Crazy Travels on 2 Wheels: The Tahoe Queen....

Crazy Travels on 2 Wheels: The Tahoe Queen....: I know...it doesn't even look real...but trust me, it was truly that blue and that gorgeous at Lake Tahoe!  The weird thing was t...

The Tahoe Queen....

I know...it doesn't even look real...but trust me, it was truly that blue and that gorgeous at Lake Tahoe!  The weird thing was that the color of the water would change periodically....

It was just the craziest thing....it could be deep, deep blue and then an emerald green...and many other shades in between those two!  After doing some research, what I found out about the colors of Lake Tahoe are this....

"As light penetrates the Lake, water molecules absorb various colors. Fine particles and the exceptional clarity allow backscattering of the predominating light color toward the eye of an observer. The lake water appears blue as other colors in the light spectrum are absorbed at deeper depths and the predominant blue light is scattered back toward the observer’s eye. The center of the Lake can appear cobalt blue, as blue light is absorbed further, leaving visible violet light as the predominant light color. In shallow areas, the water can appear emerald or turquoise in color since green is the predominant light color at shallow depths. In addition, under the right conditions, the Lake surface can reflect the adjacent mountains and the color of the sky."

Well...there you have it!!  That explains why I kept oooo-ing and aaaah-ing at the many colors of this lake.  Another interesting fact is that the water is 99.994% pure, making it one of the purest lakes in the world (commercially distilled water is 99.998% pure). 

Our tour on The Tahoe Queen was scheduled to depart at 1:30, so we had some time to explore and shop first....

Wow...you just never know who you might run into while shopping at South Lake Tahoe!!  They told me to keep it hush-hush as they were "on a mission from God"!!  Shhhhh.....

Oh hey...are you hungry??  After shopping for 30 minutes (my max--not a shopper)...we were all starving!  Where else to go for great food and great brew??  MacDuffs Pub(lic) House!!  This a favorite of the locals...and for these visitors too!!

I cannot even lie about this....but this Reuben Sandwich was OMG OMG OMG good!!!  Jan kept laughing at me repeating that over and over after each bite....but O.M.G.!!

The boys had to get their picture taken as well....

 Yum!!

http://www.macduffspub.com/tahoe/index

(Just looking at the food on the menu made my mouth water...definitely need to go back to try the wood-fired pizza!!)

Oh yes...these were Terry's big shopping purchases...looking for security torques bits (tools for the Harley that he had forgotten to bring along on the trip)....and may I add here that these tools DID come in handy later on in the trip (...to be continued)!

And this was our vessel for fun and excitement for the afternoon!!

 The Tahoe Queen is a 312-passenger authentic Mississippi paddlewheel boat that cruises out several times daily for tours.  In the photo above I did a panorama picture and it shows the shore as we were leaving, with Randy and Terry at the far right.

There were many ships anchored not far from the shore.  Apparently you can spend the night on the water during the summer and enjoy the beautiful sunset on the water...wow! There are many people during the summer who do that. Next time!! ;)

These separate wheels would guide the boat in the direction that it needed to go...very interesting.  It was strange to see them both going different directions at times.

A view from the front of the boat as we headed out....to the left is Terry, Randy and Jan.  The boat was loaded down with tourists.

Randy and Jan enjoying the cruise as we get into the deeper waters.

There's that water changing colors again....like the old "mood rings" from back in the 70's!  By the way....the surface of Lake Tahoe is at an elevation of 6,225 feet above historical sea level.  The surrounding mountain peaks vary from 9,000 to almost 11,000 feet!

These two pictures show Mt. Tallac, the guardian of the south shore of Lake Tahoe.  It is a 9,700 foot summit, with the east face bearing a shiny white cross...visible for all to admire.  God does such amazing artwork in nature!

I mean seriously...look at the color of the water....I do believe it reflects the color of the sky!!

It was a little bit cool on the tour with the breeze, but the sunshine would warm you up.  

