisingly didn't fall off.
We went on a hike. When Adam's legs got tired he hitched a ride on Mike's back. 6,500 feet elevation with a 45 pound kid on your back. That's love :)
I enjoyed a morning hike with just the girls.
Lake Tahoe sort of reminded me of the water in St. John. So clear, just much colder.
The water was only about 54 degrees
, but that didn't stop us from playing in it.
Thankfully it was a hot day! You can see the snow capped mountains in the background. Beautiful!
The lake was like glass. I could have paddled around for hours.
There are these huge boulders on Lake Tahoe. We had a great time climbing them. Definitely challenging at parts, but both boys did it. There's shallow water below the rocks.
Our last full day in Truckee was so much fun. We woke up early and had breakfast at a diner that actually came from Pennsylvania.
Then we spent about 3 hours rafting down the Truckee River.
Definitely one of my favorite memories from our trip. We stopped a few times and got out of the boat to explore or take pictures. Most of the river was really shallow. In fact, I think I heard that after July 1st they won't be doing the river boat rafting for the rest of the season. They got very little snow this winter, which is so unusual for the area. Since there was little snow, that means there is not as much water running off the mountains into the rivers which means very shallow water. There were a few very deep parts, but not many. There were also a few spots with rapids that we had to maneuver. It was a fun adventure!
Owen will be grossed out by this picture :)
Look at that blue sky! And that cutie on the rock.
After our trip down the river we had lunch at the River Ranch. It's right on the river and you can see a view of the river rapids. Then we stopped by Squaw Valley- home of the 1960 Winter Olympics.
The last evening of our trip was spent on a beautiful cocktail cruise along the coast of Lake Tahoe aboard a 1920s replica Chris Craft wooden boat.
The kids enjoyed a fun night with a babysitter. I remember thinking I would never hire a babysitter from a babysitting service, but that's just what we did and it worked out just fine. After 12 days we enjoyed a little time away from the kiddos.
What an unforgettable two weeks. The four of us together with very little distractions. Definitely a trip of a lifetime.
The next morning in the airport we kept running into therapy dogs. I was half-joking when I said they must have heard the Reager's were traveling home and could use the therapy!
One of these dogs howled the Star Spangled Banner while his owner sang it out loud.
It's good to be home, but we miss California a little bit too. Especially sweet Delia and Fletcher.
Thanks so much to Jesse, Anna, Katie and Joel for being so hospitable and helping us to make the most of our trip and have a wonderful time. So thankful for you all. We are also very thankful for our family here at home that helped check on our houses (especially with all the rain we got here) and mow our grass and take care of Cheech while we were away.
This past Christmas, Mike and I received a special gift from my mom and Mike's mom... a season pass to Lancaster Polo Club.
