Lake Tahoe Winter Pics......

[Yessongs]

So wifey and I finally made it to Lake Tahoe to see and experience the snow. First time ever for her, I had not been to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Winter since 1993. 4 hour drive from my home, the last hour is the best as you get into the Mountains. Pulled into Harvey’s Hotel/Casino for a 6 night stay. Nice place, reasonable at $90 per night for a King Bed, Standard Room, 9th floor view etc. Great Sports Bar for breakfast in the morning. 

The tale of 2 weather patterns over 6 days, first 2 days, 25 and 27 degrees ( -3 and -2.7 C) then warming to 44 degrees ( 6 C) over the last 4 days. Nights were brutally cold after the sunset. Rachanee was a “gamer” though, thermals, goose feathered jacket, sharks beanie, gloves and snow boots and she is ready. Don’t want to bore you with all the things we did, but a trip around the lake, over to the North Shore to explore a bit and small hike, over to Incline Village where all the rich people have their homes were all things we did. 

But several highlights were as follows:

The Gondola ride up to see the lake at 10,000 feet ( 3,048 meters)  is a must, then an additional 2,000 feet ( 609 meters) to watch these young guys ski/snowboard was fun………..23 degrees ( -5 C) will check your ego at the door LOL!  Damn…….luckily clear and cold and no wind. 

Snowmobile riding was first time for me too. Never did this before and sorry I missed this all those years ago. $200 for 2.5 hours, included 30 minutes with a guide who taught you the right way not to kill yourself LOL!  Then he leads 10 of us on a 2 hour, 16 mile drive deep into the “motherlode” of the Sierra Nevada’s. This was just outstanding, with several stops along the way for photos etc. I had no idea how fast 40 MPH ( 60KM)  is on one of these. These things get real fast, real easy. Rachanee asked me if she could drive the final hour?  I was hoping she wouldn’t ask. She took the lesson like all of us, she did go much slower though. My biggest concern was she was going to go off some ravine in 200 feet of snow, no one would notice we were gone from the group, they would find us next May when the snow melts, looking like a couple of frozen popsicle sticks LOL!  She did well though and we made it back safely. 

Night time activities?  Well it should be obvious, buffet dinners, had a great meal at Montbleu Casino with Chinese Food, then what else but drink and gamble a bit. Told Rachanee I was going to give her $100 per night to gamble…….her eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree!  She has fun with it, one night at Hard Rock she wants to “throw the dice” OK….get to our turn at the table, good crowd, $10 min, puts $20 on the pass line, rolls a “Nine” so the point is 9 right?  Previous to this she asked me why this one guy keeps yelling “33”? She said no 33 on the board. I told her that the point was 6, then if he rolls a “hard 6” which is both dice have to come up 3 and 3..he not only wins on the pass line for hitting his point, he also gets 9 to 1 payout, for this for rolling 3 and 3. 

She gets ready to roll on her 4th roll right? She yells out “Gao” the stickman and the pit boss look at me and I tell them “Oh, that’s Thai language for 9” They both laughed. 2 rolls later she rolls a nine and wins another $20….she was happy and so was the rest of the guys who played pass line or the field. By far, Hard Rock Casino had the best looking girls working there, there were 2 Philipino gals dealing Blackjack that were pretty fine for sure. The Casinos are pretty cool letting you take pics inside, just no pics allowed anywhere near the gaming tables, but anywhere near the slot machines are fair game with no hassles. Security guys helped us take a few pics….cool dudes.  

On Friday night we hit “Opal” nightclub at Montbleu Casino, $15 cover for guys, girls get in free. No cameras allowed as they have topless Go Go dancers who not all night, but at some points in the evening, drop their tops for a song or two. Security guys are cool, check your camera in for you no charge. This Fri evening was “80’s funk/disco” night” Play that funky music…white boy…..right up my alley LOL!  Forgot how good all those tunes sounded….especially buzzed! 

Nice looking girls doing bottle service and a good crowd of ladies over all there. Crown Royal and Seven Up was $15 per drink well poured, wifey had Corona at $12 per. 

Great trip and  Lake Tahoe still fun after all these years. 

[Lanzalad]

What a cracking report @Yessongs 👍

It looks like you and your better half had a cracking time.

Thanks for posting.

[Mrmango]

Brings back lots of memory's as I used to have a cabin at Tahoe..

[Starshine]

Absolutely awesome Mike.

