Living in the valley, especially on the West Side, we are fortunate to have access to the coast, the mountains and the desert all within a couple hours drive. We live in a hub of sorts, just have to decide which direction we want to head and whether it will be a day trip or extended stay. Our location gives us the option of taking the interstate highways or freeways or venturing out to the many scenic “back roads” available.

Ken and I enjoy taking scenic road trips when we can, so when the opportunity arose for us to make our trip to South Lake Tahoe for a family reunion we decided to make it a leisurely drive and head up highways 88 and 89 instead of our traditional I-5 to Highway 50 route.

We’ve traveled 88 before but hadn’t taken it all the way into Tahoe. For those who haven’t tried that route, I highly recommend it. Besides being absolutely beautiful, thanks to the pristine clear blue skies of last Thursday, it was an easy drive and actually fewer miles and less time than our regular route. Plus, instead of the mess of metropolitan Sacramento and surrounding cities, we traveled through small quaint towns which added to the character of the drive.

We were surprised how climbing to 8,000 feet seemed so effortless and our arrival into South Lake Tahoe came upon us so quickly.

The drive back on Sunday went just as smoothly, although the incline that direction seemed a bit more noticeable. The scenery was still gorgeous. There was even a group of artists painting at a stream in Hope Valley, which completed the picture.

The family reunion was wonderful. We were blessed with clear skies and cool temperatures our entire stay. The lake was beautiful, just as I remembered.

I haven’t been to Tahoe in a few years but the first scent of the pines brought back all the memories of vacations and special occasions enjoyed there. There were some bittersweet moments for my family as we missed my parents not being there with us but overall it was a great weekend filled with lots of laughter and hugs and catching up with extended family or meeting cousins for the first time.

One cousin, Jim, explained to me how to figure out the whole first cousin, second cousin, once removed, twice removed formula. We discovered we are exact second cousins and so from there we could find other exact second cousins and so forth. It was actually quite entertaining and interesting trying to figure out how everyone fits together on the family tree.

We all gathered for dinner at the lake and fun activities like a crazy family bunco game with more first time players than experienced, all laughing and yelling out “Bunco!” or “Tahoe Tessie!” while counting out the points as we rolled. It was a hoot and a great way to see a lot of the family as we rotated partners throughout the game.

The weekend offered lots of down time to just hang out, play cards and reminisce. My sister (and her family), my brother and his wife, and Ken and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together last weekend. We laughed so much it almost hurt at times but felt so good!

And yes, I donated to the casinos, but only $25 I am happy to report!

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