I can't even pick a favorite between Tahoe, Yosemite and Big Sur. (Note: Joshua Tree purposefully excluded.) While Yosemite is pretty much perfect each quarter of the year, I eagerly await for ski season and Tahoe is just too convenient. (Another note: 3-4 hour drives are a piece of cake for Texans.) Until this summer however, I haven't accepted the other reason to love Tahoe... lake days.
Up until this point, lake days for me have been synonymous with the rolling Texas hill country and the annual 4th of July celebration at the Johnson house. The race to finish popsicles, the shimmy up tree trunks to find the rope swing and the inevitable farmer's tan or blistering sunburn. Whether you're getting tube rash as you float down the Frio or catching the wake on Lake Austin or McQueeny, Texas knows something about lake days.
But when someone suggested a Tahoe lake trip back in April or May, our little friend group of Texans were game. We had high hopes for a boat rental, for some beach games and for some guaranteed sun that SF cannot always offer. So we loaded up a three car caravan and headed North.
And the following pictures pretty much sum it all up. Tahoe lake days are *almost* as good as Texas. Minus the choppy water, the lack of an all-day boat... Hmmm, the weather could've been hotter too. But for a lake escape just 3 or 4 hours out of San Francisco, it'll do just fine.