[Thai Spice]

The blue sky in the mountains is really amazing !

Great pics !

 

[Steelers4Life]

Lovely area! Thanks for sharing. Great Pics!

[Aqualung]

Beautiful for sure, and the mountains and scenery ain't to bad either! 

Great report Mike and tfp. 

[Jambo]

Outstanding!!!!

Love snow - hate the cold. 🤣

[forcebwithu]

What a trip for you and especially for your wife. I imagine the pictures she sends back to her family and friends in Thailand generate a bit of envy for her. Or perhaps not, as I imagine not many Thais would like snow. ☃️

[john luke]

Thanks for posting; enjoy the trip.

[thumper63]

Outstanding TR Mike. Tahoe is an amazing winter playground. Looks like you both are having a great time. Tip o the hat to you both.

[thumper63]

19 hours ago, Thai Spice said:

The blue sky in the mountains is really amazing !

Great pics !

 

It really is amazing just how blue the ski is. But you have to get away from the pollution that we have gotten sooo good at generating on a daily basis to see it. 

[Yessongs]

Really appreciate the inputs gentlemen, yeah nice to get out of the city and into the Mountains, we both really like this place. Just beautiful for sure.

@Mrmango Your cabin was  in Northshore or Zephyr Cove perhaps? Just a side note, we had to take the snowmobile adventure near "Myers" as the Calif side has a lot more snow then the Nevada side right now. Looking at videos the "Zephyr Cove" snowmobile adventure looked a bit better as you get to stop and get much closer to the lake, but not enough snow yet for them to open. 

@forcebwithu  Good point, her friends wanted to know, as she got a lot of questions like " Wow, was it cold there"? Hey no kidding huh. 

[nampla69]

Wonderful pics. One of my favourite places on earth. Spent a long time there in 1981 on the Californian side North of the lake. Remember those casinos well you had to cross the border to get to them if memory serves.

No Hard Rock or Harveys or that ski lift back then. Pictures of the lake brought it all back. Used to be baking hot daytime freezing at night was idyllic.

OK I was with a Californian blonde girl who was insatiable and I was young .......... lake still looks the same.

Thank you so much for posting !!

[Mrmango]

1 hour ago, Yessongs said:

Really appreciate the inputs gentlemen, yeah nice to get out of the city and into the Mountains, we both really like this place. Just beautiful for sure.

@Mrmango Your cabin was  in Northshore or Zephyr Cove perhaps? Just a side note, we had to take the snowmobile adventure near "Myers" as the Calif side has a lot more snow then the Nevada side right now. Looking at videos the "Zephyr Cove" snowmobile adventure looked a bit better as you get to stop and get much closer to the lake, but not enough snow yet for them to open. 

@forcebwithu  Good point, her friends wanted to know, as she got a lot of questions like " Wow, was it cold there"? Hey no kidding huh. 

Actually, my cabin was in Homewood on the west shore, about half way between Tahoe City and Emerald Bay, but the winters were brutal there! We did have a private beach and boat buoy in our homeowners area, but sometimes it took 2 weeks to plow the road so you had to hanker down and wait, usually with no internet or landline.

The best snowmobiling was the gold courses and Tahoe City as well as South Shore used to have them and I loved to take my kids there when they were young to do that.

But it had its drawbacks even in the summer - Traffic was so bad on 89 (the road around the lake) that during any weekend, it was impossible to go anywhere as it was bumper to bumper.

[Krapow]

Wonderful pics and thread.

Pity not allowed pics of the Filipino croupiers 

 

[Mr. Smooth]

Fantastic pics Yessongs. I must say, you and your wife make a lovely couple.

I haven't been to South Lake Tahoe in several years but it has to rank as maybe the most picturesque lake in North America, if not the world. Some great motorcycling in the warm weather months as I rode my Harley on weekend rides many times.

May I suggest this summer taking a drive up Highway 88, or even through Yosemite National Park on Highway 120, on up to Highway 395 and take a ride along the eastern slope, the more majestic side of the Sierras, and spend the night in Bridgeport. An almost forgotten side of California that very few actually bother going unless they are familiar with the camping and fishing, if you're into that, and breathtaking scenery.

You won't regret it and neither will your lovely wife.

