4th of July Camping at Lake Tahoe

We headed out to Lake Tahoe for the holiday weekend...I've always wanted to say that. Although there are a lot of different things to do and see at Lake Tahoe, we opted to camp and take in some of the outdoor activities. The clubs in South Lake Tahoe will have to wait until next time.

It's about a four hour drive from San Jose, although due to traffic and some insane road construction on I-80, it took a little longer. But we still arrived at our campground located at 9300 feet at Mount Rose by mid afternoon.

Pretty nice campsite (disregard the guy fixing his pants), although no showers. But, that's what the lake is for, right?

Friday, we headed for Tahoe City on the Northwest side of the lake and rented a two person kayak. The weather was perfect for kayking. Mid 70's and fairly calm winds. We paddled a few miles down the west side of the lake and took in the sights. They're wasn't as much boat traffic on the lake as I expected. Perhaps because we were on the less busy side of the lake or the economy has had an impact on where people are spending their vacation time. The sights included some breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, some stupidly large houses and a lot of nice boats.

Tonja looking back to see why I'm not paddling.

Notice the focus on my face. I looove kayaking!

It doesn't really show up very well on the camera, but the water at Lake Tahoe is really a vivid blue. Much like you see in smaller alpine lakes. This explains all those "Keep Lake Tahoe Blue" bumper stickers you see...I guess they're not trying to keep Republicans out of Tahoe.

After kayaking we ate lunch in Tahoe City and walked around a bit, before heading back to camp.

Our campsite was about 20 minutes from the lake. However in that 20 minuter drive, we climbed about 3,000 feet. My car was not happy about this. No matter how I shifted, my car wouldn't do more than 45 mph going up the incline. But, we made the drive each time without any problems, other than holding up a few SUVs.

A little camping grub.

On Saturday, we managed to find the crowds by heading to South Lake Tahoe, since that's where the best fireworks display is located. The area was pretty choked full with people, so we skipped walking around downtown and headed to the beach and staked out an area to hang out and wait for the fireworks. It was a pretty hot day, but a breeze off the lake kept it bearable. And it cooled off quickly, once the sun dipped behind the mountains. The fireworks were pretty good. They had a few that I'd never seen before and they used an interesting if not somewhat unconventional set of songs. One country song about sexy tractors raised a few eyebrows, but whatever. It was a good weekend with good weather and a fun 4th of July.

One last shot of us at South Lake Tahoe waiting to see the fireworks. Don't worry I only wear the cowboy hat at designated events, such as camping, rodeos and firework displays in locations where I don't know anyone. The hat is actually great on hot days.