[I had hoped that Kyla would contribute here, but this is not here preferred platform, so this blog can be filed under “hearsay”.]
Uncle Dan and cousin Esther (age 20!) meet up with us in Tahoe on our last day. They brought a spare backpack, sleeping bag, and everything else she would need for a 24 hour backpacking trip. We went on our way to Olema, and Dan, Esther, and Kyla headed to the Sierras for an 11-mile hike.
We’re not going to call this “helping”, Piper. Cute, yes; helpful, no.
We could spend a lot more time here!
My personal highlight was leaving Dwayne and the kids at the beach while I went on an exploratory bike ride. When the trail ended, I turned back and explored the different day-use beaches I had passed before. My reward was finding the Tallac Historic Site, which was one really, really rich family that eventually subdivided to two other really, really rich families, creating three summer estates on Lake Tahoe in the lifestyle expected of the early 1900’s San Francisco’s high society. Of course, the most interesting buildings were closed to tours, but there were some lovely gardens, and just-take-a-peek outbuildings for the governess, tutor, butler, chauffer, kitchens, dairy, larder, and guest cottages for the many, many friends wealthy people with land-fetishes often have.
Back at the beach, Dwayne and Piper rented a kayak to explore the waterfront a bit, and the kids had a delightful time in the blue, blue water.
We met back up for our scheduled Rum-Runner tour, an hour-and-a-half water cruise over to the aptly-named Emerald Bay. For my younger slugs, this was the perfect way to live their own high-society life, as they sipped root beer and lounged in the back of the cruise boat.
My favorite part of the cruise was the glimpse of Vikingsholm we got. In any year not ending in “20”, we would be able to do a feet-on-the-ground tour of this castle. However, a float-by was the best we could do this summer.
But better than the castle? The tea house. “Located on the only island in Lake Tahoe, The Fanette Island tea house was built in the 1920s by Lora Knight, the clearly super-rich lady who owned Vikingsholm — a 38-room castle along the Emerald Bay shore. The stone shell of the building still remains today and is fairly easy to reach for any willing to swim out to the island.“ Originally, this folly had a roof, stained glass windows, a large oak table, and four chairs. Today, it has a come-hitherness that made us all wish we could jump off the boat and swim over to explore further.
I predict we will be back one day, and spend far more than just two nights. Lovely Lake Tahoe!
Since we had left Almanor early, we had an extra day in the Tahoe area. I wanted to find a ghost town or an Old West backdrop or something historical, so we drove over to Virginia City for the day.
Dwayne will tell you the hair-raising ordeal of the climb to Mount Rose Summit. A quick search after the fact states that “[t]he 8,911 ft-high pass is traversed by State Route 431, which is the highest point of the highway and the highest mountain pass open year-round in the Sierra Nevada.” I would add an editorial that we saw almost no other RVs on the way, and we figured out why.
But after trying to kill Old Odd (hopefully we’ll come up with a better name for the Odyssey tomorrow), and possibly ourselves, we eventually found ourselves in the hot-hot-hot middle of nowhere, where someone nearly 200 years ago thought it would be a good idea to stick a shovel in the ground, since staying hydrated wasn’t a reasonable pastime, and found silver. Virginia City was born, and even COVID hasn’t killed off all the old blood-stained saloons.
The name of this museum sums up VC. After learning about old-time card cheating methods and the best way to build mines that don’t collapse too often, we took off to catch the Wild West Outlaws shoot-‘em-up at the local outdoor theater. I couldn’t wait to get my picture taken with the good sheriff and the fast-drawing bank robber, but the kids were having none of it.
After ice-cream o’clock, we toured the McCay mansion. Of course, the best and most expensive houses of that time still fall short of the conveniences of today’s modern abodes (even RVs!), but oh! how I love the stories, the hand-painted fabric wall paper, the Italian imported hand-carved mantel, the too-narrow stairs up to the small master and mistress bedrooms. Always fun to look, but I’m not sure if anything could entice our family to live in this ugly climate. On to Lake Tahoe for the next few days!
Since we had already paid for the Almanor site, we didn’t have to leave until we wanted, which is after Wes wore himself out in the lake before trucking down the road.
