Day 11 - Lake Tahoe

Today was another interesting and exciting day on our trip. We woke up to snow on the ground and it actively snowing. Jason was like a little boy in a candy store. He spent a while on the porch taking pictures and taking it all in. Meanwhile, Erin enjoyed the view better from the comfortable heat behind the sliding glass doors. Jason researched the ski areas to see if any were open. He found one open and decided to try and take a look at it. He drove there in the snow, but the lifts were only going to be open for 4 hours and it would have cost almost $200 so he decided against it and returned to the house to pick Erin up and start the day. We started out driving on the north and then east side of the lake. By this time it wasn’t snowing anymore and the visibility was improving. The views of the blue water with the snow filled mountains in the background were just breathtaking. We enjoyed the scenic drive in South Lake Tahoe where we stopped for lunch. The Tour of California, a bicycle race,was supposed to start in South Lake Tahoe today and there were plenty of people and cops ready to watch and guide the race, even though it had started snowing again. We saw the motorcycle cops and SUVs take off only to return twenty minutes later and announce the race had been postponed until Wednesday. So we set out from South Lake Tahoe and started driving up the west side of the lake. It began to snow harder and harder as we climbed and drove along the lake. We stopped to take some amazing pictures in the snow and make snow angels! From there, the snow just kept getting harder and the roads became more interesting and snow filled. We saw a few snow plows but they just couldn’t keep up with the amount of snow that was coming down. As we were in a line of traffic in the snow and ice, the cars in front of us came to a stop. We were able to skid on the ice and stop as well. However, the car behind us could not and ran into our rear bumper. Thankfully we didn’t hit the car in front of us and no one was hurt. A cop was right there and he came over to help exchange information and sent us on our way as the snow just kept getting worse. Thankfully we made it back to the house safe and sound. Hopefully the snow slows down tonight and stops, and we will be able to leave in the morning. Tomorrow we are heading to Yosemite, about a 5 hour drive. Many of the roads are requiring snow tires and/or chains so we will have to stick to the main highways. It’s just unbelievable how much snow there is in MAY! Today was amazing even with the accident, and we are sad this trip is coming to an end soon. 

Miles Traveled: 108