Vacations Blog

The family spent the recent Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend at our Lake Tahoe North Shore compound in Dollar Point. We’d been promising the kids a trip up to the snow for about two years now but I’ve been hesitant to make the drive until I was reasonably sure it wouldn’t snow.

Let me explain.

We’re not really snow people in that we don’t ski or snowboard or take part in any other snow related activities short of building snowmen or sledding. The last time we went to Tahoe during the winter we nearly got snowed in. I couldn’t manage to get the chains on the car and had to be towed out of the Dollar Point development, much to my embarrassment. In short it was an exercise in frustration and one I vowed not to repeat. So when I say I would only make the drive if I was reasonably sure it wouldn’t snow I mean at least during the 48-hours we planned to be there.

As luck would have it the weather was on our side that weekend. The forecast was for clear skies and cold temperatures, which to my way of thinking is just about perfect, so go we did.  We arrived about 12:30 AM on Saturday to a freezing cold cabin and what appeared to be a broken furnace. The house was probably below 50 degrees, and remained so until the following morning when the heater inexplicably decided to begin working. I did not question it I simply enjoyed it, and left it on for the remainder of our visit lest it decide to stop working again.

But this is all background information that I’m sure does not interest you so let’s get to the activities.

The kids wanted to do some sledding so we drove to the summit of Mt. Rose. From Tahoe City it’s about a 45 minute drive on N. Tahoe Blvd (Hwy 28) to the Mt. Rose turn-off (Hwy 431). On the drive up Hwy 431 there are a couple of other places that are great for sledding as well. Don’t ask me exactly where, but they’re right on 431. You can’t miss them. Just look for the people sliding down the hillsides.

According to Wikipedia, Mt. Rose is “the highest point of the highway and the highest mountain pass open-year round in the Sierra Nevada.”  In other words, during the winter you’re very likely to find snow there, which we did. Unfortunately we also found a lot of other people there so we had to share the hillside, alas.  Never the less we spent about two hours having a great time nearly killing ourselves.

If skiing is more your bag there are more than twenty resorts in North Lake Tahoe to…enjoy your bag – including Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl and North-Star, just to name three. Many of the ski resorts offer “sno-parks” for those of you with younger kids.

For lots more on Lake Tahoe winter activities check out Gold Country Best, with information on ice-skating, snowmobiling and even dog-sledding.

Of course we had to hit CB’s Pizza & Grill, our traditional Tahoe dining establishment.  While the pizza is good this time we opted for something other than pizza. CB’s offers a full array of burgers (the girl is a burger fanatic) and sandwiches, salads, pastas and appetizers.  A note of caution; don’t order the eggplant Parmesan.  My wife ordered it and it was basically a thick slab of tough eggplant covered in sauce and melted cheese. Eggplant Parmesan should be sliced thin, fried and then baked with all the accompanying goodies.  Live and learn.

It was a short trip; up late Friday night, home by Sunday evening. But that’s one of the great things about Tahoe. It’s only a 3-hour drive from most locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.  At 188 miles door to door, it’s a very doable weekend trip for us, and one we’re hoping to do again before the spring thaw.

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

Here is my Thursday Thirteen list, a suggestion of things to do with tweens in L.A. I thought up most of it at the mall last week, as I was waiting outside a store for my two tween girls to emerge with their purchases. It’s amazing what you can get accomplished in seven hours.

1. Hot Topic - This could really cover items 1 – 13 on this list, since as far as my two girls are concerned there isn’t any need to venture anywhere else. Give them a backpack full of snacks and a fully-charged cell phone and they could probably stay in there for weeks spending my hard earned cash on Juno t-shirts and black glitter nail polish.

2. Art Museums – We’ve been taking our kids to art museums since they were babies, but it’s gotten particularly entertaining lately to hear their expert commentary. It’s always amusing to hear things like, “OMG – naked!” when standing before a majestic sculpture by Rodin, or “I TOTALLY want that for my new bunk bed comforter” while contemplating a canvas by Jackson Pollack.

3. Soup Kitchen –I’ve never actually visited a soup kitchen with my tweens, but it’s something all the PC parenting guides say you should do in order to teach your kids to be grateful for what they have. In all honesty, I’m not sure how my two girls would fare – I’d really be embarrassed if they sat down at a table, waited for a menu and then asked the homeless guy sitting next to them if he recommends the buffalo wings or the grilled cheese.

4. The movies – Any movie will do. Just sitting in a nice cool theater chowing down on hot buttered popcorn and Junior Mints is enough to keep them happy. The 9 – 12 year old set aren’t very discerning moviegoers; In fact, it may be the only time you’ll hear “Garfield: The Movie” and “awesome” in the same sentence.

5. Target – Maybe this is only applicable to tween girls, but mine love the aisles filled with cheap loot, cds and video games. Also, lots of eco t-shirts that say things like ‘Tree Hugger’ which is apparently all the rage now. You might just get them to listen to your Hendrix albums after all.

6. Yogurt shop – Yogurt is the new black. Menchies is our favorite, but Pinkberry or any other one will do. But try and take them to Baskin-Robbins and be prepared for much eye-rolling as they’re forced to mingle with the four-year-olds enjoying a scoop of Shrek Swirl with their grandpas.

7. Starbucks – This is the new version of sneaking a sip of your mom’s wine when you were seven. Tweens like the idea of sipping a grown-up coffee drink (I order decaf for mine) and it’s great for coffee addicts like me who can get their daily fix guilt-free. You know, it’s for the children.

8. Bowling Alley – They may last for one game of bowling, but what they really want to do is head to the arcade for some DDR (Dance Dance Revolution for you total squares.) Bring a bat or rolled-up newspaper if you have girls, though – the last time I was there a small crowd of teen boys gathered to watch my daughters and their friends bouncing around to the music until I shooed them away.

9. California Pizza Kitchen –According to the highly scientific poll I conducted with my girls and their friends while driving back from the mall in my van last week, this is the sanctioned eatery to dine with your parents. Added bonus – it’s the only place they don’t feel embarrassed about ordering from the kids menu since “the macaroni and cheese, like, rules.”

10. The Library – Believe it or not, tweens are rediscovering the library, mainly for the treasure trove of manga books they have there. At $9.99 each, it gets expensive to keep buying them at Barnes & Noble. However, do not even suggest they try out any of the library-sponsored teen events such as cupcake making or scrapbooking – you may as well tell them to invite their crowd over for a rousing game of rummy.

11. The beach – The beach is ideal for tweens and their unpredictable moods. They can indulge both their sloth-ly instincts by laying on their towels all day, or burn off energy by hitting the waves for some boogie-boarding. Also, the close proximity of a snack bar serving pizza and every variety of greasy, deep fried food will make them think they’ve died and gone to heaven

12. The park – My girls are just starting to notice boys, and members of the opposite sex are in abundance here, especially during soccer season. Bring along that bat that you took to the bowling alley

13. At home, with their parents – They’re not going to want to be seen with their dad and me for long, so we’re savoring all these days just hanging out together. So what if they roll their eyes when I suggest the fifth game of CandyLand?