Good Reads and New Friends - Tahoe Day 1

Dale Dog Counter: 16

    What started in me fearing a hike turned into what could potentially be one of my favorite moments of the entire trip. After letting myself come to the conclusion I didn’t think I'd make it back up after hiking down to Vikingsholm, I ended up taking a small rocky hike up to one of the most beautiful views so far. At the top, I spent a little over two hours enjoying the company of other tourists, my kindle unlimited subscription, wildlife, and the beautiful sounds of Emerald Bay.  While sitting on the rocks, I found the comfiest spot and just thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Looking back, I'm so glad I didn't let my doubts stop me from exploring a little further. The view stretched out in every direction, with the deep blue water contrasting against the surrounding mountains and pine trees. It felt like one of those rare places where time slows down and there is nowhere else you would rather be.I found myself completely present in the moment.

    One of the highlights of the afternoon was a squirrel that wandered over and began eating just about a foot away from me. Unlike most squirrels I've encountered, this one seemed almost completely unfazed by the people around it. It casually sat among the rocks, nibbling on its food while occasionally looking up before returning to its meal. I spent several minutes watching it move through the cracks and rocks, finding its way around like they owned the place. It was such a simple moment, but it added to the feeling of being immersed in nature rather than simply observing it from a distance. By the time the rest of the class got back, I finally packed up my stuff and started making my way back down to meet back up with them. It was then I realized that the hike I had been almost dreading had given me one of the most relaxing and memorable experiences of the entire trip, and I am so grateful for that.

    

Love on the Lake

Surrounded by deep crystal clear water and towering mountains, I was lucky enough to fall into conversation with a beautiful couple while on a scenic boat tour across Lake Tahoe. Originally from Ackton, California, Bill and Marianne travel to Lake Tahoe every year. On June 9, 1986, they got married right next to the massive waterfall at Emerald Bay State Park, now they come to relive the memory on the exact day. 

When asked why they constantly choose to come back to Tahoe, Bill responded “It is probably one of the most pristine places in the state. It is beautiful.” 

They also bring their dog Tor Björn, or Tor for short. He is a 7-year-old black German Sheppard who loves to travel and be on the water. As Marianne describes, he does not like to swim, but he does love to walk around on the shallow ends, especially in their pool back at home. Bill explained he is named after the Scandinavian heritage of Vikingsholm, the castle just below where they were married.

When asked what their all time favorite place was in Lake Tahoe, both promptly answered the views of Emerald Bay. They described it as breathtaking and something worth coming back to every time. 

After my conversation with Bill and Marianne came to an end, I myself went to the edge of the paddle wheeler we were on and soaked in the gorgeous views surrounding me. Bill and Marianne's story stuck with me the rest of the day, especially as I admired the view of the waterfall where they said their vows and testimony's of love to each other 30 years ago.

 Sailing On Wheels 

Emerald Bay, named after its green hue, is located in beautiful South Lake Tahoe. Zephyr Cove Resort offers a unique opportunity on their paddle-wheeler, a steam-powered vessel propelled by large rotating wheels fitted with paddles. I was enamored with the view of white and red wheels churning clear blue water. 

For some, the scenic cruise is nothing new. I met a local from South Tahoe by the name of James Brackenridge. He says this is his fifth time on the M.S. Dixie II. 

“I like the daytime because you get to see everything. But if you’re more into partying, I guess it’s okay to do the nighttime one too. That’s where I took my wife when I was 20,” says Brackenridge.  

The cruise seats around 500 passengers, offering daytime, nighttime, and private tours. It's definitely spacious. The views of Lake Tahoe, Emerald Bay, Vikingsholm and Tea House are unbeatable. 

Newcomers and tourists also enjoy the glimmering green water, traveling hours to see it in person. Ashley Dalomba, of Memphis, Tennessee, says her group came on a casino charter trip but was drawn in by the cruise. 

“We've been doing the whole casino thing, but we've also been doing a lot of sightseeing and on this boat. It’s awesome. My boyfriend loves the views and scenery too,” says Ashely Dalomba, of Memphis, Tennessee. 

- Peyton Burleson 

ojn12@txstate.edu

Getting Settled

 June 9th

Today started early. I woke up before my alarm, which is strange for me. The clock read 4:15 and I was already anxious to meet the group. I knew they would be the most important part of the trip. Jess picked me up and we headed to get Peyton and Morgan from their apartments. The first faces of the trip and I was already sure it was going to be a close group. We arrived at the airport with just enough time to grab some food and settle. I met the group and we chatted about our excitements and anxieties for the trip. My anxieties specifically highlighted the flight. I have always been an anxious flyer so the flight put me in a strange discomfort. After our connecting flight, we finally landed in Reno. “The biggest little city in the world”, as the brightly lit gateway sign read. We met the rest of the group in the airport, rented our vans, and embarked on our great adventure.

