September 2020
I was originally supposed to be in Banff for my sister’s trip, but since the borders were closed due to COVID, I decided to take Mike with me to Lake Tahoe since it would be easy to social distance with all of the outdoor activities.
Since we decided to go the week of Labor Day, we planned to stay just north of Lake Tahoe the first couple nights since the beach would probably be more crowded with Labor Day beach goers. This was our first time flying since COVID and we weren’t sure what to expect. The New Orleans airport was empty, only a select few vendors were open. We had to wear a mask and no drinks were offered on the flight.
We landed in Reno and picked up our rental car. The first stop was In-and-Out Burger. Neither of us have been so it was a “must-do.” The place had a drive thru line wrapped around the building. We went into order. They were busy, but luckily this place ran like a well-oiled machine. We enjoyed the food, then took the hour drive to Truckee and checked into the Best Western Plus Truckee. The main street in Truckee is cute… lots of shops, restaurants, etc. We walked around and found an ice cream truck. We then went to the grocery store to stock up on some snacks.
The next morning, we woke up and ate breakfast outside of the hotel. Due to COVID, they had pre boxed breakfast in the lobby that you could pick up and heat in your microwave in your room. It was nice and chilly (48 degrees) so we decided to eat in the outdoor seating area outside the lobby. After breakfast we packed our day bags and headed to the trailhead of our first hike of the trip. The Donner Lake Rim trail…Mike had never asked me how long the hike was, so I never mentioned it. We were a couple miles in, and he said, “we should be there soon, right?” So, I pulled up the All Trails app on my phone and showed him the trail…it was over 12 miles. He was a little surprised but didn’t complain. The hike was beautiful, we first went through a wooded area, then we finally saw the beautiful Donner Lake. We hiked the rim all the way up to the guard shack at the top. I was a little disappointed to find out that there was no great view at the top. We sat and ate our sandwiches then were off down the trail. When we got back to the car, we were both exhausted. We had dinner at Best Pies on Main Street and called it an early night.
The next day we rented bikes with Bike Truckee and biked along the Truckee River Legacy Trail. The trail ran along the river and had beautiful views. We would stop every now and again and put our feet in the river. The water was cold but luckily the day had warmed up, so it wasn’t unbearable. The water was so clear, it was amazing. At the end of the trail we took off to find a convenience store to grab a drink and use the restroom. We ended up missing our turn and got lost. After pulling out the GPS we realized we missed our turn and went a couple miles out of the way. We relaxed by the pool that evening and met a couple from San Francisco and had fun talking and laughing with them. 
The next morning, we checked out of our hotel in Truckee and headed to South Lake Tahoe. We made a couple stops on the way to our hotel. We first stopped by Sand Harbor beach. It was a cold overcast and windy day, so we didn’t plan to get in the water. We walked around the beach and took some small hikes around the area. Then we sat in the lifeguard stand for a while to eat our lunch and people watch. We left Sand Harbor and headed to Secret Cove Beach. You had to park along the road and hike down to the beach… It was a very steep hike and we both had on flip flops. When we got to the beach it was stunning… the sun had come out and the water was crystal clear. This also happened to be a nude beach and there were many taking advantage of it. We sat on the large rocks and enjoyed the peacefulness of it all. The hike out was a different story. We had to hike out of the cove, and it felt even steeper going up. We had to stop several times to catch our breath. After our day at the beach we headed to our hotel in South Lake Tahoe, Hotel Azure. 
The next morning, we walked around all the shops near the California/Nevada state line. There were lots to see and do. We stopped and had lunch and listened to a live band while we waited for Jeanne and Jeff to drive in from the airport. When they got there, we met across the street at The Idle Hour Lake Tahoe for some wine tasting with beautiful views, albeit windy. 
We woke up the next morning to a haze in the sky due to all the wildfires nearby. We decided to go on a short hike in Emerald Bay State Park. The parking lot at this trailhead was small and there was a wait when we got there. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait that long, and Jeanne and Jeff kept us entertained. We walked down the steep trail till we got to the beach. The water was crystal clear and beautiful. At the beach was also the Vikingsholm "castle" with its beautiful Scandinavian architecture that was built in 1929 for Mrs. Laura Knight (although it now belongs to the state park). Unfortunately, the inside tours were closed, but we were able to walk around and peek through some of the windows at the detailed and stunning architecture. We stopped at an amazing pizza place on the way home and chatted with the owner who was a guy from New York, and he had some great stories to tell. 
We woke up to a beautiful day. We walked around town and did a little shopping then drove to Sand Harbor beach to rent kayaks for the day. The beach was crowded, and we had to park at the furthest end of the lot and take a hike to the end of the beach where the kayak rentals were. When we got there, there was a bit of a wait, so we decided to get a drink and people watched while we waited for our turn. When our names were called, they only had two single kayaks and a double. Mike and I agreed to take the double. We took off going North along the shoreline. The water was crystal clear and beautiful. We made several stops on beaches or boulders to get out and walk around. When we finally got back to the beach to turn in our kayaks, Mike realized he had left his flip flops at the last beach we were at. So, he had to hike back to the car through parking lots and pinecones for about a mile, since we had to park so far away. He decided he really wanted those flip flops, so we decided to drive to the beach where he left them. We had to park along the side of the road so he could hike down to the beach. After a while, he finally found them and got back to the car… we all had a good laugh.
The next day we headed back to Reno since we had an early flight the next morning. Jeanne and Jeff were staying at a casino and me and Mike were staying a little closer to the airport. We dropped them off at the casino and went to check into our hotel. TripAdvisor suggested we visit the National Automobile Museum; we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. They had a collection of over 200 vehicles… everything from vintage, classic, one-of-a-kind wonders, race cars to some of the finest horseless carriage collections in the world. The majority of the cars are from the world-famous collection of the late Bill Harrah. We could have stayed there for hours. I’m so glad we decided to visit. We then decided to take a stroll and see what Reno was like. Boy were we disappointed. We strolled along the Reno Riverwalk and I was thankful it was still daytime… It was sketchy, to put it nicely. We found the Reno Arc and took a picture. I was sad to see it was like a ghost town. Most of the old casinos/shops were boarded up and vacant. Needless to say, we did not stay for long. We met up with Jeanne and Jeff for pizza and called it a night since we flew out early the next morning. In fact, it was so early that Jeanne didn't realize her shirt was on backwards until we got through security. :) 
