Yosemite Day 2

Emerald Bay is really beautiful and contains the only island in Lake Tahoe.

We slept pretty well in this old hotel, and then we laughed at breakfast. In the tiny office they had some food out on the counter. Bagels, Eggos, sketchy looking fruit, and two kinds of cereal. The boys ate it without complaining, but we were pretty hungry most of the morning!

We started out the day by driving to Emerald Bay, which is a beautiful mountain area lined with ponderosa pines and a steep drop to the shore of Lake Tahoe. We arrived pretty early at the state park, and luckily, there were a few parking spaces. We paid the fee and started down toward the shore. It is about a mile down, and at the bottom there is a small Visitor's Center, an old castle, and a waterfall to visit. We started with the waterfall. It is called Eagle Falls, and we saw the upper half from the parking area high above. The first thing we noticed was all the Stellar's Jays. They are a nuisance bird here, even though they are one of our favorites. When we got down to the lake shore, it was only a quarter mile to Lower Eagle Falls. We were tired, but we made the short uphill hike anyway. The waterfall was a massive cascade, and after the hot hike down to the shore, it was so nice to feel the spray on our faces! The waterfall was very beautiful, too. We took a few pictures and headed to the Visitor's Center, which was extremely small, to buy tickets to the castle.

This granite dome was at the trailhead to Emerald Bay.

From the dome we could see Upper Eagle Falls.

You can see that the hike down to the lake is steep and long.

There were tiny trickles along the steep, switchback path.

The boys spotted a chipmunk in the bushes.

The ponderosa's were big, and we asked the boys if they could imagine any bigger trees.
We wanted them to be amazed when we got to Big Trees.

Stellar's Jays were everywhere at Lake Tahoe.

The boys thought this tree was huge. Little did they know what was coming up in a few days!

Mom always likes the wildflowers!

There are marshes around the Visitor's Center, and the boys looked for fish and frogs.

Lower Eagle Falls was pretty awesome.

Vikingsholm Castle was built in 1929 by a rich lady who spared no expense. She built a beautiful summer home with plenty of room for guests and servants right on Emerald Bay. She'd spend June to September living in the home and entertaining guests. There is even a tea house on a small island in the middle of the bay. We enjoyed touring the castle, even though it was a bit expensive. There was a lot of intricate carving and tons of expensive heirlooms. It really did look like a small Scandinavian Castle.

The boys thought they'd struck gold. They're fools for fool's gold!

They picked out plenty of pieces before we spoiled their dreams.

We had a little snak while waiting for our tour.

This Canadian Goose wanted a snack, too.

We took a family photo by the castle.

It would be so cool to live in the castle at Emerald Bay!

The roof of the garage building is made from thatch.

The entire castle is filled with delicate woodwork.

Most of the furnishings are imported from Scandinavia.

The lade who built the castle was from Scandinavia and wanted a little bit of home.

She wouldn't let any trees in the forest to be cut. They all had to be imported.

We didn't spend any beach time at Emerald Bay, but the lake was beautiful.

We made the long, hot hike back up to the van and decided to go out to another state park with a beach and some hiking. This one, called DL Bliss, is just north of Emerald Bay, and we'd already paid for a day pass, so it was free. The problem was that there was no parking. This seems to be a pattern here in California. We decided to try a hike to a lighthouse, instead. The ranger informed us there was parking at the lighthouse, and it was only a quarter mile. Unfortunately, we thought she meant the hike was a quarter mile, but she meant the trailhead was only that far up the road! The hike turned out to be mostly uphill and much more than a quarter mile. We figure we walked closer to two miles to the lighthouse, which was a supreme disappointment. The lighthouse actually looked like an outhouse perched high on the hill! It wasn't our most pleasant hiking experience, but we made it.

We carried our beach stuff, because we thought it was a quarter mile to the beach.

The pine cones were huge!

They call that a lighthouse....

The views of the lake were beautiful, though.

We decided to continue along the trail and see if we could find the beach that appeared on our map. Luckily, it was all downhill to the shore. We had also packed the swim stuff and carried the heavy bag up the hill. After a fairly short stretch (maybe a half mile more) we arrived at a small beach. Like all the lakes we've been to this year, Tahoe is brimful, but we found a tiny spot of sand and laid out our towels. Then the boys started digging, swimming, throwing, and splashing. Dad got right in with them, and Mom was so overheated from the hike she even took a turn in the water. We stayed for three hours, and Dad finally had to hike the two miles back along the road to the van. By some miracle he found a parking space and joined the family back at the lake. The water is so crystal clear in Tahoe. You can stand in neck-deep water and clearly see your toes. It was difficult to pry the boys away from the shore! Mom was most proud of her boys when the people on the beach told us how well behaved they were, and how impressed they were that 3 boys would play together for half the day at the beach with only a pinecone and a stick.

Seth liked wave hopping.

Dax liked finding granite rocks in the clear water.

The cold water felt SO good after that hike.

We spent several hours at the beach.

The boys took turns having Dad throw them in the water.

The boys posed in the water for a picture.

We hope all the time spent together pays off someday.

Mom In the water? Oh yes, she did!

We headed back to South Tahoe and stopped at IHOP for dinner because we knew the boys would actually eat something if it was breakfast. We got back to the hotel by six, and the boys immediately begged to go to the pool. Everything was still wet, though, and Mom and Dad were out of energy for more water. Instead, we showered them up and let them watch Lilo and Stitch. We're so glad we planned a few days at Lake Tahoe. It was a really great experience.