4th of July week @ Lake Tahoe

In spite of the news of the big fire in Tahoe, we headed up to our timeshare on south shore Friday afternoon for our annual 4th of July Vacation. Very little smoke in the direction of the fire and no signs of fire where we were. Checked into room 529. End unit on the 5th floor of the Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort. Great spot with views of the Lake, the mountains, and the pool down below. Kate had come up with us. Kelly and her friend Heather would come up later. Check out all the pictures here!

Saturday was a lazy day.  Did some grocery shopping and hung out by the pool.  The outdoor hot tub was direct beneath our room and we were out there most mornings with our coffee.

Sunday was lazy day (ok, they all were!).  The Camello Fam came up from El Dorado Hills for the day. Spent a great, relaxing day with the Kahuna and family. Plenty of pool time, some lake time too!   Strolled across Ski Run Marina to the Riva Grill for a pitcher of Wet Woodys. The wet woody is the signature drink there and consists of a few types of rum with a rum floater. Tastes like a peachy slushy.  All you need is one and you are feeling pretty good. Its says when you order that \”one will give you the glazed look\” and that is true.  Back to our place for dinner. Grilled some \”Brats and Hots\”, blew the conch at sunset and all is good on vacation!

Monday was a Lazy day And Barb\’s birthday

Tuesday was a lazy day.   People started arriving for the 4th of July festivities.  But before that, Brother John and Sharrie came over the hill from Gardnerville for a short visit.  Then came the Shull and Lewellyn families who were staying up the hill on Ski Run Blvd. After everyone settled in, we were off to the Camello cabin on Emerald Bay for dinner. Great time to visit with all our friends at one of the most beautiful spots on earth. One of the highlights of the night was a visit by a bear. Only about 20 feet down the hill from the deck. This bear must\’ve smelled the BBQ and thought his dinner was ready. The bear was a persistent bugger and wouldn\’t leave even though we were all yelling and making noise to scare it along. It came back around and popped his head out from behind a rock.  I took a few pictures. Kelly took some even better video of the Kahuna going after the bear and scaring it away. The excitement of the bear sighting  made for great rest of the evening.   A feast fit for a king. Chicken, steak and ribs with all the fix-ins. Staci and Shane showed up later that evening and everything was set for a perfect 4th of July.

4th of July was hectic but fun. I went out around 8am and \”reserved\” a nice spot on the beach that we would watch the fireworks from that evening. Then we tried to reserve some spots by the pool for anyone that wanted to hang out there. Camello brought two of his kayaks down from the cabin. A single and a double made for some fun kayaking throughout the day. It was around 90 degrees in Tahoe so the cold water of the Alpine lake was wonderful! We eventually abandoned the pool area and all hung out on the beach.  By the time fireworks rolled around at 9:45, the place was wall to wall people.  Advertised as the largest fireworks show west of the Mississippi, it did not disappoint. Great show!

Thursday was a lazy day. Walked down to the Casinos with Staci, Shane and the girls, goofed off down there for a while and then headed back to the condo. Shane and Staci made some great pina coladas then cooked a great dinner of beer brats, portabello mushroom sandwiches. YUM!

Back home Friday and the end of a great vacation. Even had the weekend to rest up a bit.

Note on the fire: Even though we saw little damage ourselves, there was damage. When we were rolling into town on Friday, there must have been 30 fire trucks heading home over highway 50. All through town there were \”THANK YOU FIREFIGHTER\” signs on almost every corner. As we made our way down Ski Run Blvd that first time, there were people standing on the corners cheering the fire fighters on as they made thier way out, or back to the fire lines. GOD BLESS THEM ALL