a fun day in SLT

Day 68 ~ zero in South Lake Tahoe

We had planned to take a day off here, and hoped that everything would go our way today.  We finished our chores early, so we'd have the rest of the day to do whatever we pleased.  We purchased an all day bus pass for the city so we could minimize walking, an important aspect of a day off trail.  We headed down to the casino area again, hoping for better luck this time.  We started with lunch; we ate the best pizza we've had on the trail at Basecamp Pizza (we've had a lot of pizza, so that's saying something!). 

We then  headed to Harrah's for the whole casino experience.  Imagine living in the woods by the sun with no noise or light but that provided by mother nature, and then walking into a bustling casino.  Neither of us had ever been in a casino, but it was quite the sensory overload; flashing lights, loud noises, people everywhere.  We decided to try our luck, but stuck to only the penny slot machines.  We didn't win any money, but took full advantage of the free beverage service.  Before getting too sucked in, we called it quits and headed back to South Lake Tahoe.

We stopped by the public beach, where a standup paddleboard competition was in progress.  We watched the paddleboarders for awhile before returning to our room.  We hung around for awhile and realized we needed to eat, but most places closeby were already closed.  We walked to a bar across the street and ordered food to-go.  The friendly bartender there conversed with us about the trail and craft beers.  He gave us a free beer, and escorted us to another bar in search pf a highly sought after beer we had discussed, Pliny the Elder.  The bar didn't have the beer, but he bought us a drink and returned to his bartending post at the bar across the street.  Another local bought us a beer before we headed back to the motel.  Between the friendliness of locals and entertainment, I'd say this place has lived up to its reputation of an excellent trail town!

the best laid plans...

Day 67 ~ 1079 - 1092

We had a short, fast, and easy hike into South Lake Tahoe today.  We have really been looking forward to this town stop, as it has been rumored to be one of the best stops on the trail; our eyes were on the prize as we hiked.  We arrived at the road, only to see Coppertone, offering up his usual root beer floats.  It's already shaping up to be a good stop!

After thumbing for what seemed like quite a while as we baked in the sun, standing on the asphalt, we finally got a ride.  We were dropped off at the outfitter, where we devised a plan to head down to the casino area in Stateline, NV (about 5 miles away) to get a room for the night.  We easily scored a ride from a friendly local and hopped out at Harvey's Casino, where we'd heard that hikers could stay for $60.  Not so; the rates were more than double  that for all rooms in the casino area due to a Sarah McLachlan concert that we were not the least bit interested in.  Hot, tired, hungry, and irritable after wandering around for what felt like hours, we caught the city bus back to South Lake, thinking that this stopover was no longer going as planned.

We got a room at the Motel 6, our old standby for a cheap room, and got started on our chores.  We contacted a local acquaintance, Blair, who we met last summer on the Outer Banks while he was visiting our good friend, Sean.  Blair offered to pick us up and have dinner together.  Once he arrived, he offered that we could come to his house where his roommates were cooking up a feast.  We accepted the offer without hesitation.  Blair and his roommates were so hospitable, and welcomed us to dive in to a huge spread of fish taco fixin's and other delights.  A fun time was had by all, especially us, as we enjoyed feeling like normal people, doing normal people things; not like the "hiker trash" that we are normally labeled as.  Thanks, Blair and crew, for a great time; maybe this will shape up to be the best town stop on the trail after all.