Look at all of the different colors in the water in this photo!  Unbelievable...just splendid!

To be completely surrounded by mountains as you float on this ethereal-colored water was almost like being in a dream.  I may have written this before, but it needs to be reiterated....the pictures do NOT do justice to the beauty that surrounds you at Lake Tahoe.

Oh Vikingsholm...isn't that beautiful?  The history behind it makes it even more fascinating. It is called the "hidden castle" in Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay.  The original owner was Lora J. Knight of Montecito, who bought 239 acres for $250,000 back in 1928.  The scenery reminded her of fjords she had visited in Norway, and so she proceeded in building her castle from materials acquired from all around Lake Tahoe--with the exception of the stained-glass windows from Sweden.  It took 200 workers one season to build from the designs of her nephew, a Swedish architect.  Lora enjoyed 15 summers there before she died in 1945.  The castle was sold several times, before finally being transferred to the state of California in 1953 for $125,000, half of its estimated value.

It is a little difficult to see, but Lora Knight also had a "teahouse" built on Fannette Island, which was a short distance from Vikingsholm (many visitors mistake it for Vikingsholm because of its castle-like appearance).  Several times a summer, tea was served in the small stone teahouse.  Servants would bring food and table settings and the guests would travel by boat to the island, then hike up the rocky trail to the summit.

After boating around Emerald Bay we began the journey back to the shore.  Majestic....stunning....resplendent.

It's not a complete ride on the Tahoe Queen without a selfie on the trip back....you can see the teahouse in the background!  Terry, Jan and Randy are behind me...and yes, the sun disappeared for a bit and it was down right chilly! Nothing that a cup of coffee couldn't help...maybe had a little added ingredient in it to warm us from the inside out!

Looking towards the back of the ship you could see the mountains and our United States flag....it was too cool to pass up.

Back on land...and walking back to the condo and saw this cool wood sculpture. So much to see everywhere you looked.  It was such a lovely day.

Back in our home-away-from-home with Randy, Jan and Terry on the deck before the sunset.

View of the sun going down from the deck of the condo....ahhhhh.

Sampling some more of that California wine that we purchased on the way up!!  Perfect end to an unbelievable day!!

While Terry and I were enjoying our California wine, Jan and Randy went for a walk down to the lake and shared these pictures with me....Lake Tahoe is just magnificent, exquisite and alluring!

How about you join us next time as we take a gondola ride into some heavenly scenery??  Until next time....

Crazy Travels on 2 Wheels: All the Way Around Lake Tahoe....

Crazy Travels on 2 Wheels: All the Way Around Lake Tahoe....: Monday morning dawned bright and sunny in South Lake Tahoe for our trip.  Our plan for the day was to ride a gondola at Squaw Valley...

All the Way Around Lake Tahoe....

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny in South Lake Tahoe for our trip.  Our plan for the day was to ride a gondola at Squaw Valley and to drive the full length around the lake...72 miles! Our chosen driver was Randy...and he did an excellent job of showing us the sights.  

I took some shots showing a few piers as we were leaving town. Lake Tahoe is a freshwater lake that is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, at an elevation of 6,225 feet. It is partially in California (2/3) and partially in Nevada (1/3). At a depth of 1,645 feet, it is the second deepest lake in the United States (Crater Lake is 1,945 feet). After the five Great Lakes, Tahoe is the sixth largest lake by volume in the US at 122,160,280 acre feet.

 It was formed about two million years ago, with the shape being formed during the Ice Ages.  The Native Americans called it Dao W a ga (meaning Edge of Lake) which was later mispronounced as Da ow, which later became Tahoe.  It is most notably known for the clarity of its water and the view of the surrounding mountains on all sides.

Lake Tahoe is fed by 63 streams and two hot springs.  It has a volume of 39 trilllion gallons of water.  If it was ever drained, it would take around 700 years to fill it again entirely.

