Sugar Pine Point, Tahoe, CA

Sugar Pine Point State Park, Tahoe, CA

We headed down the west shore of Tahoe towards Sugar Pine Point. While we love Tahoe and it’s been a blast revisiting some of our favorite spots, this wasn’t our original plan. A few days before we headed out for our week vacation we were notified that our campsite at Grover Hot Springs had been cancelled due to the Tamarack Fire. Not wanting to drive near the fires, (circumventing the road closures) we also cancelled our Mammoth Lake camping spots. We lucked out by nabbing sites here and there along the shore at Tahoe. 

One of my favorite things to do at Sugar Pine is ride the bike paths that meander all through the park and along the entire west shore of Tahoe.

It wouldn’t be a true vacation at Tahoe unless it included lunch and epic people watching at Sunnyside.  

We spent the afternoon hanging out at the beach.  Much to our delight, it was so hot outside that the lake didn’t seem that cold…no really! 

We even did some snorkeling.  And while I didn’t see very much fish, I did manage to snag these…

…fancy sunglasses at the bottom of the lake. 

In case you’re wondering about the smokey conditions with all the fires, we’ve lucked out with blue skies.  Here’s a picture looking toward the south east shore. You can definitely see the smoke line in the sky. 

Another beautiful night sleeping under the pine trees.  

Donner State Park, CA

Donner State Park, CA

We’ve been coming to Donner for years. This is our go-to place. We’ve camped with family, friends, taken bike rides, swam, hiked and had crawfish feasts caught from the creek. I thought I knew this place.  Well, well look what we discovered this trip.

We’re at campsite #99.  It’s a HUGE site. Look behind Ned and you’ll see a split rail fence. Guess what’s behind the split rail fence? 

A little lake! We’ve hiked around this lake before, but in my mind it was located farther away from the campground. There was no one in sight. I asked the campground host if one could swim in this lake (I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a drainage ditch or an old toxic mining site, you never know around these here parts).  She assured me that it was great lake and people swim in it all the time.  Mind blown. 

So yep, that’s pretty much where we hung out the last couple of days and we had the place to ourselves! The water temperature was about 10 degrees warmer than Donner Lake too. What a bonus.  So fun to just read, take a dip a few steps away from our site and repeat. 

Really appreciate that we didn’t have to haul all our picnic supplies back to the campsite too. 

Or course we did manage to rally and get in some bike rides.  This park has so many fun trails to ride. 

We even did a ride around the lake (and some of those hills are no joke). 

We still went swimming and goofing around in the big creek.  The people watching is just too good to pass up.  So fun to watch people learning to paddle board, kayakers dodging the swimmers and kids jumping off rocks.  This state park is awesome and we so appreciate that it’s so close to home. 

One last picture…biking along a trail at dusk.  Great two days camping here. 

Jackson Meadows Reservoir, CA

Findley Campground, Jackson Meadows Reservoir, CA

We spent the last 2 nights on the west side of Jackson Meadows Reservoir. We had the place almost to ourselves!  Go figure.  The east side was sold out so we decided to wander on over to this area.  There are 3 campgrounds here.  In our campground and the next one close by there were a total of 2 families…including us.  

There was no cell service and it felt divine to just disconnect and unwind.  

It was about a 15 minute walk from our campsite to the lake.  Of course, I did what I do best…float.  

The lake is really, really low.  Check out the boat ramp! I guess this is one reason why the campground was almost completely empty.  We think those boats were put in on the east side and then driven over to this area.  The walk from where the lake used to be to where it is now is a good football size field.  Plus side…the water was pretty shallow and warm.  

A couple of days of just R&R…some nice walks, reading, swimming and

some great meals with the grill master. 

What we enjoyed the most was just how quiet it was, like camping alone in a lush forest. 

Thanks Findley Campground.  Great start to a vacation week. 

Summer Camping

Ice House Reservoir, Pollock Pines

High temperatures, cool lake, family and camping. Fun times for sure! (One caveat, Mr. Theo still isn’t on board for sleeping in the casita.  His poor parents had very little sleep).

Maddy slept with us in Wolfgang and we slept like a champ. I think Matt heard Theo express himself (ahem) and was quite impressed with his lung capacity.  

The temps hit the 90’s and the lake felt sooooo good! 

We managed to get in a hike too. The Todds have this down! The kids were troopers in the heat. Matt, the Todd gang, and even the dogs managed to leave us straggling behind. Obviously, my strong point is floating in the lake. 

Little Miss Junior Ranger.

How could this cute little guy keep everyone up all night???  I’m impressed that Megan looks so chipper on no sleep. 

These two cuties…❤️

Adventures with Maddy Day Three

Ice House Reservoir, Pollock Pines, CA

Day Three and let the good times roll…or also known as the continuation of Miss Maddy bossing around Baba and Yaya.  Megan got this t-shirt for Ned for Father’s Day, and oh boy is it apropos!  

Another fun day at the beach

and going on some more hikes.

The highlight of the day is when Mommy, Daddy, Theo and Lucy joined us.

We also spent a lot of time goofing around in the hammocks.

We can hardly wait til this little guy is old enough to go camping with YaYa and Baba too. (Our rule is that you have to be able to walk.) 

Cousin Matt showed up too! And yes, he brought beer reinforcements.  Looks like a fun weekend ahead…

Time to get warm and cozy before bedtime. 

Camping with the one and only Maddy Todd

Ice House Reservoir, Pollock Pines, CA

The only thing I like better than camping, is camping with Maddy Todd. (When she says her name she very proudly says, “Mad-dy Todd!”). 

Yeah, we’re here!  We arrived late Wednesday afternoon and couldn’t wait to go exploring.

Baba’s are the best at exploring, going on walks, cooking and even sharing their breakfast. 

After reading several books and negotiating just how many stories a little girl can have, everyone finally settled down for a good night’s sleep.  When Maddy woke up this morning she opened the curtains and yelled out, “Hurray, it’s DAY!”. And so another fun day of adventures began. 

We had a fun time at the beach, playing in the sand and swimming in the cold water…until it started raining! And boy did it downpour.  We took refuge in the sun tent, hoping it would pass over.  Mmmm…we decided to make a mad dash back to the campsite. 

A change into dry clothes and a bowl of mac and cheese hit the spot. Afternoon naps, books and being silly in the van kept us occupied as the rain continued.

Fortunately the skies cleared up and we were able to have dinner outside. 

I was pretty sure Miss Maddy Todd tuckered us out, but just maybe we tuckered her out too. 

Fallen Leaf Lake

Fallen Leaf Lake, South Lake Tahoe, CA

All our years coming to Tahoe and this is our first time camping at Fallen Leaf Lake. Wow, I had no idea what we were missing. I only booked this campsite cuz there was a last minute cancellation. This place is amazing! 

The bike trail runs right thru the campground. 

And it’s just a few miles from Camp Richardson. Oh the joys of being vaccinated and things opening back up. 

We rode around historic Tallac, along the lake and up highway 89 until the bike trail stopped. 

We’re definitely coming back!