The cabin was humongous. Big enough to sleep 16 people, we weren’t in a fight to claim beds… except for me and Natalia. We ran room to room looking for the best one. We decided on the only room on the second floor with a patio because the view was just astonishing. The sun was shining through the pines in a manner they only describe in books. We all got settled into our rooms and headed to Base Camp pizza for our first group dinner. The stores surrounding the restaurant reminded me of Breckenridge in Colorado. The brick architecture and gift shops were welcoming. The pizza was average. While we indulged I recognized a song the live artist was playing. It was Texas Sun by Kruangbin. That was a special moment for the group and I think it reminded me of how special this opportunity was. To be surrounded by new friends and beautiful scenic views, I knew it was going to be a trip to remember.

June 10th

This morning was one of the most peaceful mornings I have had in a long time. No obligations, no worries, no responsibilities other than getting to the van for our boat tour to Emerald Bay. I had a wonderful breakfast and a cup of coffee and just got to sit in the quiet. The sun was shining into the living room and warmed the hardwood under our feet. The air was crisp and dry. It was a nice change from the humidity of Texas summers. I was especially excited for the day. Our van loaded up and headed for the lake. This was going to be our first time seeing the lake up close and it lived up to all of our expectations. I had always heard the lake being described as glistening and was overwhelmed by the beauty. The water was crystal clear and inviting.

As we boarded the boat I had realized the group stuck out like a sore thumb with all of our tripods, cameras, and southern draws. The boat was 3 stories and just utterly spacious. I had found a spot next to a kind man. He had asked me where the group was from and we indulged in conversation over media. He studied at the University of Memphis and funny enough majored in communication. He also said he had a hobby in photography and showed me some photos he had taken. I went around the boat and took as much content as possible. It is public outings like this that make me desperately want to people watch. Being in close proximity to people, you can pick up on a lot of unique stories. When we docked, I was really excited to see all of the recreation around me. Kayaking, parasailing, jetskiing, paddle boarding, etc. I figured if I were given the option I could spend my whole day watching humans interact and be utterly careless together. 

Emerald Bay Excursion-

Today the group and I set out on the lake for a full day of adventure. We kicked things off with a cruise around the water, taking in the scenery before making our way to Emerald Bay. The highlight of the day was easily Vikingsholm, a stunning Norwegian-inspired estate built in the 1930s, tucked right at the shoreline of the bay. The place has this incredible weight to it, like history is built into the walls. Every room, every carved detail feels intentional, pulled straight from old Scandinavia and dropped into the Sierra Nevada. Just off the shore sits a small island that was once home to a private tearoom, where the original owner would ferry her guests out by boat for afternoon drinks. That detail alone made the whole place feel like something out of a novel. The local guides made it even better, apparently Vikingsholm has a reputation for being haunted, and hearing those stories while standing inside the estate gave the whole visit a completely different energy. That, plus the hike down to the bay and back up the mountain, made it my favorite part of the day without question.

Vikingsholm

Today we hiked down Emerald Bay to visit the famous Vikingsholm. I love interesting houses that reflect a person's passions and personality, and that's exactly what this home did.

Lora Knight bought property at Emerald Bay in 1928 with a vision of a Scandinavian summer getaway house. She sourced the ideal team of builders, craftsmen and architects to create a beautiful house for herself, guests and her maids. She had lots of requirements and handpicked the most unique and intriguing furnishments to reflect her admiration of the Scandinavian style.

On the outside you will see granite boulders outlined with mortar that reflect Swedish castles. Along edges and framing you will see hand carved wood with simple yet captivating designs that lead to the dragon detail on the roof. Lora tried to purchase different dragon structures from museums but after being turned down, Mr. Palme, her craftsmen replicated the dragon, which is strategically placed around the historic home.

Once you enter you are immediately introduced to the living space, which is decorated with Scandinavian furniture and decor. Similar to the dragons, Mr. Palm built and carved a Swedish Wedding Table to model the one she tried to purchase. The house has 38 rooms, each unique and purposeful. 

As an antique and interior design lover, I appreciated all of her decor. Some of my favorites were her coat closet, writing desk, rugs, metal decor and a very interesting human sized clock of a Swedish woman in a traditional folk costume. Her coat closet was not only large but had the most beautiful hand carved and painted framed window.

