September 10th, 2009
Tahoe-ting-ting-t-ding
Lake Tahoe was a pool of blue at 4580 feet (abv sea level). The Sierra Nevadas appeared brown in the distance but with binoculars, I could see the fir and pine trees shooting up the sides of mountains. We spent a leisurely Labor Day weekend lazing around in a nice hotel on Manzanita Avenue.
Tucked away in a back alley full of seedy inns and lodges, this one was refreshing. It’s just two blocks from the bustling main street of South Lake Tahoe, where all the restaurants, shopping, music, and casinos are. The bright green, brand new signage – which first drew us to this hotel – stands out on a street full of yellowed ones. The place looked quite new. Our room was nice, had a TV, coffee pot, wine stems and a chilling bucket (no ice though, no wine either) and the bed was comfy.. so comfy that we spent a lot of time in it 
For once, we made sure we had an early start from home (or hotel, as we’re now staying at the Homestead in Sunnyvale). I was super-worried about traffic all along, it being the beginning of a long weekend, and don’t we all know what happens on the route from Bay Area to Tahoe on all weekends! We were on the freeway by 7.30ish.. super early for us, since we’re weekday 10 o’clock wake-uppers. That helped, and we cut the usual 4 hour drive time by an hour and arrived in Tahoe, cruising at 75 mph all the way, around 10.30ish.
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