The next morning we woke before the sun, 4:30AM to be exact, packed up our belongings and tiptoed out of Avi and Kayla’s house. We applaud their apartment facility for having an excellent coffee machine in the lobby, because without it there is no way we would have made the early morning drive to Sacramento. Two hours and a few McGriddles later we found ourselves in Elk Grove, where we picked up Travis, Kyle’s very good childhood friend from Indiana, and his amazing fiancé Megan. The four of us headed off with the Jeep packed up with water bottles, sandwiches and healthy snacks, Tahoe bound on a beautiful Labor Day weekend Sunday.
When we got to the lake reality set in – it was Labor Day weekend, meaning people had off work, which translates to traffic! We waited and waited for a place to pull off and park but even during the lull no one seemed the slightest bit upset. The stunning views of pine trees, backed by a crystal clear bright blue lake kept all our spirits high. After securing a parking spot we began our hike down to the water, laughing and talking, the boys reminiscing on old times and the Megan’s (who had just met for the first time) found many things to connect on. Everything was perfect - until we stumbled upon a nude beach! Hikers beware, the East side of the lake has many nude beaches and sunbathers are not of the Candice Swanepoel caliber, instead imagine saggy gravity stricken grandparents with bad sunburns!
We searched the shoreline for a place to stop and enjoy our lunch but unfortunately we had no luck. Every rocky cove and sandy beach had people on it, so we left to see what the rest of the lake had to offer... what we found was the beautiful Emerald Bay. Of course we had to battle traffic once again, but the scenery of the South Side of the lake can only be described by one word: Breathtaking. We were all very anxious to get out and explore the trails around the Bay. Travis and Megan showed us up as they glided alone the trails without being winded – take note, this is a very fit “running” couple and Megan has completed a marathon or two in her day (did we also mention this other fabulous Megan is a Doctor, as in MD)! Noticing the lack of stamina on our part, TITM’s Megan decided she would do what her counterpart Megan has done and take up running – even to the point of entering the LA Marathon in March!
As the day came to a close we headed back to Elk Grove as the orange harvest-moon ushered us home as it took over the night sky. We were thankful that the wonderful couple put us up for the night. The plan for the following day was to put our winery finding skills to work and have a tour of Napa Valley. It was another night of early to bed, early to rise as we dozed off before midnight while visions of wine grapes danced in our heads!
Xo,
M&K
