Lake Tahoe and Gold Country

Here are some pics (OK, a lot of pics) from our trip to explore another part of California.  It is pretty awesome to live so close to great vacation spots.  This summer we decided to do a little exploration of gold country and Lake Tahoe.  The plan was to check out Sutter's Mill and the gold discovery state park, go whitewater rafting on the South Fork of the American River (on which Sutter's Fort was located), and then spend a few days in Lake Tahoe playing on the lake.  We didn't like the place in Lake Tahoe very much and the boys were too young to drive any motorized watercraft - so we changed plans and spent a couple nights in Squaw Valley (we pricelined a great deal at a 4 star resort from our not-so-great place in S. Lake Tahoe.)  So, we spent more time on bikes than on the water.  

We did the Chili Bar section of the river.

OK, this isn't us, but this is what we would have looked like had we waited for the river photographer to load her photos, burn a disk, and charge us $60 for it.  So, just pretend....

Auburn, CA - pretty darn cute town in gold country.

Boys in historic Auburn, CA where there was a Monday night festival.

Statue of a prospector panning for gold.  Looks like Davis is digging for something else.

Most people see antique mining equipment.  Davis sees a "light cycle" (Tron reference) circa 1850.

Sign says "Mormon Cabin".  Sutter's Mill

Sutter's mill site on the American River.

Lake Tahoe

Nathaniel was the only one interested in getting in.

Biking in Van Sickle Bi-State Park (that means the park is in two states: CA and NV)

Taking the gondola up Heavenly Ski Resort.

This made me want pie even more.

Overlooking South Lake Tahoe

After eating high altitude chili dogs and chicken fingers, the boys weren't super excited about hiking (blech).

Why is there a ladder up here on top of the mountain?

It's sad to see them grow, but even more sad to see them shrink!

Nathaniel "downhill" mountain biking at Northstar Ski Resort, Truckee, CA.

Wild flowers border the very dusty trail.

Davis and Nathaniel play in the Squaw Creek Resort pool.



Davis tosses Nathaniel in the air.

A great place to relax.

Nathaniel runs...

jumps...

and splashes!

Nathaniel said it isn't weird for parents to go on the water slide with their kid.  He didn't say that it is such a small slide that a parent is too heavy to slide down without pushing yourself along.

Through the chute.

splash down

Davis' favorite activity of the whole trip - driving the golf cart.

Squaw Valley - a very pretty place.

It's not really a vacation unless Chris is able to golf.

Dinner at the resort.

S'mores around the fire.

Cozy place when the sun goes down.

Mountain biking (cross country) in Paige Meadows (Lake Tahoe).

The cell phone camera only picked up the white flowers.  This meadow was full of so many different colors of flowers.

Fun single-track biking through meadows and forests.

Mountain Biking in Park City

On our trip to Utah we spent a couple days at my brother's house in Park City.  At one of the city parks there is a mountain bike "skills course".  Chris and I haven't mountain biked for years and it was Nathaniel's first time (Davis has gone with the scouts a few times).  So it was fun to go down the curvy bumpy practice trails and play on the wood structures.  I must say, bikes with suspension make it a lot easier than it was with our old hard-tail bikes in Virginia.  

Chris tests out the skills park structures.



Confidence, strength, and padded shorts - what else could you want?

Chris and Davis rode off the big teeter totter.

I rode off the small teeter totter.

It's a good thing you can't see my face.  I'm pretty scared.

 Nathaniel testing his balance skills with a drop off at the end.

Stopping to blow the parachute seeds away.

The flat road wasn't as fun as the downhill trails.



Boys and bikes.

It was so pretty.  I wish I had pictures of us riding the next day when we took the gondola up the Canyons ski resort.  We rode on trails that switched back down through the pine trees and then took a chair lift back up.  I did get some pics of Nathaniel with my phone while Davis and Chris were going down a longer trail and Nathaniel and I explored a bit and took the gondola back down.

On the gondola.

Snow that has been hollowed out underneath by a stream like a turtle shell.

Lift chair with a snow shield.  Pretty nice.

I need to get into better shape so we can do more mountain biking.  Much more fun with the boys than going to the outlet mall.