Tahoe Vacation 2012 – Family fun in Fremont

I know I have a lot of catching up to do as far as posting goes, but what better way than to post about one of the BEST vacations ever.

Kate Frank and Parker arrived as SFO on 9/11. We got to spend a few quiet days at home before we all packed up and headed to Lake Tahoe for a week. Did manage a Mission Peak hike and Coyote Hills bike ride with Frank before we headed to the Sierras.   For Barb and I the vacation was all about spending some quality time with our new grandson, and that\’s what we pretty much ended up doing.  Friday the 14th we drop the dogs with Marie and Ron (we owe you so much!!) and arrive at Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort at check in time. Nice, newly remodeled room on the 5th floor over looking the pool, courtyard and Lake. I like it! Only problem (and not to me, I thought it was cool) was that they were doing a major remodel on one section of the resort, so they had the courtyard blocked off and heavy equipment replaced the BBQ pits and common areas. We got to spend the days watching the workers put up new siding and roofing. I thought it was cool.

Barb and I went to Reno airport Friday night to pick up Kelly. YAY for family vacations!  Team Downing came up for the weekend. Staci and Colin came for a few days.  Kate had a girlfriend come up for a night and Frank had a buddy and his wife come for a couple of nights as well. My sister and Joe were staying at the Keys, it was an action packed (not so much) family and friend filled (yes!) fun times.

Saturday morning did a mamoth grocery shopping trip to stock up for the week, then settled in for vacation. Anne Marie and Joe had rented a house in Tahoe Keys for a week. They invited all of us over to have lunch, enjoy the view from the water front home, and watch some college football and MLB.  It was so nice to spend some quiet time with family and friends in such a peaceful and scenic place. Thanks for the invite sis!!

Sunday morning was time for a good bike ride. Frank and I headed to Team Downing\’s house where we saddled up and headed via the keys to Fallen Leaf Lake, then further up to Lily lake. A nice, high altitude 26 miler to kick off our Tahoe vacation!  On the way back down from Lily Lake, Michelle wanted to show us the Fallen Leaf Lake Chapel. Lucky for us, Services were just wrapping up so we got a little spiritual nudge and got to meet and mingle with some nice people that attended the service. Great ride!!

At some point on Sunday everyone left to do things and it was just Barb and I along with Colin and Parker. Total grandparent time. Had tons of fun building a blanket fort in the room with Colin. Even took him for a swim downstairs, which ended abruptly when he later saw his mom waving at us from the balcony of our room. Another time Colin and I took a walk over to Ski Run Marina and shared a fantascially refreshing watermelon sorbet. We are both hooked on them now! He still has a little on his chin in this picture.

Sunday night Staci made some awesome spaghetti (squash and regular pasta)  with a three meat sauce! Bacon, sausage and ground beef. Best I ever had!!! One morning Kelly made some great breakfast biscuits. Then tuesday Frank made his famous chili. This after drinking 3+ \”rock hard\” Wet Woodys at the Riva Grill across the way.  Needless to say, we ate good while we were in Tahoe.

The rest of our week is a bit of a blur, only because we mostly just hung around the resort reconnecting with family. It was nice to spend some time with Parker. We watched him sleep, talked to him when he was awake, held him, fed him, changed him (ok that was all Barb) gave him baths. He is a great baby! Kate and Frank are great parents. Barb is a great grandma!  We encouraged everyone to go do whatever they wanted.  We got  the grandkids!

The vibe up at Tahoe was different than when we normally come up. For the last many years, we would come up on 4th of July week. The busiest summer week of the year. Last year it was August. This year it was middle of September and pertty much empty. Zero kids (all back in school) and pretty much all older folks and couples. I like the quiet. The weather was great. Nice during the day and chilled down nicely at night. We blew the conch at sunset every night.

Thursday morning we packed up and headed home. Took a detour down highway 99 so Frank could check out the Bass Pro Shop super store in Manteca. An outdoor lovers dream come true. He, Kate and Kelly wandered around in there for an hour or so while we watched (fed, changed) Parker in the car. Then it was over to Marie and Ron\’s to pick up the dogs. They not only watched our dogs but treated us to pizza dinner too! And then home.

Had a couple more days of family time. Took Kelly and Frank on my normal saturday 8am bike ride with the boys. I was happy to bring them along and show them all the fun we have on our rides. Also took Frank on a couple more rides before they left. He and I did 92 miles on the bike and a Mission Peak hike while on vacation.

We (sadly) dropped Kelly off at the airport on Sunday. I too went back to work on Monday, but Kate and Frank had one more thing on their agenda. They both went skydiving in Watsonville! It started out as a surprise for Frank (we was surprised and VERY excited) ended up being a jump for both of them. Needless to say they both came home very excited to share the experience with us. They want to add skydivng to the list of things they do when they come to visit. Have at it I say. We\’ll watch Parker.

All in all one of my most favorite vacations.

Tuesday morning it was 0345hrs wake-up call. Kate, Frank and Parker had a 6am flight out of SFO. We were back home by 5:15am and they were home in North Carolina around 8 hours later.

Click here for a link to the vacation pictures.

Click here to watch the videos!