Overall, I was fascinated by her story and the history of how Vikingsholms became a public museum. Lora Knight seems like someone I would look up and admire today. She has exquisite taste that required travel and research in order to build her dreamland summer home. She also took care of her employees, who had a separate house to gather in while not working. I also found it interesting that she let her friend decorate her room differently because she didn’t like the Scandinavian style. She seems like a kindhearted, bada** woman with taste and thats what stuck with me today.

First impressions of Lake Tahoe

 By: Annika Quesada

Wka22@txstate.edu

Fun fact: My second time flying and hiking

4- mile hike: 12,000 steps

It is the first day here in Lake Tahoe, we’re all excited to experience the first adventure in our itinerary, while most were asleep, I woke up around 4 a.m. mainly the fact because my sleeping schedule has been interfered due to the flights we took the day before but ended up falling back to sleep. My morning started off around 8:00 a.m. I woke up my friend Ashley, who I also have done Study in America with this past January. I started off with recording a get ready with me on my TikTok account which is abbreviated to “grwm”. I enjoy creating content there just for fun. I included my makeup routine, breakfast, and a fit check that Ashley was gladly happy to join in. 

We then headed to the vans that transport us to each of our destinations, our first plan was the Emerald Bay Cruise which is on the Nevada side. It was about a 20–35-minute drive from our cabin, due to all the traffic light stops. On our way we played our shared Spotify playlist, where each of us can add as many songs as we want, and listen to it while we’re driving. We then get to our destination, and we start off by catching content before we step foot into the cruise, since every clip and picture counts. The cruise was three stories with a restaurant on the second floor. It was around an hour in total to go through the whole cruise. During the cruise, the history of the land, including the surrounding mountain’s, was explained to us in detail, giving us a lot of informative facts about Lake Tahoe's history. Including the Vikingsholm castle, which the cruise passed by, giving us the history on it including the owner’s passion for the architecture and effort in building the house.  

Me and Ashley after our hike

The Vikingsholm was going to be our second destination on our itinerary, which was a 35-minute drive from the Emerald Bay Cruise entrance. Once the cruise ended, we headed our way to hike the Emerald Bay State Park, which to see the Vikingsholm house a hike must be done first to get there. The tour started with the tour guide expressing how big of a group he had for this tour. Sharing all the history of the owners and background they had to go through to be successful with the land they had surrounding the castle as well as its interior designing. Overall, we were all exhausted after the hike. We decided to end the day there,we ended up picking up some food and drove back to our cabin ready to share each other’s experience on our first day here.

 

 

Settling Into Tahoe

 

Today we began Day 2 with an 11 am morning cruise on the MS Dixie Lake Tahoe cruise. It was a great time. I met a gentleman from Memphis who noticed that I was having some trouble with my DSLR camera. After some light coaching, he set me on the right track to capture some great pictures of Emerald Bay. It was pretty surreal to see all the landmarks we had been learning about in class, in person. The Fannette Tea House and Vikingsholm Castle were way bigger than I expected them to be.

After the cruise wrapped up, we made our way to the Vikingsholm trail, where I had the most tiring (and rewarding) hike of my life. The walk down to the castle was a breeze, literally. There was a slight breeze, and plenty of shade to complement the scenic views of the bay. The walk back, however, is another story. Though it still kept its stunning views, the incline of the mountain had my feet on fire by the time we made it back to the van.

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First Days at Tahoe

 Our first days at Lake Tahoe started off with arriving at our beautiful new home for the week "The Lodge." The place is huge, it has some beautiful views of the surrounding area, and we even have a hot tub. I expected the rooming situation to be a bit more hectic but surprisingly enough we all found a room we liked and got settled in pretty quickly. We ended the day with some lovely pizza at Base Camp pizza in Heavenly Village, Lake Tahoe. The area is also full of little shops that have amazing souvenirs, there's even a shop for just socks!

On day 2 we started off with a morning cruise on the M.S. Dixie Lake Tahoe Cruise. Going to sleep the night before was a bit awful because I kept waking up all the time but the cruise definitely woke me up. It was a great time with some great views, we also got to meet some very cool and interesting people. I met a gentleman from Tennessee who does photography as a hobby and it was cool getting to talk to him and the type of photography he does and the cameras he uses. 

I got some amazing photos of the scenery: the mountains, the clear lake water, the snowy caps, Vikingsholm and so much more. 

We ended the day with a hike at Emerald Bay and a tour around Vikingsholm. The hike was 2 miles down and 2 miles back up with a 400 ft incline, but the views made everything worth it. The weather has been super nice so it made the hike more bearable, I did end up a bit sunburnt at the end but nothing too serious. The pictures we got were worth it.