72 Mile Scenic drive around Lake Tahoe, CA

Monday, May 18, 2015

The weather forecast for today is rain possible in the afternoon.  Today is supposed to be one of the best weather days of the week. Since it was to be a nice day we decided to take the 72 mile scenic drive around Lake Tahoe.  We had a self guided tour map pointing out many highlights along the route.

This was our first stop.  The Tallack Historic Estates preserves cottages built in the 1890s when the area was a popular get-away for wealthy San Franciscans. 
This historic site was not going to have all the buildings open to tour until Labor Day weekend and we would be gone.  So we only got to look through the windows and read the signs.

This large beautiful home was designed to be Dextra Baldwin's summer home.  See more details about the home below.

Sounds like a spoiled girl if you ask me.

This was the view off the back porch of the Baldwin House.

This is a panoramic view on the beach behind the Baldwin House and closer to the water's edge.

This pond and gazebo area were on the short walk between the Baldwin House and the Pope House.

I'm gazing at the front of the Pope House.  Apparently this "cottage" was added on to and turned into a lodge.

This is the back porch of the Pope Lodge.  Also a magnificent place.

This was another smaller guest house.  I really like the tree branches that decorate the porch roof.

The construction of the guest house was really heavy duty.
 
The housing for all the servants was really small.  I'm not posting any pictures of the buildings because they are very plain.  The rooms were probably not any bigger than 10 ft x 10 ft except for the Nanny's room which also had a crib and baby stuff.  The Nanny's room might have been 12 ft x 12 ft.  Seeing the extravagance elsewhere gives you an idea of how little value they had for their servants.

This vacation resort even had a gas pump.

These are called snow plants/flowers.  They were under several trees at this vacation spot.  A snow plant is a parasite that thrives on fungus attached to the roots of conifer trees.  Interesting.

We headed down the road.  The clouds are building and were so pretty over the snow capped mountains that we needed another picture.

This is our first view of Emerald Bay from a high viewpoint.

Isn't this gorgeous?!?!

This island is in the middle of Emerald Bay.  It is called Fannette Island. Look closely at the top of the hill on this island.  There is a small rock building.  See below.

This is a closeup of the little rock structure. Apparently this was Mrs. Knight's Tea House that is 16 ft by 16 ft.  She only took her friends there in the summer when they were at their home as seen below.
 

This is the Vikingsholm Castle owned by the Knights.  This house is on the beach across from Fannette Island.  This castle is open for tours starting May 23.  We were leaving town on May 22 so did not get to tour it.  Also it was a 1.5 mile hike downhill to get to the castle.  Don't forget that means 1.5 mile hike uphill to get back to the parking lot.

The Vinkingsholm is in this picture on the beach, but it is hard to see because it looks so tiny.  This is also Emerald Bay.

Just a short distance down the road was a short hike to see Eagle Falls.

These are our friends Roxy and Dave sitting near Upper Eagle Falls.  This picture makes it look like the falls are splashing on Roxy's head.

Here Tic and I are sitting on the same rock with Eagle Falls in the background.  It was a cold day and we all had on multiple layers of clothes.

This is a view of Lower Eagle Falls.  Isn't it beautiful!?!

After this we stopped for lunch in Tahoe City which was only about 1/3rd of the way around the lake from where we started.  Tahoe city was a hippy looking town.

This is the Fire Sign Cafe.  It's quaint.  The food was delicious and reasonably priced.  We would recommend this place to eat.

At this point, we are about half way around the lake. Each of the arrows are pointing to significant spots around the lake.

There were lots of pullouts to view Lake Tahoe.  We stopped at this one.  The house on the edge of the lake has a gorgeous view.  This side of the lake is much more rocky.

This picture is taken from the same spot as above.  It had snowed the night before so the snow covered mountains really stood out.

These large boulders are at Logan Shoals Vista. Another beautiful spot on the lake.

This is also at Logan Shoals Vists.  The rocks had rings of color.  Interesting and beautiful!

This is again from Logan Shoals Vista.  I especially like the rain storms you can see on the Lake.

After leaving Logan Shoals Vista, we had to pass through this tunnel.  The road split and each direction had its own tunnel.  The tunnel showing the height signs is the entrance and the tunnel without the signs is the exit for traffic going the opposite direction.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Today we are taking a short drive, since it is supposed to be rainy this afternoon.    

We visited the Donner Memorial, which marks the Donner Camp.  In case you aren't sure about the particulars of the Donner group here's a little  info.  The Donner group got stranded without shelter and food during the winter of 1846-1847.  They resorted to cannibalism of the dead to survive.

This is the view of the mountains on the way home today.  Can you tell it is snowing in the mountains again.

This is one view of a ski hill near Tahoe.  Not much snow on them.

We spent the rest of the rainy day with Dave and Roxy at their suite playing games and watching a movie.