And so our road trip starts to become a road trip. Can you call it a road trip after 2 stops? I think so! After leaving Sequoia it was time to make our way to Lake Tahoe. This is a long windy, up and down mountainy drive! Why do I always forget that California is full of mountains? You can literally see them from the beach in LA! Anyway, the drive started, with a strategic breakfast stop.
Lone Pine
I think we are attracted to this town as Aussies, but weirdly found no lone pine. Ok that’s not fair, I didn’t exactly look. We picked this place because of the name, and I found a good breakfast suggestion. Turns out, it’s pretty cute and is a huge Hollywood outpost for filming (has been for decades). There’s these cute old school hotels, a few decent looking places to eat and it is surrounded by gorgeous scenery. I think this place is the place to stop on a Friday night after leaving LA after work to head to Tahoe.
We grabbed breakfast at Alabama Hills Cafe holy ba-joly people, you don’t want to miss this. There’s a reason why there is a queue in the middle of no where! They don’t have seating outside so they aren’t pet friendly, but do not let that stop you! Do what we did and order to go. Across the road their is an oddly placed picnic table with benches which makes it the perfect spot for al fresco dining. It was friggin hot when we went though, so @kevinfromfinance was found running from shade spot to shade spot and then hiding under the picnic table 😂😂😂
Al got the breakfast sandwich & I got the burrito, both were MASSIVE. We probably should have shared the burrito, with a several hour drive ahead there was no point saving it when I could only eat half.
Lake Tahoe
South Lake Tahoe
As soon as we go into town we headed straight to the dog park to give him a leg stretch and find him some friends. We went to Bijou which is part of this massive community forest area- there’s frisbee golf, other sport stuff, agility course for dogs and a big play area. Very cool. Unfortunately it was the heat of the day and my pampered little pup is not good in the heat, so we didn’t last long.
Not to worry, it was down to the lake for us Where Kevin has the chance to play with a friend on the waters edge and we sampled the tiki bar😁 This area was super relaxed. Heaps of people out having fun, dogs running around having fun, a big party vibe. I’m not sure if it’s always this way (there was some country singer playing that night), but I bet it is.
Our hotel was great! After 2 nights “roughing it” in cabins, our spoilt little puppy was very excited to be in a hotel. He ran around and round in circles, then proceeded to crawl all over the carpet rubbing his belly.
It was a walk into town and the rooms were spacious. They have these lovely grounds and you can bbq out there if you don’t fancy going into town for dinner. But watch out for bears!!! Seriously! They are everywhere in Tahoe!
The Red Hut Cafe
This is pitched as a ‘South Lake Tahoe Breakfast Institution’. Hmmm, not sure if it’s just a tourist trap. There is definitely a lot of merch for sale inside. Also, not dog friendly. We got stuff to take away and ate in the grounds of our hotel. Al got the chicken & waffle- to me this looked super disappointing, and I think it was despite Al saying it was good.
I opted for the red hut rosti which was smothered with cheese (you need to say light on cheese) bacon, spring onion & egg. It was nice but nothing to rave about.
The Brewery At Lake Tahoe
A small little brewery in South Lake Tahoe with outside tables you can take the pup to. Nothing hugely special but it was ok, worth it for an afternoon beer.
Squaw Valley
Squaw Valley is awesome for your dog. It takes about an hour to get there from South Lake Tahoe, then you’re going to fork out $37 per person for a gondola ticket, but it’s worth it. It takes you up the top of the mountain and then you can hike the trails around. If you don’t fancy the $37 for the gondola you can hike it, but we weren’t doing that this time!
Instead we hiked down to a small lake. It was a nice hike, all down hill which was awesome. But you know what that means, we had to go up hill to get back. Stupidly, we tried a different route back and my god was it long, hot & hard. According to our trackers we climbed 77 floors. We are way too unfit for that!
Jake’s on the Lake
You can’t go to a lake and not find a good restaurant with a view! Jake’s does just that for you! Plus it’s pet friendly! Everything we needed.
We ordered the mixed seafood grill- it’s not big, but it’s delicious. They do this pistachio crust fish which was my favourite part. I’m going to have to try making this at home. It also had a good prawn, scallop and a risotto cake which was yum. Along with this we got some fries (really, really good ones) and some crab cakes. I’m not a crab cake fan but Al really liked them.
Kiva Beach
This is a great dog friendly beach. Plenty of space for them to run around and swim, and lots of new friends to make.
Turns out I really love Tahoe, we will be back for sure!! It’s a great winter or summer place.
Jilltopia 