Lake Tahoe and a bit of California

View of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from the Hotel
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

 Hello Readers, 

Sitting in a Chair made of Ski's
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

The mountains really are my happy place. After spending an amazing 5 months in Banff, Alberta for my College Program Co-op in 2012 I have had a love and appreciation for the landscapes. It was just 10 years later (2022) I would get the opportunity to travel with my parents to Lake Tahoe to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. You can view the photos of Banff on the Banff, Alberta Page of this blog. You can also see that I have upgraded my camera equipment over the last 10 years and see the quality upgrade of the photos produced.

The amazing glacier water and the white snow capped mountains are nothing short of spectacular. My parents and I rented a car so we could drive around the entire lake as well as made a day trip to California. Speaking of California, the hotel we stayed at was right on the stateline of Nevada and California. We stayed at the Harvey's Lake Tahoe Casino in Stateline Nevada, you could see the mountains from bed in the hotel rooms as they are situated on angles looking out at the view.

Emerald Bay
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

The one day in the rental car we visited Virginia City, NV. Its an old Nickel Mining town outside of Carson City. We learned a lot of history there, and spent some time looking around the saloons that still stand today. After that, we drove through Reno so we could make the entire trip around Lake Tahoe. We took a quick stop through Truckee, I am one of those travelers that follows the signs, when I see something of interest I always want to check it out. While on route we had to visit Emerald Bay with its deep green coloured water. The switch backs on the mountain roads are not for the faint of heart, some have guard rails while others do not, but if you take your time you can make the best of it. 

The next day with the rental car we summitted the mountains in California and headed to Folsom. My dad is a big Johnny Cash fan so we thought it would be best to take him to Folsom Prison, which is still an active prison today. However, it was a weekday so the museum there wasn't in operation. Instead we ended up taking him to the Harley Davidson store there to get him a souvenir shirt with the Prison on the back of it.

View from the Airplane of the Sierra Nevada Mountains - May 2023
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Painted Ladies
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

In May 2023 I got to visit Lake Tahoe again, after a record year for snow fall in the area. The snow melting on the mountains was beautiful. My mom and I rented a car again and drove over the summit passes to California, so we could spend a couple days on the West Coast in San Francisco. San Francisco is a must see destination. The cable cars, the Golden Gate, Painted Ladies, Fisherman's Wharf, and sea lions where to begin. It was all wonderful, and we really got to see it all in the 1.5 days we were there. We would suggest planning to be there longer, as we spent most of our day on the Hop on Hop off bus, and went around the City Twice. We didn't visit Alcatraz but if my sister had been with us, she would have loved that. 

Food at Boudin Bakery
Photo Credit: Kathy Gadsby 

The first night in San Francisco, we took an uber to the Downtown to get our barring's and go for dinner. There was a bit of traffic as their was a baseball game happening at the Giants Stadium (Oracle Park). However, our driver dropped us off at the Wharf and we wandered around, took at look out over the Bay where Alcatraz Island is located. The sun was setting and we were starved after the drive. We had heard that sour dough was specifically special to San Francisco. There it was in front of our faces Boudin Bakery - "Home of the mother dough". There was a full restaurant upstairs which we ended up eating at the second night. The first night we used their downstairs market style, café. Mom got a sourdough bread bowl full of chili and I got a beef dip sandwich made on sour dough. There is a conveyor belt going around the entire building moving sour dough, as well as in the corner of the room behind glass you can see trays and trays of sour dough rolls and buns being prepared for the next day. Boudin or somewhere for sour dough is a definite must for food in San Francisco. 

Golden Gate Bridge
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Our past experiences travelling around the globe have made us comfortable using public transit the second day; our only FULL day. We rode the subway from our hotel (we stayed out at the Airport away from the Downtown to save money). Once we got downtown via the subway, we hopped on a Street Car to the downtown core, where we arrived at Fisherman's Wharf to catch the hop on hop off tour. The Street Cars in San Francisco are quite unique. They are vintage street cars from many different cities in America, you can read where the car came from inside the car. Ours specifically was from Birmingham, Alabama. More information can be found on their website: San Francisco Historic Street Car Website. 

 In our short period of time, we got to fit in all of the large sightseeing items. We did not visit Alcatraz, so I would suggest planning a full day for that if you are interested in that. I would also mention that we were quite fast paced, trying to hop on the next bus to the next destination. For a more relaxed trip to San Francisco I would suggest 3-4 full days. 

The mountains really are my place where I am relaxed and enjoying the beautiful nature. Until we meet again Canadian Rockies or Sierra Nevada's I love you all. 

Thanks for reading...this was a long one, however please enjoy a few more photos on the San Francisco Page. 

Weekend Hike in the Mountains

Readers...

I made it there and back without a heart attack. As some of you know, I am not much of a hiker...so this weekend was a big challenge for me. I achieved some personal accomplishments today. I climbed most of a mountain up to a cottage for the weekend, even though I wanted to turn back probably 10 times.

There was no cell reception but the views were spectacular. It was the Schwarzberghuette Cottage (sorry the link is in German), you should look into it if you are ever in the Allgäu Region of Germany. The mountains had barely any snow on them on Saturday morning when we began our climb. It took about 1 hour 30minutes to get to the cottage after the bus ride from the nearest village. It was hostel style rooms but they all had a view from the small window. The food there was good as well.

This is the outside of the Cottage. Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

After we got settled in and left our backpacks in our rooms (do not even try to take a luggage bag, you are walking up steep inclines and pulling luggage is that last thing you want to be doing) our coordinators offered another hike. I was done at this point so, I stayed back and did a small walk to the meadow where they usually have the cows on the mountain. I enjoyed my views and sitting and talking with the one coordinator, it was like my own personal tour. While I was doing that, the rest of the group was walking further up the mountain and across to a lake. The lake was ice cold, as it is mostly mountain run off from melting snow and ice. Some students came back after the lake but others went on to the peak. They did an additional 2 and a half hour climb that I did not. I still have added some photos others shared with me.

The lake the others hiked to. Beautiful view I missed out on. Photo Credit: International Office, Hochschule Kempten

In the evening we just hung out in the cottage playing games and socializing with the other students (there were about 34 of us in total), some we had met during Orientation here but others were just international students we had not met yet. 

The Sunday Morning, Fog and Snow on the Mountain. Photo Credit: Eugene Kim

I was very happy that I even decided to do this trip at all, and totally worth it for that view and experience with the other exchange students here. When we woke up on Sunday morning at the cottage, there was more snow on the mountain. Being at a higher altitude it had snowed overnight, it was just a light dusting, but still a wonderful sight to see in the morning.

Thanks for reading!!!
Talk soon...