[forcebwithu]

Another option if you want to see Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas from above is go for a sailplane ride (Soaring NV). Go on a day when wind direction and strength is good and you can catch a mountain wave to 18,000+ ft. Once you're in the wave, the ride is smooth as silk and it's like an elevator ride up. Just be forewarned the same conditions that form mountain waves also make for turbulent rotor clouds closer to the ground.

[Yessongs]

23 hours ago, nampla69 said:

Wonderful pics. One of my favourite places on earth. Spent a long time there in 1981 on the Californian side North of the lake. Remember those casinos well you had to cross the border to get to them if memory serves.

No Hard Rock or Harveys or that ski lift back then. Pictures of the lake brought it all back. Used to be baking hot daytime freezing at night was idyllic.

OK I was with a Californian blonde girl who was insatiable and I was young .......... lake still looks the same.

Thank you so much for posting !!

Yeah young and in Calif in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with a blonde, what's not to like huh? LOL! Those were the days.........amazingly the Lake has held its own after 50 years, yep remember the time when we first moved to Calif, 1969, Mom and Dad took me and my Brother to Lake Tahoe. 13 years old, we had to stay outside of the casino, and watched Mom and Dad from the windows outside pulling the slot machines!  Mom passed away this past Dec, she was still talking about the time she saw " Elvis" there in 1971 at the Sahara Casino/Hotel which is now The Hard Rock. 

22 hours ago, Mrmango said:

Actually, my cabin was in Homewood on the west shore, about half way between Tahoe City and Emerald Bay, but the winters were brutal there! We did have a private beach and boat buoy in our homeowners area, but sometimes it took 2 weeks to plow the road so you had to hanker down and wait, usually with no internet or landline.

The best snowmobiling was the gold courses and Tahoe City as well as South Shore used to have them and I loved to take my kids there when they were young to do that.

But it had its drawbacks even in the summer - Traffic was so bad on 89 (the road around the lake) that during any weekend, it was impossible to go anywhere as it was bumper to bumper.

Great, oh yeah HWY 89, went there summer in 2016 with my wife and just recently last week with a trip around the lake. It can take some time as people just love that drive. That is a beautiful part of the lake and lucky for you, sounds like you had a nice place there to bring up some kids. 

20 hours ago, Krapow said:

Wonderful pics and thread.

Pity not allowed pics of the Filipino croupiers 

 

I was thinking about you, if wifey was not around, would have asked one of the Pinay beauties on her break to let me take a pic or two...

7 hours ago, Mr. Smooth said:

Fantastic pics Yessongs. I must say, you and your wife make a lovely couple.

I haven't been to South Lake Tahoe in several years but it has to rank as maybe the most picturesque lake in North America, if not the world. Some great motorcycling in the warm weather months as I rode my Harley on weekend rides many times.

May I suggest this summer taking a drive up Highway 88, or even through Yosemite National Park on Highway 120, on up to Highway 395 and take a ride along the eastern slope, the more majestic side of the Sierras, and spend the night in Bridgeport. An almost forgotten side of California that very few actually bother going unless they are familiar with the camping and fishing, if you're into that, and breathtaking scenery.

You won't regret it and neither will your lovely wife.

Thanks buddy, yeah I was just talking to her last night about Yosemite, she just really likes being in the mountains around here, none anywhere near her home obviously. I would imagine that having a Harley around summertime up there, would be just outstanding. Perhaps a trip there or another possibility might be Yellowstone? We'll see.

7 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Another option if you want to see Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas from above is go for a sailplane ride (Soaring NV). Go on a day when wind direction and strength is good and you can catch a mountain wave to 18,000+ ft. Once you're in the wave, the ride is smooth as silk and it's like an elevator ride up. Just be forewarned the same conditions that form mountain waves also make for turbulent rotor clouds closer to the ground.

Whoa.....if I told you I might a candy ass for this adventure, would I still get some respect? LOL! Have you done that? Rachanee asked me if she could try to snowboard? I said next time. Me? I do not want to screw up any ligament or meniscus damage to my knees at my age. 35 years in Tech, I want to be able to enjoy retirement and walk around and not walk with problems going forward. Snowboarding/skiing is for the younger guys.

