Amy Gets Cracked

The Lake Tahoe portion of our journey got off to a good start, nice weather, and cell service for Curt to make his all important conference call.

Northern California has many options for those needing cell service, we chose to follow the "cold' instead of the "warmth". The following morning, Amy announced, "We won, we beat the sub freezing temps in a our 2nd night of camping". Shortly thereafter, Amy found a ray of sunshine and a camp fire in her quest to start the day.Then it happened . . . frozen tooth paste, on top of slush in the water jug, and the final straw.

Snow falling from the sky. Amy was officially cracked at this point. The car was quickly packed and pointed in a southerly direction towards the comforts of potential hotel rooms on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe. If only it was that simple. We made it half way before the CHP put the brakes on our escape. The only road around the lake was closed due to heavy snow, an accident, and a prescribed burn. So back around the lake we went in the opposite direction. At this point another lesson was hammered home to us . . . do a little research before jumping in with both feet. We had camped in the NW corner of the lake, along side a busy highway, within earshot of a construction site, and where lake effect snow is common. Not exactly the recipe for a successful outing during cold weather. After being forced to backtrack, we discovered the Nevada side . . . Sunny skies, temps in the mid 40's, no wind, no houses, and camp sites on the lake (far removed from the highway). After the some dilligent shopping, we landed in a delightful Best Western on the south shore, within walking distance of the casinos.
On that Saturday, the snow covered FJ reamined anchored in the parking lot, the casinos were calling our name. After all, it was a college football saturday, and we needed to make some money to finance the rest of our trip. Surprisingly, this idiotic plan worked. South shore also included a new favotite activity of ours, coin operated laundry. After two warm nights in Tahoe, we headed for the warmer confines of Yosemite Valley.