back from Tahoe

Christmas break is off to a good start as we went to Tahoe over the weekend. The trip was only two days long but lots of fun!

Day 1

Despite the late start, my family arrived at Tahoe fairly early thanks to the light traffic. That left some free time, during which we made a stop in Truckee. One thing I love about Truckee is that it never gets old.

Our hotel for the night was the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino in Incline Village. After we checked in, I played Angry Birds Star Wars HD on the iPad while my parents watched Contagion and Big Miracle on HBO. I soon started getting itchy bumps on my wrist. They looked like bug bites, so we went to the front desk to ask for our room to be cleaned again. However, management blew us off and said they couldn't do anything. Dad wasn't too happy about this and filed a complaint with Hyatt.

The three of us went to the Grand Lodge Casino after dinner. I think we spent around $4 at the penny slots. Aside from not winning anything, this was pretty enjoyable.

Day 2

It was snowing in the morning. The plan was to go skiing at Soda Springs after breakfast, but we didn't want to get wet in the snow and went back to the casino. The weather cleared up around noon, at which point we went to Soda Springs. The resort was extremely crowded despite the freezing temperatures. I have no idea how these people manage to brave the cold.

Mom then suggested going to Nevada City instead. The foliage was beautiful when we came here last fall. Yet the scenery wasn't impressive this time. Therefore, my parents and I didn't stay long except to visit a local supermarket.

I wanted to stop by Auburn again on the way home as it was one of the highlights of our Memorial Day weekend trip last year. However, the Old Town seemed smaller than I remembered. I took a few pictures, although we didn't stay long here either as Mom was a little tired.

The last stop of the day was Vacaville. I've always wanted to eat at Black Bear Diner, so that's where we went for dinner. This turned out to be a good choice: not only was the food reasonably priced, everything was delicious. All of us then headed to WinCo Foods for groceries (and tons of snacks) before continuing home. It was a spectacular end to a spectacular trip.

Conclusions

This was one of our best vacations ever. The highlight of the trip was the dinner at Black Bear Diner, although I also loved playing the slots. While the bug bites were annoying, they went away after a while. I didn't take many pictures this time, but you can go to my Flickr account to see them.

Currently listening to: "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys