Lake Tahoe August 1988

In August of 1988 we went to Tahoe for the second time with the kids and the 5th time as a couple. We had a busy summer that year. The week before we left to go to Tahoe, my daughter had Girl Scout day camp. I went as a counselor. We were leaving for Tahoe on Saturday and on Thursday afternoon, at camp, THIS happened:



While walking on stilts my legs were getting too far apart. My foot started to roll off of the little platform. The outside of my sneaker stayed on the platform and the rest of my foot rolled off. The result was a small broken bone in my foot, a ridiculous cast and the realization that I was going to go to Tahoe in two days and not be able to get wet. For about 60 seconds I thought about not going and having Hubby go ahead with the kids. Yah, that was short lived.

We decided to drive to the Lake at night. That way the kids could sleep and it wouldn't be hot etc. Well, that wasn't one of our better ideas. Just ask my daughter. We were in a Honda Civic. I had to keep my foot elevated. So, I reclined my seat and put my foot on the dashboard. My daughter was sitting behind me. While I wasn't completely laying down, I'm sure I was seriously encroaching on her space. My son, come to find out, couldn't get comfortable in the car for that long. At 4 years old, he was a total stomach sleeper. He also had an annoying habit of banging his head when he was trying to fall asleep. The pediatrician said it was a glorified form of rocking. (It's not like I never rocked him when he was a baby.) In his own bed, this meant picking his head up and banging it down, repeatedly, until he fell asleep. Well, in the car it was moving his body forward and throwing his head back against the seat, over and over again. Then waking up and complaining that he wanted to roll over and starting the whole process over again. My poor daughter. She was 6 years old and totally over it. Mom in her face, brother rocking the whole car and having to sleep sitting up. I'm surprised she didn't have a total meltdown. Eventually we did make it to the cabin and, with a few adjustments, a great time was had by all.

Tahoe Tessie was still there waiting for us. Scratching on the cabin walls at bedtime and walking on the roof in the morning. The kids and hubby still went River Rafting while I sat in the shade by the dam and read a book. We still went to the Lake and I sat in the shade with a book. We took a day trip to Virginia City. You know the place that Hoss, Adam and Little Joe used to ride to on Bonanza. It is a real live, old, western town. We went on a train ride and looked in little shops. We spent time just hanging out at the cabin feeding the blue jays and laughing at the kids daring each other to sneak over to the 'witches cabin.'

My cousin and her family came up from Reno and spent the day. Here is a picture of my 'twin' cousin, her daughter, myself, my kids and my uncle.



A picture of my son standing beside a huge tree stump in front of the cabin.



At some point during the trip, my daughter must have forgiven my son for the horrible car ride because here they are posing for a picture at the lake.



I'm sure that trip wasn't what I would have liked it to be, but there is NEVER a bad day at Lake Tahoe.

14 days at the Lake.......$$510.00.

Next vacation, March 1989, Brianhead, Utah.

Quick Trip To Reno

December of 1987 was a weird month. I turned 30. My daughter came home from school on the day of my 30th birthday with the chicken pox. I, being the diligent mommy that I was, applied anti-itch lotion to each and everyone of her pox during the coarse of her illness. Christmas found us all well. Three days after Christmas, I came down with the Chicken Pox and have lovingly thanked her for 20 years now for giving me the chicken pox as a 30th birthday present. My son got them the day after I did. By the beginning of January 1988, I was ready to get out of the house.

My hubby had a job interview in Reno, Nevada. We thought that we wanted to relocate our family and he thought he wanted to change careers. My cousin, who lives in Reno, had a brand new baby who I was dying to see, so I went along with him on the interview and we turned it into a mini weekend getaway.

The weather was a little rough. There was a lot of snow on the roads and salt to keep us from slipping. The salt being thrown up off the road made pit marks in the front end of my new Honda Civic. Aside from that, though, it was absolutely beautiful.



We stayed in a hotel in downtown Reno. Can't remember which one. One of the high rise casinos, that's all I can remember. The view was really pretty from our window of the city covered in snow.





We really loved (still do) it there. We spent time looking into the housing and schools. We were convinced that we were going to move there, but God had other plans. That's really a story for a different post, but God made it abundantly clear through a series of clear events that we were to stay in So. Cal and my hubby was to stay put at his job. Good thing we listened. We have been blessed right here. Especially in the area of my husband's job.

We spent four days in Reno. 3 nights in the hotel, meals and gas. We spent $160.00. Casino hotels back then were pretty cheap, obviously. Next vacation: Tahoe for the 5th time.

Introducing My Children To 'Heaven On Earth'

It's now August of 1987 and we are finally going to take the kids to Lake Tahoe. My daughter was 5 1/2 and my son 3 1/2. I can remember being so excited and wanting to show them everything! First we had to endure an eleven hour car ride and when you are little that can be torture. This would be the farthest they had ever ridden in the car. I remember giving each of them a role of nickels (yes, nickels) and telling them that every time they asked me if we were there yet they had to give me a nickel. Any nickels that they still had when we got there were theirs to keep. In 1987, when you are 3 and 5, two dollars is a lot of money. Or at least I made them think it was :o). I don't think that either of them had to give me more than one or two. I used the 'nickel' incentive for several years and my children became excellent travelers. I would also buy little gifts from what was then Pic n Save. Every couple of hours I would give them something new. Riding in the car was actually kind of fun to them. Or maybe not. We'll see what they have to say in my comments.

That first trip to the lake was supposed to be for a week. Everyone was having such a good time that we extended our stay to 10 days. I don't remember everything that we did because the memories over the years seem to run together. I do know that we spent a lot of time just playing at the lake. I remember that we drove around the lake and stopped at Zephyr cove. There is an old legend of a green dragon who lives in the lake. Her name is Tahoe Tessie. She is friendly, and at that time you could find her image everywhere. There was a statue of her at Zephyr cove. The rest of the trip hubby and I would scratch on the walls when we went to bed at night and tell the kids that it was Tahoe Tessie trying to get in. In the mornings, when the Blue jays would walk on the roof, we would tell them that it was Tahoe Tessie walking on the roof. Good thing that they knew she was friendly or we could have scarred them for life.

Next to the cabin that we stay in, there was an old boarded up cabin. It was in need of repair and the porch was full of cobwebs and pine needles. Someone decided that a witch lived in it. From that trip all the way until this year, the cabin was called 'the witches cabin.' The kids would dare each other to walk around it and see who was brave enough to try and peak into the windows.

That year there were several dead trees on the property. They were full of woodpecker holes. Hubby decided to use the woodpecker holes and climb the tree. Look at those styling short shorts....lol.



Good thing he didn't fall. That might have hurt.

One of the special memories my daughter has of that trip is that she lost her first tooth in the cabin. Somehow, the tooth fairy managed to find us all the way up at Lake Tahoe!


Here are some pictures of the kids and hubby standing by the cabin. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like the little green cabin to temporarily call home....






A week and a half at the lake and all that that entails......$420.00.

Next vacation, if you want to call it that, January 1988, Reno, Nevada.

Lake Havasu, July 1987

We're back from 11 wonderful days at Lake Tahoe. We all had an awesome time. The weather was perfect, the company was great, there was way too much food and the time flew as it always does. There are stories to be told and pics to be posted. I'm going to keep you in suspense, unless of course you read my daughters blog, until I finish my series of past vacations. Wouldn't want to go out of order or anything. :o)

In July of 1987, Hubby, me, the kiddos and my in-laws went to Lake Havasu for 5 days. We put all of our gear in the boat and found a campsite on the Lake. I had never been there before. It was hotter than blazes. Probably around 120 degrees during the day. I doubt that it cooled down much below 100 at night. We set up our camp right on the water and pretty much stayed in the water, unless we were asleep. The only problem with this was that my son was 3 1/2 and HATED the water. We had to practically force him to get in. In this picture you can see him sitting on the back of the ski tube, as close to shore as possible.



One person who loved the water was our 4 month old golden retriever puppy, Candy. She was wet more than she was dry. If we wanted her to get out for awhile, we had to tie her up.



When we set up camp, we set up a camp 'potty' a few feet from our campsite. It had a curtain around it for privacy. One evening my 5 year old daughter went to go potty. Our golden retriever was tied up in the campsite. Our daughter started to scream bloody murder. Before any of us could get to her to see what was wrong, Candy broke her leash and ran to rescue her. What was wrong was that we had set up the 'potty' too close to the bushes. It was dusk and the mosquitoes were apparently living in the bushes. When my poor daughter went to go potty the mosquitoes had literally attacked her. When we got to her they were all over her. We had to put her in the water to get them off of her. The next morning when she woke up she had 77 welts (I think....I'm sure my daughter will correct me if I'm wrong) all over her tiny little body. She itched so bad that we had to go into Havasu City and find a drugstore to buy Benadryl. I felt so sorry for the poor little thing. To this day she absolutely hates mosquitoes.

This picture is of me and the kids in front of the bridge in Havasu City. Keep in mind that it's 1987, but what is up with the way we used to tuck our shirts into our shorts?



We spent the days skiing, tubing, floating and laying in the shade. Aside from the mosquitoes and a child who hated the water, we had a good time.

Total cost for 5 days.....$95.00

Next up....Introducing the kids to Lake Tahoe, August 1987.

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off To Tahoe We Go......

I know, I know....that is not how the song is supposed to go, but it's how my song is going to go. I can't wait. My daughter and I have been calling each other for over a week asking if we packed the car then could we get there any faster? We are blessed this year that the entire family will be able to be there. Some of us longer than others, but we will all be together for five days. Some dear friends of ours are driving up one day. We are very excited to see them as they are some of our favorite people. My cousin and family from Reno will be coming up one day also, because it's tradition. We always eat too much and catch up on each other's lives. Family, friends and Lake Tahoe. It doesn't get any better than that. So, I won't post for a couple of weeks, but I promise to post some pictures when we get back that aren't all old and brown.

My grandson and my son's girlfriend have never been to the lake and we are looking forward to showing them all the things that we love so much.

We haven't been to the cabin in four years. Two years ago my hubby and I went up to the Lake in the fall and stayed in a condo at Kingsbury. It was beautiful, but it wasn't the little cabin :o)

I wish I could really put into words what it is about Lake Tahoe that I love so much. I think that when I sit under the pine trees, feeding the blue jays, if I listen really hard, I can still hear the little voices of my children playing in the yard. When I'm inside the cabin, I'm the new bride experiencing Lake Tahoe for the first time. When I sit and look out at the Lake I seem to feel God's presence in a heightened way. When I hike to Eagle Lake there aren't words to describe how beautiful God's world is. It's a place where my body, mind and soul all seem to be rejuvenated.It's a quiet place for me. A place for praising my Savior for all that I have and all that I am. It's that place where the Holy Spirit always seem to meet me and it's the place where I don't seem to be too busy for Him. Lake Tahoe truly is my heaven on earth.

Brianhead Utah, January 1987

I took a little hiatus from the vacation blog series to start making lists and planning for this summer's vacation. We are leaving soon, and I'm almost ready, so I thought I'd post about Brianhead skiing in January of 1987.

The same group of people went as went in 1986. We stayed in the same condo. Some people just didn't understand the year before that three flights of stairs with little people was absolutely miserable. This year was no exception. I remember one morning bundling my 5 year old daughter up and carrying my skis and poles and her skis and poles down all those stairs. It was a crisp, clear, sunny day. The type of day that was just made for skiing. We walked to the bunny slopes and got all of our gear on and rode the chair lift up. We skied down once and she started whining about how cold she was and how she wanted to go back to the condo. I asked her how in the world she could be cold when I was dying of heat. No amount of pleading could convince her that she wasn't cold, so we took off all of our gear, trekked back up those three flights of stairs and went back inside. Of course, it was me who was carrying EVERYTHING! She might have been carrying her own poles, but I doubt that I would have been comfortable with her trying to climb three flights of stairs and carrying poles, so at least for the sake of effect in this story, we'll say that I was carrying everything. I remember being more than a little irritated with her because by that point, I was exhausted. Later in the morning my husband came back from skiing a different part of the mountain. He asked me if I had heard how cold it was. He informed me that with the wind chill it was 10 below zero. Hmmmm.....I do remember apologizing to my daughter. If I hadn't been so hot from carrying everything, I likely would have been whining long before she was.


Does she look cold to you?

We slept in the loft again on that trip with our kids and my sister-in-law and her boyfriend. My son had brought several books along with him on the trip. One of them was 'The Goat' book. For some reason, it was his favorite at the moment. We had to read it over and over and over again. He also, at just 3 years old, was learning new words everyday. One night, in the middle of the night, he started talking. To this day we don't know if he was asleep or awake, but he was carrying on a full conversation. It started and went something like this:

Him: Mommy, daddy, where my doat book doe?

Us: What? Go back to sleep.

Him: But, where my doat book doe?

Us: Umm.....we'll find it in the morning. Go back to sleep.

He did for a few minutes. Then we woke up to this:

Him: Mommy, Daddy....diarrhea.

Us: What?! Where? (I'm pretty sure we flew out of bed at this point because diarrhea has a way of doing that.) There was no diarrhea.

Us: Good-night!

The sleeping little cherubs before the sleeping-talking antics.

This is the same trip that my sister-in-law's boyfriend sat straight up in bed in the middle of the night and started calling my name out. Scared us all to death for starters. Then we teased him about why he was calling MY name. He had no idea, but it certainly led to us being teased the whole week.

On this trip our son started ski school. By the end of the week he was a little dare devil. He would start at the top of the run, make a pie and put his arms up in the air bent at the elbow, and fly down the hill. He would yell, "Yah-who!" all the way down the hill. He looked like one of those stuffed Garfield's that people used to have suction-cupped to their car windows. My husband would ski right behind him just in case he fell.

This trip's cost: Hotel in Vegas, condo, lift tickets, food and gas......$610.00

Next trip....July 1987.....Lake Havasu.

It has been brought to my attention that my daughter did not yet ski with poles.....so I was only carrying two pairs of skis and one set of poles. Wouldn't want to mislead anyone :o)