Lake Tahoe, July 2006

Kevin and C jumping off the dock.

We're back from our yearly camping trip to Lake Tahoe. This year there were nineteen of us in 3 campsites at Sugar Pine Point State Park. Our group was comprised of my husband's parents, two brothers and sister, with their families, and us. We all arrived Sunday afternoon, pitched our tents, and the fun began.

Kevin with K, doing her first jump off the dock.

We spent the week racing bikes around the campground, swimming, playing on the beach at Meeks Bay, fishing for crawdads, rafting on the Truckee river, kayaking, hiking, fishing (for trout), rocket bottle launching, roasting (burning) marshmallows, peewee golfing, beading, playing Snap and Casino, and then when the kids were finally in bed the adults would gather around one screen-covered table to read and play Pedro (a card game). Understandably, we were quite worn out by the time the week was at an end.

My personal favorite was jumping off the dock into the lake. The water was so cool, clear and refreshing! It made me feel so young to run down the dock and leap off, legs kicking and arms flying. I can't imagine what it must have looked like to see a 40 year old jumping off the dock like that... but I don't care. I loved it. It was like not having a care in the world.

Kevin at Meeks Bay. He's looking very handsome in his new sunglasses.

Our niece, B, with the 5 crawdads that she and the other cousins caught.

The camping was good. Every day the campground would warm up and we would head down to the cooling lake. The lake level was high this year... within about a foot of the high water mark I saw on the rocks around Rubicon point. This was about 3 to 4 feet higher than last year. I think the higher water levels result in warmer surface temperatures, because more of the water covers the sand on the beach. This made the water very enjoyable, and crawdad fishing was better too. In the evening the mosquitos were thirsty. Poor K took some nasty bites. And a few days later in the week we had some clouds and sprinkles. We had planned to go fishing one evening but lightning a few miles north on the lake kept us off the dock. The lake was beautiful though. I had never seen it rough like that.

Pirate fights with Uncle Nate!

Lightning on the evening lake.

P and B building sand castles on the beach.

A beautiful shot of all the kids.

Sugar Pine Point State Park is a great campground for kids. It has two flat loops and a long paved biking trail from the front end of the campground to the rear. It has trails leading out the back you can mountain bike on. The sites are large and fairly private. The water is fresh and quite drinkable. The sites are decently clean. The campground host gives all the children little litter bags to help pick the bits of garbage they see about. (The kids are excited about this for about a day... but every little bit helps.) There are flush toilets, sinks and hot showers you can pay for. Laundry, groceries and pizza are 5 minutes away in Tahoma. And beautiful Meeks Bay beach is 5 minutes away in the other direction. With all this though, Sugar Pine was showing some wear and tear this year, possibly due to state budget cuts. Leaky toilets, non-existent ranger patrols, and campground roads in need of serious improvement. Despite this, I like the campground and am thankful I'm not holding my breath balancing K on the edge of a pit toilet for as many times as she tells me she has to go potty for a whole week.

Thunderstorms over Lake Tahoe.

C fishing at Sugar Pine Point.

Some tired doggies on the last day.

We packed up and left Sunday after lunch. We stopped for one last swim at the dock to wash off the campground heat and grime. The kids were exhausted! The last few years we have driven home on Hwy 88 which passes through Kirkwood and goes over Carson Pass. This is an incredibly scenic drive with relatively no traffic. We stopped at the top of Carson Pass at the visitor center to get some maps and info about the area because there are many small lakes in the region that we're hoping to explore at some point. Maybe we'll take the kids on a backpacking trip there in August. I hope so!