Our group went to Lake Tahoe as a weekend getaway for some rest and relaxation, and got to behold the magnificent beauty of the lake and its surroundings. After the series of unfortunate events in Yosemite, this trip was really refreshing as we finally managed to take in some good sights and have some fun at the same time. Although we missed a day of class, it was definitely worth the stay there and not a single one of us regret it!
SUNDAY
We woke up nice and early at around 5 a.m. so that we could avoid the traffic on the way there. We had rented Zipcars the night before for the 2 days that we would be there, as we planned to visit not just the lake but the surrounding attractions like hiking trails as well. However, we had to make a stop to pick up one of our friends from Berkeley who wanted to join us on our trip.
After picking him up, we then continued our trip all the way to the southern part of Lake Tahoe, and reached our destination at around 11 a.m. where we were greeted by a nice little beach and a spectacular view of the lake with mountains behind it!
The people on the beach were having lots of fun having picnics and chilling, while some were in the water playing around on floats. Some families even brought their dogs with them, and played fetch with them by throwing their toys into the water for the dogs to swim to and retrieve.
We tried skipping some rocks just for the heck of it.
And some of us (mostly me) wanted to get buried in the sand.
After this, we continued heading further up north for lunch where we ate tacos (Lake Taco jokes) from Taco Bell and travelled to our second destination, Eagle Falls. Although we had to hike up a short trail, it was a piece of cake as it was hardly as high or as rocky as Yosemite. As such, after a quick hike, we reached the top of the falls where there was a pool where people were swimming in!
Some of the more adventurous ones in our group decided to swim as well and took turns cannonballing off a rock into the pool, much to our amusement.
The water was pretty cold though, so quickly after getting out of the water we dried ourselves off and headed back down to across the carpark for a good view of the lake.
We then went to get dinner around the area, before heading the the final destination of the day, which was a lookout point with a superb view of the lake from above.
After this, we continued driving all the way north to our Airbnb for a good night’s rest.
MONDAY
The next morning, some of us cooked up an eggcellent breakfast (pun intended) using the food that we brought along. After weeks of eating out and many meals of fast food, it was a warmly welcomed home-cooked meal, deliciously prepared with tender loving care.
After breakfast, we said goodbye to our lovely home for the night and headed straight to the beach, which was the highlight of the trip. To prepare for the beach, some of us went to Walmart before the trip to buy floats and picnic mats, which proved to be a very wise decision. We reached the beach at roughly 11 a.m., and although the water was icy cold when we first stepped in, we got used to it after some wading and splashing, and began our fun-filled day at the beach. We also rented a double kayak for us to paddle along the coast, which was another worthy investment.
We had a really enjoyable and relaxing time at the beach and was the getaway we all deserved after many planned trips having so many unforeseen hiccups that ruined our fun. We tanned in the sun, had a picnic, and cast our cares and worries to the wind to fully savour every moment of our time there.
Alas, after the whole day at the beach, the wind and weather were taking a turn for the worse and we decided to call it a day, and packed up our things to head back to Stanford. We got dinner along the way, where we were greeted with a stunning sunset that painted the sky an angelic orange glow.
We couldn’t ask for an even more befitting end to our once in a lifetime trip.
After dinner, we then had another long journey to drop our friend off and finally returned to Stanford at around 11 p.m. We made so many unforgettable memories in this one trip, and I will forever be grateful we decided to visit Lake Tahoe during this exchange.
Written by: Benjamin Lim
