Now that the kids are bigger - and on their 3rd Truckee Summer - they are willing to branch out and leave the Rec Center pool from time to time. We decided to try a new hike and check out the Donner Summit - which took us past some petroglyphs, up to a Donner Lake overlook, and into...
a creepy old railroad tunnel!
There are a few spots along the way where you can squeeze out (occasionally literally) and take in the view-
The walls are covered with graffiti, some of it pretty impressive. I told the kids this section was perfect camouflage:
We hiked about a half a mile of decommissioned railroad, but the last section required a flashlight and was full of bats we could hear (and smell) but not see. Zoonotic bat guano vectored diseases I haven't thought about since passing my board exam began creeping out of the dark recesses of my brain, and that's around the time I decided we'd gone far enough.
We finally took advantage of our Marina access this summer. Not that I have any intention of actually swimming in Donner Lake, or engaging in any activity requiring more than knee-high immersion in the frigid water. But it's fun to hang out on the beach, and the kids will spend hours trying to catch crawfish with gross little pieces of hot dog.
It's a good place to launch kayaks and paddleboards, and the Marina rents both, with surprisingly few age restrictions. After a couple times out with me in the double kayak, Brennan decided he was ready to tackle the lake with his friend William. (I did follow along on a paddleboard, for the record)
Our Truckee schedule often overlaps with other families from school, and we get to meet up with friends at the beach, pool, or along the river -
Lucie was looking forward to this week all summer for another reason - Horse Camp!
She had a great time at Piping Rock last year, but decided she wanted to give the Tahoe Donner camp a try this summer. I'm glad we did - the groups are very small (max of 4 kids), which means she got a lot more personal attention and riding time.
She also really loved Taffy, her horse for the week:
In addition to the big horse show, we had another event - Brennan's 10th Birthday! We started the day with kayaking, followed by swimming at the pool, presents, a birthday dinner at Moody's -
and finished off the celebration with cupcakes and trick candles!
We had one last day of fun in Tahoe. After hearing stories from friends, and watching the craziness from the bike path, we decided it was finally time....
to buy some tubes and float the Truckee River!
It is, of course, a logistical nightmare, sorting out drop off vs. taxi vs. parking cars legally at two spots, and getting tubes inflated, and realizing you are way closer to lunchtime than originally planned and buying a smattering of junk food at the nearest gas station that you think you can keep dry, etc, etc. And we should have had more sunscreen, and Brennan lost his hat to some rapids.
But all in all, it was pretty fun, and I'm glad we finally did it. And since we own the tubes, we'll be back next summer, better prepared.
No comments:
Post a Comment