Fast Times In Tahoe

We arrived in Lake Tahoe on the 6th June (after having breakfast at IHOP and checking out Ikea on the way) and we had a little look around downtown Truckee before going up to Northstar Resort. Antony had found quite a few job postings to work here due to it opening as a mountain bike park in summer – the resort looked super nice and we talked to a few shop owners about finding work. We spent a few hours applying for jobs online and then headed down to South Lake Tahoe where I had booked a cheap motel for the night. From Truckee we traveled around the west side of the lake and got to see all the small towns along the way and the beautiful coast line. We walked to a Japanese sushi place for dinner, which was quite expensive but so yummy. Antony was getting quite creative in his tastes so we tried smoked eel which was probably the best tasting sushi we got. On our walk home we had a look around the bottom of Heavenly ski resort and I managed to spot a small ice cream shop called Cold Stone Creamery, so of course we had to stop for desert! This place was so interesting in that you pick a ‘creation’ and they scoop the ice cream onto frozen marble slabs and mix it with all the nuts and chocolate sauce and everything else and then give it to you in a cone – so yummy.

Driving from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe

Along the way to Lake Tahoe

Western coast of Lake Tahoe

The next day we headed back up to Truckee and this time we drove around the east side of the lake, which was mainly in Nevada, and had all the sleazy casinos, but this side of the lake was so much clearer and prettier (reminded us so much of the waters in Rarotonga). We set up our tent at Granite Flat Campground, just out of Truckee and continued to apply for jobs. The day after that we decided to check out Squaw Valley Mountain Resort, which held the winter Olympics in 1960. The resort is absolutely huge, with over 20 chairlifts and a tram that goes right to the top of the mountain. And the resort there is quite like a small town with everything you need there.

Squaw Valley sign

View of Squaw Valley Resort

Antony was keen to get out on the lake for an afternoon, so we looked into hiring a double kayak or paddleboards for a few hours, but ended up chatting to a really nice lady that had jet skis at Kings Beach. She told us she would give a discount so we hired a jet ski for an hour and headed out onto the lake. We went round to the eastern shore so Antony could have a look at all the flash houses all the nice beaches. It was so much fun to get out on the water and laugh again, since we hadn’t been having the success we wanted. Antony kept doing doughnuts on the jet ski to try and get me to fall off – good thing I can hold on really tight! He eventually got me off and I had a go driving for a while. And since there were no showers at the campground we were staying at, Antony decided to have a wash in the lake. I managed to tip Antony off once when I was driving which was really fun – pity I fell off at the same time! We made the most of our full hour and then headed back to shore, just at the sky clouded over and it started to pour down.

Antony and I on the jet ski on Lake Tahoe

Beautiful clear water on Lake Tahoe

Antony having a wash in the lake

Jet skiing with Antony

Flash houses along the shoreline of Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe scenery from the jet ski

Some guy paddleboarding with his two dogs on Lake Tahoe

San Francisco

We spent the night at a campground not far from San Francisco and then Antony managed to cook pancakes on the camp stove for breakfast the next morning. Our drive into San Francisco was sunny, but not too hot which was great. We had no idea what we were really going to do, but found an all day carpark and then walked for miles down the waterfront along the pier. We parked not far from the Emirates Team NZ base, so were excited to get a look at the shed. The racing hadn’t started yet, but there were plenty of flags advertising it along the pier. We were both definitely keen to come back for the racing – if only we knew of what was to come! Oracle had a team shop there so we had a look around and mucked around there for a while.

Coming into San Francisco

Emirates Team NZ base in San Francisco

Comparing my shoe size to the one in the Oracle store

Me trying to wear the huge Oracle hat

One size fits all??

AT&T Park – Home of the SF Giants

We were both very interested in having a look around Alcatraz Island and the prison, so we caught a tram down to the booking office. It was so busy and we found out that the earliest trip we could book on was in two days, so we thought we could hang out in San Francisco for a few days until we could get on this trip to Alcatraz. We continued to walk along the pier and look in all the stores along the way. At pier 39 there was a Hard Rock Cafe, and since I had always wanted to go to one, we stopped there for lunch. The memorabilia on the walls was really amazing and the place was so packed. I got a cocktail with my lunch and ended up buying the glass as well, since it wasn’t too much more expensive. The food was very expensive and tasted average, so we were a bit disappointed, but I was excited to have tried it out. There were so many interesting shops and museums along the pier, and towards the end I found a popular chocolate factory and store. Ghirardelli Chocolate has been around for over a hundred years, so we spent some time at Ghirardelli Square and tried to go on a tour through the old chocolate factory, but was shut for repairs. We ended up buying an expensive chocolate sundae to share, which was really yum, but looked nothing like the picture. Ghirardelli is a premium chocolate brand we found out that is sold in supermarkets and store throughout America. We tried the hot chocolate a few months later in the middle of winter, and was so good. After trying to find a place to park for the night, and failing, we ended up booking a cheap motel for the next two nights. I got a good nights sleep and was able to sleep in the next morning which I was very happy about!

Riding the tram along the San Francisco waterfront

On an open top tram

Famous sign above Ghirardelli chocolate factory

Our sundae (called Cable Car) from Ghirardelli chocolate shop

Ghirardelli Square (site of the old chocolate factory)

Really old tram

Old Navy submarine outside a museum

My cocktail at Hard Rock Cafe

View of Alcatraz Island from mainland San Francisco

We spent most of the next day in our motel room sorting our resumes and applying for jobs and we had a little look around the neighborhood of where we were staying. San Francisco is definitely a very cool city – such cute houses and steep hills and beautiful views of the water. The next day we found another all day parking lot and walked along the pier for a little while until we could go on our Alcatraz tour. We were booked on at 2pm and found that we could spend as much time there as we wanted, as long as we caught one of the boats back by 6.30pm. The boat ride was pretty quick, and once we go to Alcatraz, we were left to explore it ourselves. We had a look in a few old buildings, watched a short movie and spent ages reading all the posters of the history of Alcatraz Island. The main attraction there is the cell blocks, where the prisoners were kept. They have an ‘audio tour’ through there, where you are given a set of headphones and player, which gives you instructions of where to walk through the building and also a lot of history of each aspect of the cell blocks. It was a great way of going through as you could walk through at your own pace, and start/stop the player whenever you wanted to. The view of San Francisco from Alcatraz Island is truly amazing – we were there on a really sunny day and it look so beautiful across the water.

View of San Francisco from Alcatraz Island

Antony on Alcatraz Island

Standing in front of the main path up to the cell building

One of the buildings on Alcatraz

View of the harbour from Alcatraz (on the other side of the island to San Francisco)

Antony trying to find his way around

On Alcatraz Island

Exercise yard at Alcatraz prison

Standing at the entrance to the exercise yard at Alcatraz

Typical cell at Alcatraz Prison

Antony standing in front of one of the cells

Information posters in the cell blocks

Cell Block D – where all the really bad prisoners were kept

Boats in the harbour. Bay bridge in the background

Antony and I on Alcatraz

We got back to the mainland in time and decided to head up to Lake Tahoe and try and find jobs at a resort there. It was quite late by the time we got going (so disappointed we didn’t get to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge!) so we drove for a couple of hours and stayed in an RV park not far from Sacramento.