Visit to Lake Tahoe- Part 1

A vacation beckoned! The travelling bug got to us and we were looking at options, but soon realized that some favored destinations require really early bookings for lodging. A lucky break in acquiring a condo unit for the days we were looking at veered us towards California to visit Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, both of which hadn't featured in our itinerary yet.
We flew into Oakland and headed straight to Lake Tahoe, which is the largest Alpine lake in Northern America. The drive was nice with busy roads until we got to Sacramento. Then the traffic thinned out and snow capped mountains greeted us.

We pulled over at a couple of vista points before heading to Kings Beach at North Lake Tahoe. It was a quiet beach with some great views!

Our hotel was at South Lake Tahoe and we decided to drive there from the Nevada state side of the lake. 

Stunningly beautiful views of rock lined beaches and a visit to the Cave Rock were a perfect way to call it a day. 

 A glorious sunset was a great finale before checking into The Coachman Hotel. 

The hotel was at a convenient location, had very comfortable beds, and other amenities that included a complimentary breakfast at their tastefully decorated common area. 

The next morning, we headed to El Dorado beach for a walk. Emerald Bay, which was on our list of places to visit, was scheduled to open later in the day. It was cold and windy with a wind advisory in effect for the lake. We got an idea of how strong the winds could get as we stood on a pier. The water in the lake was a beautiful mix of hues of blue. 

Walking along the beach, I had encounters with a motley mix of objects - rocks and pebbles, pine cones, shells, lobster/crayfish claws (about which I read an interesting discussion from 2012 here), and finally, a man bundled up and snoozing among the pines.

I also saw a Steller's Jay, a pair of Common Merganser Ducks, and a Barnyard Swallow. 

Then we headed to lunch!