Despite having lived in 2020 for 8 months now, I was pretty sure we could find ourselves an out-of-the-way campsite as we meandered on to Lake Tahoe. Once I had enough cell reception, I started doing my research and calling and calling, usually just to get “We did not accept walk-ins. You must make a reservation online” messages, and then, after finally downloading the website, find the website is down for maintenance. A few calls got a direct answer and a crisp “We’re full” reply to my inquiry. We made it all the way to Tahoe City, and then retraced our steps to track down a few federal parks that indicated a first come, first serve policy. Upside, it was a Tuesday; downside, it was about 7pm.
Finally, finally, we found a national forest campground that had a few spots next to the highway, one of them big enough for our rig. It was our first night dry camping, and we actually loved it! (Not enough to voluntarily give up hook ups in the future, but way better than a Walmart parking lot…which was nowhere nearby either.)
The kids almost waited until we parked before jumping out and heading down to the river they spied. They came back almost right away to change into swimsuits and grab goggles.
Dwayne set up camp and made us tacos, which we all gratefully ate once the kids were cold enough to be enticed away from crawfish chasing and dam building.
We were right on the highway, and with windows open to enjoy the cool temperature, we had a lot of road noise. But despite that and the lack of hook ups, this is my favorite spot in CA so far!
One character flaw I’ve had to cop to, is that given a choice, I default to the unknown. Say, for example, I’ve got 3 nights to spend between two places. I already know we’ll love Lake Siskiyou and will enjoy the lake and the rentals. On the other hand, North Shore, on Lake Almanor, looks good on the website and is kind of in the Sierras, and I’ve never been in that area. So, I booked us one night in Siskiyou and two in Almanor.
We stayed for one, leaving a $70 RV site empty and unregretted.
Yep, Almanor is a lake alright. It has water, lots of it, and is quiet, which could either be interpreted as an “undiscovered gem” or “everyone else knows better”. It’s a big lake, and I was charmed by the flocks of white pelicans and other unidentified birds. But there’s a smell along the water that always reminds one of foul fowl. But we have a few inflatables, and the website said it rented SUPs, kayaks, etc.
Except they didn’t. COVID regs prevented them from renting equipment they couldn’t sanitize. (Hmm. Lake Siskiyou figured it out.)
But that’s okay. I could catch up on my laundry.
Except I couldn’t. After I stripped the beds and walked through the campground to the laundry, that was also closed, as I found out only upon inquiry. They couldn’t sanitize the laundry room to keep it open during COVID. (Hmm, both parks in the Redwoods figured out how to keep their laundry rooms open.)
We did meet a very nice family and shared their campfire and family adventure stories. They have two kids a few years younger than Wes and who also loved playing Minecraft on their Fire tablets to the exclusion of all the other cool things their parents were showing them, so the kids hit it off right away. And played video games together in the hammock.
While we had some fun in the lake (and I hope Wes always remembers taking Dwayne and I down on the inflatable alligator), there was too much wind, a rocky beach, and sites so close together that the neighbor’s awning was inches away from our trailer, and we had to move his outdoor carpet while the kids used the outdoor shower to keep from soaking it. Oh, and in addition to the cost and lack of amenities, they charged 50 cents for a 2 minute shower token, and had no sewer sites.
When we had stocked up on groceries locally, the cashier joked with us, telling us to pronounce their town “Tah-hoe”, wanting to keep their amazing secret from the crowds of people interested in excellent accommodations, at a beautiful lake with lots to do and great weather. Well, Almanor, just be yourself. You’ll be fine.
We got to travel over Grant’s Pass, leaving CA, cutting through OR, and then back down through the shadow of Shasta.
We pulled into Lake Shasta midafternoon, and the kids were so overcome by heat that they simply couldn’t leave their devices to check out the lake, in spite of my total excitement to be here.
We had been here when Wes was two, during a week we shared with Dwayne’s brother’s family in McCloud. We spent an afternoon on the beach and paddling around the lake. I have fond memories. I knew we’d love this spot, and that the girls would remember it when we got down to the water. But Dwayne and I ventured forth first and discovered kid gold: an inflatable obstacle course/playground on the water, reminiscent of the last thing the kids did before I thought Wesley got lost and died in Croatia.
