Tahoe For The Day

We have been seeing new sights as we have never been to this part of California before.  We are staying about 70 miles from Lake Tahoe so today we traveled there for the day.

I found a circle drive map on the internet with places of interest marked.  It is 72 miles around the lake.

We arrived at our first stop a little before 11:00.

Lake Tahoe was a popular destination for the rich between 1890 and 1920 with many building homes and others building magnificent hotels on the lake.  Tallac Historic Site features three historic homes on beautiful Lake Tahoe.

As we walked down to the lake, we couldn't believe the spectacular blue of the water.

Jim had to try out the water and it was cold.

We walked through the garden gate as we approached the historic homes.

We thought these plants were really neat.  They are Snow Plants.  The sign said they are a rare plant that contains no chlorophyll.  They grow like a mushroom.  If they are picked, they will die.

 This is the Pope House.  On the weekends, it is open for tours, but it wasn't open today.

They certainly had a great view!

This was a guest house.  We loved the wood detail on the top.

Here's a view of the inside.

We came to the boat house for the Popes.

Inside there is still an old wooden boat.

This is the Valhalla House which is used for events.

As we were walking around, we caught a glimpse of this paddlewheeler on the lake.  I zoomed in as far as I could to get a better picture.

We continued exploring the grounds and admiring the views.

Next, we took the 

walking trail.

The trail wound around passing by crystal clear ponds

and even a grove of aspen trees.

We came to the Stream Profile Chamber which was kind of neat.  You walk in through a tunnel that goes underground where you are level with the bottom of the stream.

We wound our way back to the car and continued on around the lake.

Our next stop was Inspiration Point where you get a magnificent view of the lake.

This is the only island that is in the lake.

The blue was unbelievable.

We continued on making this view our last stop before leaving Lake Tahoe.  In the distance, were snow covered mountains.

This is another place we would love to come back to spend more time.  There are great bike paths all over and we really enjoyed the 64 degrees temperature.

Lake Tahoe is definitely a beautiful place!