Day 17 Summer Vacation 2009

Today we went for a scenic drive to see Lake Tahoe Nevada and to go on a cruise aboard the Dixie II.

The drive south was one of the most, if not the most scenic drives we have been on. The climb up the mountain to 8000 feet and the descent down the other side with Lake Tahoe ahead of us was breathtaking.. The photos never reveal the true beauty that we see as we drive along, but they are pretty good for photos. Here is some of the spectacular scenery that we saw.

We passed a Lincoln Highway Pioneer Route Sign. So we know we are still on the Lincoln Highway.

We arrived at the MS Dixie II Paddle Wheeler and boarded for our cruise on Lake Tahoe.

We left the dock and headed straight across the lake towards Emerald Bay.

The colour of the water is amazing. A Cobalt Blue. I am used to the blue water of Georgian Bay and never imagined that there could be water more blue than that, but this is mesmerizing how blue it is.

Across the lake we entered into Emerald Bay, named for the sudden change of the colour of the water from the Cobalt Blue to the Emerald Green. Lake Tahoe is 1650 ft deep several hundred feet off shore, and it suddenly rises close to shore to a depth of 20 ft this causes the water colour to change quickly to the Emerald Green. Emerald Bay is said to be one of the most photographed places on earth, second to Niagara Falls.

As we were leaving Emerald Bay we were lucky enough to see an Osprey and the nest.

After arriving back at the dock, Karen went on a search for giant pine cones from the Douglas Fir Trees that were all around the dock area.

Then we drove to the Heavenly Mountain Resort to ride on their Gondola to the top of the mountain.

We arrived at the observation deck and took some photos before heading up further to the peak.

We left the observation deck and headed upward to the summit of the mountain. At the summit we watched people as they zip lined back down to the observation deck area.

Back down at the base of the mountain we wandered around through the shops and had some ice cream at The Cold Stone Creamery. The Ultimate Ice Cream Experience. They mix and blend your choices of ice cream on flat cold stones and then serve to you. I don’t know where my mind was at the time, but I forgot to take photos of our ice cream.

The drive back to Reno was slightly less scenic, but still lots of great shots as we drove back along US 50 to Reno.

We drove through Carson City Nevada. Carson City is the Capitol of Nevada. We will be back through here tomorrow and we will stop to check out a museum and to find some historic buildings.

And there you have it, our trip to Lake Tahoe. You can see all of our photos from today (there are over 200 photos) on my FLICKR site.