We hurried back and insisted the kids had a few minutes to get ready for the best afternoon they would have…today. Piper was suspicious of our surprise and made a deal that if she didn’t like it, she would be able to go paddle boarding with me and Dwayne.
She liked it. So did her siblings.
And our short afternoon of paddling boarding together convinced Dwayne that we could be a SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) couple who focuses our camping trips on lakes. This lake is particularly beautiful and mostly serene.
The afternoon adventures ended when rentals did. The kids were waterlogged and cold. Dwayne and I had discovered that the campground restaurant was doing a COVID special–take out dinner for 4 for less than $40. We were able to stretch that to 5 with some extra veggies, and you know the best meals are the ones you don’t have to cook yourself. After feasting on pulled pork sandwiches, cornbread, roasted corn, coleslaw, and marvelous key lime pie (both a new flavor and favorite for the kids!), we did a late night bike ride to prove to ourselves that, yep, we really don’t have enough lights or reflectors.
Since that bike ride was a little unsatisfying, I wanted to bike the 7 miles around the lake the next morning. Kyla and Dwayne joined me, but we only made it the first third before turning back. Now I’ll have to go to Siskiyou again just so I can complete the loop!
I’m coming back with paddleboards and bikes…soon, I hope!
Everything is just a little bigger down here outside of Crescent City, CA! We had fun going to the “Trees of Mystery” (lunch out and a fudge snack didn’t hurt, either).
Everyone but Piper liked the new canopy walk. [There was no indication in her first half of life that she would develop a fear of heights or spiders.] We also took the gondola to an overview and did the mile walk back down
We also were able to explore the Newton B Drury Parkway scenic drive, and coax/threaten our children to go on another hike through the redwoods. The third hike we attempted was a complete mutiny, which just means Dwayne and I got to enjoy ourselves without them.
Like driving down 101, the Redwoods were more beautiful and majestic to us than the kids, who had a hard time looking up from their devices. Dwayne, in his wisdom, occasionally reminded me that we are doing this for us, not them. And the Mama-ism I always fall back to is “Well, I love it enough for all of us!”
We came across this same place almost 13 years ago when we visited Gold Beach, OR, with friends for a week. This is definitely a place to squint at when looking at the ethics behind such a petting zoo, but it does have some fun experiences. We all got to pet a bear cub,
a savannah kitten,
a skunk,
a fox,
a cavy (do you know enough to tell me I’ve misidentified this animal? That’s fine, I’m not staking my reputation on this!),
raccoon,
and, best of all, a ferret. Wesley’s life goal has been realized.
Wesley was so enamored that he was able to buy himself the last ferret stuffie in the gift store. Truffle is nonedible, but Wes credits him for fitting just right while he is sleeping so that he is more likely to sleep on his own now. Yes, he is 10.5, but he still adores snuggling with Kyla. Kyla feels the same way, and we can put them down in their own beds, and they find themselves waking up together, one having sleep-walked to the other’s room in the middle of the night.
I really liked South Beach Park. Not only did we have enough sunshine this morning to dry out most of our damp-for-two-days towels, but after breakfast, the kids and I went back to the boardwalk and lookout, which is really code for the kids frolicked in the waves and I soaked up all the solar energy I could. It was our first morning starting out at the beach, and of the four beaches we’ve visited this week, this is the one I would have liked another full day at.
But we pushed on to Sunset Bay State Park, a two-and-a-half hour drive down 101. Dwayne and I wish we could make our kids enjoy the scenery like we do, but I’m sure that tune is as old as time.
Somehow I had it in my head that Sunset beach bookended the southern end of the famous Oregon sand dunes, but the dunes ended at least 20 miles before we got to our campsite. And the beach access was actually more of an inlet, nearly waveless, but it at least had the possibility for good adventure as Dwayne explored with the kids ways to get over to the island. They never made it…but they were gone long enough for me to finish my first vacation book uninterrupted.
However, the name of the state park was not hyperbole. Even with clouds putting a dark wall up at the horizon, the sunset was still worth the after dinner walk back to the beach.
Tomorrow, we head out of Beach Land and into the Redwoods!
Needopedia 