First leg, Reno to Fallen Leaf Lake to Oakland
On Friday, Mom and I set off from Reno at about noon, headed to Fallen Leaf Lake, which is southwest of Lake Tahoe. We made it about ... 15 minutes, before we had to stop at 
Boomtown for some coffee. I took a few pictures of the mountains, and then we were off to the west. I didn't even notice when we crossed into California. We are driving a cute green Jeep Liberty.
We stopped once on the road so I could take pictures, and then for lunch at the Olde Tahoe Cafe in Homewood. We just kept saying
how beautiful the scenery was. And stopping by the side of the road so I could jump out and take pictures. :) When we called Mike (our host), he told us we'd definitely want to stop and take pictures when we got to Emerald Bay. He wasn't kidding! Unfortunately, up on top of that mountain, it was COLD! But a nice lady took a picture of us, and we returned the favor for her. Then we jumped back into the car and headed for Fallen Leaf.
We missed the turnoff for Fallen Leaf Road the first time, but only got about a mile before we turned around and went back. At that point, we became even more thankful for our little Jeep. It was a bumpy, one-lane road, and we had to pull over more than once to let other people by. Just before we got to Mike's, I had to pull into someone's driveway to get out of the way of a panel truck! Yikes! I can't imagine what it must be like to go up there in the snow.
Once we recovered slightly from the hike up to the house, Mike took us on a much longer hike to go to Lily Lake. It was about a mile in each direction -- fortunately, it was mostly downhill coming back. It was beautiful. Fresh air tinged with the scent of pine trees made us completely forget about the craziness (and smoky air) of Reno.
We had to rest a little after the hike -- that 7,000 ft altitude will get you every time -- and then we went out for sushi for dinner. It was surprisingly good. We slept soooo well - between the hike and the exhaustion from the week, and the fact that it was *pitch black* and *dead quiet* up there.
We went to bed early (9pm!) and woke up early (6am!), and were on the road by 7:30, towards Oakland. We did have to make a quick stop at Tarjay... but we made it to the hotel in Oakland by 1pm. In fact, we made it at 12:50, and had to scurry to unload the car before the hotel shuttle took us to the BART station. We went straight to the Embarcadero/Ferry Building, and had lunch at a Mexican place. (We were starving!) We walked around the farmers market as it was closing, and then headed for Ghirardelli Sq. Check out the gorgeous blue sky!
We ended up taking the bus up to the Maritime Museum area. The old
Ghirardelli Square shops and chocolate museum are being turned into a Fairmont Hotel! Oops. I'm sure the hotel will be lovely. And expensive.
Then we walked (ow, ow, ow, my feet!) up Columbus all the way to Chinatown, and ended up at Union Square. [If you're looking at the map, we made a biiiig circle.] We sat on a bench for a while, watching the guys put the lights on a giant xmas tree, and watching the fog roll in and obscure the buildings nearby. It rolled in fast, and wow, it got cold! Round about 5pm, we headed back to the Embarcadero Center, where we found Osha Thai restaurant. YUM. It was fabulous, and hit the spot.
Leaving the restaurant, I stopped outside to take a picture of the Ferry Building again. In order to stabilize the camera so I didn't have to use the flash, I leaned it on a police barricade. And dropped it. On its zoomed-out lens. I didn't notice at first, and tried to take the picture again anyway. The result is a half-focused, half-fuzzy pic, and a dead camera. Yes, I was thinking that I'd buy a new camera next year for my birthday, but that's 3 months from now. Maybe subconsciously I meant to drop the camera.... It still pissed me off the rest of the night. At least we were going back to the hotel to go to sleep at that point.
Tomorrow, Oakland-to-Monterey, with short stops for a new camera and new shoes!
Rest of the pictures (and Monterey pics, too) posted at my flickr page.
Boomtown for some coffee. I took a few pictures of the mountains, and then we were off to the west. I didn't even notice when we crossed into California. We are driving a cute green Jeep Liberty.We stopped once on the road so I could take pictures, and then for lunch at the Olde Tahoe Cafe in Homewood. We just kept saying
how beautiful the scenery was. And stopping by the side of the road so I could jump out and take pictures. :) When we called Mike (our host), he told us we'd definitely want to stop and take pictures when we got to Emerald Bay. He wasn't kidding! Unfortunately, up on top of that mountain, it was COLD! But a nice lady took a picture of us, and we returned the favor for her. Then we jumped back into the car and headed for Fallen Leaf.We missed the turnoff for Fallen Leaf Road the first time, but only got about a mile before we turned around and went back. At that point, we became even more thankful for our little Jeep. It was a bumpy, one-lane road, and we had to pull over more than once to let other people by. Just before we got to Mike's, I had to pull into someone's driveway to get out of the way of a panel truck! Yikes! I can't imagine what it must be like to go up there in the snow.
Once we recovered slightly from the hike up to the house, Mike took us on a much longer hike to go to Lily Lake. It was about a mile in each direction -- fortunately, it was mostly downhill coming back. It was beautiful. Fresh air tinged with the scent of pine trees made us completely forget about the craziness (and smoky air) of Reno.We had to rest a little after the hike -- that 7,000 ft altitude will get you every time -- and then we went out for sushi for dinner. It was surprisingly good. We slept soooo well - between the hike and the exhaustion from the week, and the fact that it was *pitch black* and *dead quiet* up there.
We went to bed early (9pm!) and woke up early (6am!), and were on the road by 7:30, towards Oakland. We did have to make a quick stop at Tarjay... but we made it to the hotel in Oakland by 1pm. In fact, we made it at 12:50, and had to scurry to unload the car before the hotel shuttle took us to the BART station. We went straight to the Embarcadero/Ferry Building, and had lunch at a Mexican place. (We were starving!) We walked around the farmers market as it was closing, and then headed for Ghirardelli Sq. Check out the gorgeous blue sky!
We ended up taking the bus up to the Maritime Museum area. The old
Ghirardelli Square shops and chocolate museum are being turned into a Fairmont Hotel! Oops. I'm sure the hotel will be lovely. And expensive.
Then we walked (ow, ow, ow, my feet!) up Columbus all the way to Chinatown, and ended up at Union Square. [If you're looking at the map, we made a biiiig circle.] We sat on a bench for a while, watching the guys put the lights on a giant xmas tree, and watching the fog roll in and obscure the buildings nearby. It rolled in fast, and wow, it got cold! Round about 5pm, we headed back to the Embarcadero Center, where we found Osha Thai restaurant. YUM. It was fabulous, and hit the spot.
Leaving the restaurant, I stopped outside to take a picture of the Ferry Building again. In order to stabilize the camera so I didn't have to use the flash, I leaned it on a police barricade. And dropped it. On its zoomed-out lens. I didn't notice at first, and tried to take the picture again anyway. The result is a half-focused, half-fuzzy pic, and a dead camera. Yes, I was thinking that I'd buy a new camera next year for my birthday, but that's 3 months from now. Maybe subconsciously I meant to drop the camera.... It still pissed me off the rest of the night. At least we were going back to the hotel to go to sleep at that point.Tomorrow, Oakland-to-Monterey, with short stops for a new camera and new shoes!
Rest of the pictures (and Monterey pics, too) posted at my flickr page.
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