A getaway at Reno-Tahoe

Reno-Tahoe has always been a hotspot destination for us, mainly due to its easy accessibility added with the varied offering(where else can you get a mix of casino/snow-capped mountains/beaches/breathtakingly spectacular lake).

As for me it will always hold a special place as it was my first ever trip outside of the bay area, after landing in the US . However many times I have visited, the place never ceases to hold my interest. So last weekend the trip finally happened after 1-2 months of me dropping hints to hubby dear. Not that he is not bitten by the travel bug....on the contrary he would be the first one to pack his bags at the word "go". It is just that we had been stuck in our routine world doing the same mundane stuff.

Getting back to the trip. After much promises to the kids to make them see the snow before the seasons last snow melts we headed to destination reno-Tahoe. Each of us had our expectations. The weather seemed reasonably good. I wanted to see enough snow and also wanted it to be sunny and warm(much like having the cake and eating it too). My kids on their part imagined it to be magical white land where santa/christmas tree/reindeers coexist....thanks to watching the christmas barney over and over. That was their preparation for the trip :). V, had no expectations except to have a good time.

The drive estimated at 5 hours surprisingly took only 5 hours with brief stops in between. The casino circus-circus was good fun although we realised the kids are still a little young to enjoy the games. but whatever little time we spent was time well spent. The next day was destination Tahoe.

After a heavy breakfast(heavy for us...kids were just filled to the brim with excitement to bother about food) at the Casino we headed to Tahoe. Stopping in between to get some vista shots. We stopped at 2 beaches in between. There were some traces of snow covered with mud. My daughter couldn't believe snow could be this dirty and refused to walk anywhere near it.

Our plan was to go up the heavenly slope to see the much promised snow. It turned out to be a damp squib with the slope being closed due to high wind warnings. With no other option we headed to the hotel. That for my kids was the highlight of the day. They just prefered being inside and jumping on the bed. That for them was fun....even remarking in between "Tahoe is fun" Hello?? we didnt drive 300+ miles to be cooped up in the hotel room.
We packed up the kids and headed to another destination called "Emrald bay". Getting
back to the hotel the kids retired early and so did we, with nothing much to do.

Next day we were to drive back. We took a last shot at the heavenly slopes and voila!! the gondola's were functioning. so dressing the kids up in layers much to their resistance(my kids and dresses are a whole diff story. another blog reserved for this) we were up the gondola's(which are just like what you call winches). the kiddos though initially scared at the elevation later enjoyed the ride. We got to the first destination where we could see a lot of snow and clicks some pics but not touch the snow. The next spot was at a much higher elevation. This is where the snow activities happen like tubing/skiing etc.

As soon as we got there we were greeted with a wind chill. and my kids crying "Its cold Its cold lets go back." We could hardly hold them for 10 mins before heading down. overall it was a great experiance for them seeing snow for the first time. Next time hopefully we will be better prepared. With that we headed back to our home sweet home. Again made it in good time.

Good trip...looking forward to the next one!!!