Lake Tahoe

We stayed at an AirBnB in Kings Beach, on the north side of Lake Tahoe.

My wife & I drove our car from where we reside, in San Mateo, south of San Francisco.

It took 4 hours of driving (maybe more?), hitting heavy traffic at points along the way.

Highway maintenance (and expansions!) seems to all be rushed to execute during the non-winter months while weather is “good”.

Some photos from the trip–our bikes unpacked at the cabin:

We got out and road down to the beach:

Today I learned: Lake Tahoe’s historical name was briefly honoring a Confederate (slavery) sympathizer:

Riding a bike was pretty good:

There was a noteworthy amount of signs, begging motorists to drive their large vehicles slower:

The obligatory and hypocritical “Keep Tahoe Blue” bumper sticker on a gas-guzzling overweight SUV is an enduring phenomenon for many decades now:

A walk around the neighborhood:

We elected to take a bus over to Tahoe City, from Kings Beach.

The bus runs every hour 7 days a week, but the Transit app very helpfully guided us to the bus stop with only a few minutes of waiting:

The bus agency is named “TART” (Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transit), and they have 3-4 fixed routes and an on-demand shuttle service.

In such a housing-constrained area, recruiting drivers at living wages is a real logistical problem:

While waiting for the bus we watched a family of 5, all on e-bikes, pedal past us:

On the bus, pretty standard affair–it is free so no payments and all-door boarding (which both make the bus faster):

Pretty epic views out to the lake:

We saw a boat sale going down, and we’d later find out that there were fatalities on the lake the next day:

Lots of bike rental options:

So weird to see manicured golf courses among the forest:

We walked the lakefront trail by Commons Beach:

Fascinating informational placards about the lake’s history of commercial settlement:

After reading our books on a bench we caught the bus back, waiting in a winter-proof bus shelter:

E-bike teenager gang spotted while we waited for the bus–a great mobility option due to a fair amount of road & parking congestion:

We walked Kings Beach and experienced the gorgeous shoreline:

And walked home:

Biking to dinner at White Caps for pizza:

“Nobody is stoked that you moved here” at the cafe next door:

The next day we visited Sand Harbor Beach (on the Nevada side of the lake).

We passed Incline Village, and the bus route terminated there.

There is a new 2-3 mile multi-use path from Incline Village to the Nevada state park, and it was well utilized but car congestion on the roadway was intense.

Folks bring an incredible amount of stuff to the beach, but I will withhold my judgment:

Lots of bikers though:

Rounding out the trip, I read the book “Better Buses, Better Cities” and have two interesting extracts:

Reading and travel powered by coffee:

And trail runs before heading back home:

I hope to make the next trip on the once-a-day Amtrak that departs from Richmond to Truckee (5.5 hours).