@Steelers4Life Ted, forgot to mention to you, went into the Sports book at Harveys. Was looking at bets for the 2021 Super Bowl. The Steelers were 18 to 1, The Rams were 25 to 1....not great, but the Redskins and the Bengals were 100 to 1 to win it all. Jared Goff will be MVP next year LOL! 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Yessongs

[Golfingboy]

Beautiful set of pics, TFP. I‘ve got to make it down there on the way to next golf vacation to AZ or Palm Springs. Done Banff many times as I live an hour away, but Lake Tahoe sure does look sweet. I’m just scared if I have to go through that dangerous mountain pass on that reality show....is it by Truckee, I think? I guess winter tires aren’t a bad idea, even if the rest of my vacation it ends up being 20 degrees warmer a few hours south

Edited February 15, 2020 by Golfingboy

[Yessongs]

5 minutes ago, Golfingboy said:

Beautiful set of pics, TFP. I‘ve got to make it down there on the way to next golf vacation to AZ or Palm Springs. Done Banff many times as I live an hour away, but Lake Tahoe sure does look sweet. I’m just scared if I have to go through that dangerous mountain pass on that reality show....is it by Truckee, I think? I guess winter tires aren’t a bad idea, even if the rest of my vacation it ends up being 20 degrees warmer a few hours south

No worries GB, you would like it and I too have to get to Banff one day, the pass on the mountains is not all that bad at all. Truckee is on the other side going to Reno, this way if you have a 4WD piece of cake since you do winter driving anyway. Summertime have seen many golfers " gleeming" watching their drives in that thin, mountain air. 

[Skalliwag]

Well done (nice pic of the bass,I know that was for me).

No disrespect,but the name of the hotel is fitting,after looking at the last few pics of your beautiful wife.
Nice work my friend.😁😁😁😁

Yes indeedio.

[forcebwithu]

7 hours ago, Yessongs said:

...
Whoa.....if I told you I might a candy ass for this adventure, would I still get some respect? LOL! Have you done that? Rachanee asked me if she could try to snowboard? I said next time. Me? I do not want to screw up any ligament or meniscus damage to my knees at my age. 35 years in Tech, I want to be able to enjoy retirement and walk around and not walk with problems going forward. Snowboarding/skiing is for the younger guys.
...

I would tell Rachanee to go for it, but I would recommend she try skiing before snowboarding. Learning on skis is a bit easier than having both feet locked onto a single board. Plus learning on a snowboard you tend to land on your butt when you fall, meaning she'll be walking around with a sore ass for a couple of days afterwards.

I did mountain wave soaring out of Minden. One of my fondest memories from my time as a sailplane pilot. Getting through the rotor was hellashish, white knuckle flying, but once through the rotor wash you get into laminar air flow and it's the smoothest ride up you'll ever experience. A sailplane made it to 76,100 ft using mountain wave off the Andes Mtns in Argentina. I made it to 18,000 ft and could have gone higher, but the battery for my radio lost power and I couldn't contact ATC to open a mtn wave window.

 

[Yessongs]

21 hours ago, Skalliwag said:

Well done (nice pic of the bass,I know that was for me).

No disrespect,but the name of the hotel is fitting,after looking at the last few pics of your beautiful wife.
Nice work my friend.😁😁😁😁

Yes indeedio.

Thanks buddy, yeah they have Chris Squire's Bass there, has been there since at least 2015 when I went....nice looking Rickenbacker. Any Hard Rock cafes near your area in Canada? Great hotel for sure..

16 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I would tell Rachanee to go for it, but I would recommend she try skiing before snowboarding. Learning on skis is a bit easier than having both feet locked onto a single board. Plus learning on a snowboard you tend to land on your butt when you fall, meaning she'll be walking around with a sore ass for a couple of days afterwards.

I did mountain wave soaring out of Minden. One of my fondest memories from my time as a sailplane pilot. Getting through the rotor was hellashish, white knuckle flying, but once through the rotor wash you get into laminar air flow and it's the smoothest ride up you'll ever experience. A sailplane made it to 76,100 ft using mountain wave off the Andes Mtns in Argentina. I made it to 18,000 ft and could have gone higher, but the battery for my radio lost power and I couldn't contact ATC to open a mtn wave window.

 

Yeah perhaps you are on to something here, Rachanee is a gamer, she would for sure trying Skiing. Lucky you to have been part of that experience on a sail plane. Damn 76k feet up in the air with no motor? I can imagine how cool that would be if I had any balls huh? LOL! Thanks for your inputs on this. 

[Yessongs]

Just for kicks, a pic back in 1977 at Tahoe in November. This gal I went with was from " Dusseldorf"  Just friends, she was one laid back girl who was just cool to hang with.