On June 30, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill granting 39,000 acres of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the State of California as the first state park in the world.

We stopped at the Lake Tahoe Dam to see how the water flow is controlled.  It was completed in 1913 on the Truckee River.

There are many fish in Lake Tahoe, including Mackinaw, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout and Kokanee Salmon.

Here are some other facts that I found about Lake Tahoe:

• The sun shines at Lake Tahoe for 75% of the year, or 274 days.
• At lake level, annual snowfall averages 125 inches. At alpine skiing elevations, the snowfall averages 600 inches per year.
• At the surface, Lake Tahoe’s water temperature varies from 41 to 68 degrees F. Below a depth of 600 to 700 ft, the water remains a constant 39 degrees.
• If you were to pour Lake Tahoe out onto an area the size of California, the water would still be 14 inches (36 cm) deep.
• The amount of water in Lake Tahoe (39 trillion gallons) is enough to supply each person in the U.S. with 50 gallons of water per day for 5 years.
• The amount of water that evaporates from the Lake each day (330 million gallons) could supply a city the size of Los Angeles for 5 years.

We continued on with our drive and had planned to stop at Squaw Valley.  In case that sounds familiar to you....the 1960 Winter Olympics were held there. 

They were the first Games to be held in Western United States.  The other firsts that happened with the Squaw Valley Olympics: first games to be televised, first time computers were used to tabulate results, first time a woman took the Olympic oath on behalf of all the athletes, and the first time all athletes were housed under one roof.  Also the first time that the U.S. won the gold in ice hockey (defeating the Russians during the Cold War with a close 3-2 win).

This was part of the Olympic village. Our plan was to ride the Gondola up to the top of the Squaw Valley, but unfortunately the winds were too high that day.  They will not run the gondola's in high winds.  We were disappointed, but just for a little bit.  There are so many things to see and do in this area, so we knew that we could find an alternative activity.  We continued our drive around the lake....

Just a few pictures from driving around this area....

This is Cal Neva Resort Spa Casino, it was once owned by Frank Sinatra from 1960-63, and frequented by his Rat Pack buddies. The 10 story hotel has 219 rooms and a 6,000-square-foot casino, and is also reported that there are underground tunnels to get between the casino and cabins. It straddles both states, but the casino is in on the Nevada side. It is reported that Marilyn Monroe would stay in Cabin 3, and was at Cal Neva the last weekend that she was alive (you can search on YouTube and see the videos of her there). I have read that the casino was being renovated and should be done now.  Continuing on....

We also stopped to visit a friend of Jan's, Nancy---who gave us a tour of Squaw Creek Resort...oh my was it gorgeous!  I didn't take pictures there, but it was amazing! http://www.squawcreek.com/

Then we continued on our drive....

 

We stopped at an overlook area when we were almost back down to South Lake Tahoe!  The beauty of the water and surroundings made us all want to take some pictures....

Not sure who this crazy guy was...but he posed for a picture!!  Just kidding!!  That's Terry looking all cool....

Wow....wow....wow.....

Hey...let me take a picture of you taking a picture of me!! Haha!!

Hi Jan...you're a photo bomber without even realizing it!!!

Oh my wonderful beautifulness....is that a word???  It is in TAHOE!!

I know....but really I couldn't stop taking pictures of the water splashing on the rocks!!

Yes....selfies at Lake Tahoe....why not???

Look at that color!!!  I mean....WOW!!!

The boys....Terry watching Randy taking pictures!! (and no...Terry isn't actually going to the bathroom it just looks that way!!)

The final picture at this site....just amazing and so beautiful!!

I snapped this one as we continued on our way back to the condo!  What an amazing day of driving the 72 miles around Lake Tahoe....a dream come true!!

Join me in the next installment when we take a ride on the Tahoe Queen and go to Emerald Bay to see Vikingsholm....truly awesome!

The final part is a short video taken when we stopped at the lookout point....enjoy....