Lake Tahoe

I mentioned in my What’s Up Wednesday post that Travis and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary yesterday. That got me thinking about how we try to go somewhere for “milestone” anniversaries.

For our first anniversary, we went to Florida. To celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, we went to Charleston, SC.

So thought I’d look back at our 10th wedding anniversary when we went to Lake Tahoe.

I did a Today, in my my mind, I’m in… post about our family vacation to Arizona and California two years ago.

So, today, in my mind, I’m in…Lake Tahoe.

I thought for our 10 year we may go somewhere like the Bahamas! BUT…Travis is the first to admit he likes the beach and ocean but not necessarily for a stretch of days. He prefers to explore and be a bit more active on vacation.

He mentioned Lake Tahoe, and I loved the idea. Our anniversary is in June, but we decided to take this vacation in October of 2015. At the time, the kids were in kindergarten and had a different fall break than I did. The district that I was teaching in at the time gave us a whole week for fall break. So, we thought it would be easier on my mom and gma to watch the kids while the kids were mostly in school and we could take advantage of the fact that I had a week off of school.

We left on a Tuesday afternoon and flew to Reno, NV. We arrived late, so we just stayed at a hotel that night that wasn’t too far from the airport. The next morning, we drove the scenic route to our destination of the Ritz Carlton, Lake Tahoe in Truckee, CA. (more on that later)

This first picture is one from our drive to Truckee. There were scenic pull off spots to look at the gorgeous view.

It’s amazing how different parts of the lake from different angles show various and beautiful shades of blue.

We arrived at the Ritz Carlton around lunchtime on Wednesday.

Let me just say that we aren’t fancy people. I mean, we like nice things and think through major purchases, but we rarely splurge. Travis always does our vacation planning, and I’m not mad about it. This trip was definitely a treat, and I’m pretty sure it’s the only five star hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

Of course, the grounds were beautiful and the amenities were amazing. After checking in, we walked around a bit before heading to lunch on the water.

I don’t remember where we ate for lunch that first day, but this was our view.

We went out to dinner in Truckee and came home to this delicious cake in our room. During that time, the KC Royals were in post-season play, and I remember drinking a glass of wine from our favorite winery (Anomaly) and eating this cake while watching them play on the TV in our room. #heavenonearth

On Thursday, I had booked myself a massage. I’ve had massages before, but this was certainly a treat. I met Travis back in the room afterwards, and he looked 10 years younger. I asked him where he’d been while I was gone, and he said he sat in the steam room for a bit. I’d never done that before, so I headed back to the spa and sat in the steam room for a while. I don’t know that I looked 10 years younger, but I loved it! I felt so refreshed.

Later on that Thursday, we drove a bit to the lake to stand up paddle board. This was my first SUP experience, and I loved every second. My yoga and Pilates classes paid off because I found it pretty easy to do, and I did not end up in the very chilly water!

Thursday night we ate again in Truckee. It is the sweetest little town surrounded by mountains with cute little shops and wonderful restaurants.

On Friday, I checked out that steam room again for a few minutes, and then we decided to go zip lining. I hadn’t been zip lining since Girl Scout camp in 1989, but when Travis came up with the idea, I went with it. Admittedly, I don’t like heights. That being said, this was apparently a zip line/obstacle course. My fears were definitely tested, and I asked Travis more than once why he brought me all the way to Lake Tahoe to kill me, but I persevered! I truly enjoyed the zip lining part…just not walking on the wobbly sticks 1,000 feet in the air.

After doing some of the obstacles and telling Travis that I would not be doing the harder obstacles, I watched as he “challenged” himself on the more difficult courses. #showoff

Top photo and bottom right photo: Travis way up in the air. Also, the time I confirmed his life insurance was up to date.

Bottom left photo: Me holding on to dear life on the zip line.

After the obstacle courses, we had lunch and hiked a bit.

When we arrived back from our hike, we were reminded that we aren’t bougie as the valet drove our Ford Focus right past the high roller cars. Travis said the really rich must arrive on the weekends! 😉

For our last dinner of the trip, we ate at one of the restaurants at the hotel. It was a great way to end our little vacay.

We had to get up pretty early that Saturday morning to travel back to Kentucky, but it was a great trip overall.

With Covid and life just being different right now, our 15th anniversary kind of snuck up on us. I’m not sure if we will be able to go anywhere this summer. If so, it will most likely be in driving distance. We’ll see.

Where’s a favorite place that you’ve traveled to??

Take care,