Day 71 Home

The long road ahead

Last day =longest day.
 Today we set out of Tahoe with hopes of making it all the way to Heber City, UT. We knew it was going to be a long day but also knew that there was no other place we wanted to stay along the way. We just wanted to get it done and be home. It turned out to be 10 hours travelling with a few pit stops along the way. If you count the time zone change it was 11 hours. The total mileage driven was over 600.

 

excited to get home

Almost home

 

About 20 miles away Sora started getting really excited to be home. She wanted to see our dog Kate, Grandma, and the finished basement. When we drove up and got out of the van Kate started going crazy in the house barking. She came outside and saw it was us and she was happy. She ran around, laid down for pets, went into crazy mode, and seemed happy. We checked out the finished basement and talked with my mom for a little bit.
Now we have to unpack the van, clean it out, and get a couple things fixed. We have to get the kids ready for school starting next week. The garage needs to be organized. A lot of things need to be done around here.
Tomorrow we will put together our last blog that will have our favorite places, our final mileage count, best and worst restaurant, and other things that complete this journey.

Day 70 Tahoe

 

The start of today was down to Cubhouse again for Cereal and Cartoons for the kids. They love the Cubhouse. It is an Activity Center at Timber Lodge. It is similar to the MINE at Mountainside. While the kids and Michelle were hanging out I transferred the bags and car a short distance over to the GRC (Grand Residence Club). After the switch and cereal the kids made Candy Sushi. The kids had a small bite and wanted to save the rest for later. Then it was a short distance over to mini-golf. Nakai and I both got a hole in one even though in real life mine would never have happened. I went through the "water" hazard, through the "sand" trap, bounced off of a rail, and into the hole. It didn't look pretty, but it went it.

After a little while we did a photo scavenger hunt that was pretty fun. We showed up a couple of minutes late, so we knew we were playing catch up. We hustled around and finished up all of the points and when we turned it in we were 1st back. YEAH! Our prize was a nice basket of candy, popcorn, a stocker, keychain, and a Tahoe bar. It was pretty good.

upside down 25 points

with Betty Boop 50 points

shadow 25 points

kissing Chikita Banana Bear 25 points

Next we headed to a great place called the Beacon it was right on the beach. We met Dan, Molly and Harlow there. The food was good and it was great to catch up with them. After dinner we hung out on the beach for a few minutes.

view from our room

 

 

Day 69 Lake Tahoe

After we all woke up it was down to the Cubhouse for the kids to have Cereal and Cartoons. The kids played for a few minutes and then we tried to decide what to do for the day. A boat ride to Emerald Bay was on the list, but not after the kids and I went for a swim in the pool. We had a pretty good time. I became a water taxi for the kids, they met a friend, we sat in the hot tub. It was a pretty good time. After swimming we had a quick lunch that would have been better if we had more time for it, but we misjudged our time a little and had to leave without experiencing it fully. We had to leave because we had to catch our shuttle for the M.S. Dixie II ride across Lake Tahoe (Thanks Dan). After boarding we were off on our "cruise." It was nice to wander the boat and enjoy the lovely views of the beautiful blue Lake Tahoe. Our 2 hour tour that turned around in Emerald Bay was a lot of fun. The kids had a good time. It was really pretty and amazing. Another neat thing about the cruise was a guy that worked for the boat looked like Mark Twain and told some facts about the area.   I had that moment of wanting to stay here longer. I know we have to get back to Utah, but I could come back here and do a lot of things like standup paddle boarding and kayaking. 

 

goofiness on the shuttle

 

the dock to the Dixie II

 

After the tour and the shuttle back to the hotel we drove up to Kings beach to meet Kim (cousin) and Ian. We got there a little early so we hung out on the beach for a few minutes. Then we ate with them at a place called Jason's grill. It was good. The kids had a great time talking with somebody other than us. It was really nice to see them and talk with them for a while. Thanks Kim and Ian. After dinner we walked over to the beach and saw a few bats flying in the air. That was a neat for us to see. One other cool thing about the day was when we were getting on the shuttle to ride back to the hotel one of the other guests stopped us and told us that he was impressed with the kids. He told us they were very well behaved. That made us feel good.

Tomorrow we make a short move over to the GRC for one night. During the day we are going to hang out here, do a few activities and maybe go to the beach.

wave-watching

 

 

seagull-scaring