The next 3 days- RV life

Okay, where to begin?   Flynn the slacker is woefully behind on this trip report, so will be throwing all the past 48 + hours at the wall to see where it all sticks. 

First and foremost, the drive from Lassen to South Lake Tahoe was unremarkable.    One quick stop for lunch at Bordertown (ulterior motive to check out the RV park there), and a short diversion for high wind warnings on Hwy 580 via alt 395 got the crew to the Tahoe Valley RV park in the late afternoon.  F&O were originally booked into a site with no sewer, but upon arrival Ollie managed to sweet-talk his way into a ‘better’ site.   Good start.   

As you can see, the parking/sites are tight here.   This is a huge park, with somewhere around 400 sites, and they are jammed in.   F&O were fortunate that there was no one behind their slot, instead it was the back of the hospital.  The bird, otter, cat, and humans set up and settled in for an evening of rest.  Oddly enough, the power randomly browned out several times, causing some annoyance when the microwave beeped, the lights dimmed, and the laptops flashed.    Well, with 400 sites and lots of wind, this is to be expected.    The wi-fi was slow, and the cell G was sketchy at best.  Since Flynn was already behind on his ‘work’, this was rather irksome.    Oh well, such is an adventure.   Off to bed.  Until the power went completely out.   Ollie, up, reset the breaker.  Power out again 10 minutes later,  reset again.  Out, reset, out reset.  And, lo and behold (1 am), no other neighbors having this problem. Their lights were working just fine.   WTF?     On a desperate hunch, Ollie got out the extension cord (never travel without one) and plugged into the power pedestal in the empty space next to us.  Gee, this worked fine, steady as a rock.      So, basically, our upgraded site gave us a faulty power stand.   Lovely.

The following morning, after reporting the power problem to staff, F&O headed off to do a hike on the Cascade Trail.  This is a highly touted short hike, with stunning views.   F&O would have surely enjoyed it immensely if they had been able to access the trail.   Unfortunately, like so many other attractions at Lake Tahoe, this was impossible as there was virtually no parking, none within a mile or more of the trailhead.   Accessing most anything in Tahoe is a feat of luck, and super frustrating.   F&O continued down to the next state park, where parking was also full, and talked to the pleasant p-lot monitor who steered us in the direction of the Sugar Pine State Park, several miles away.   

Oh my, what a find this place was for the gang!  It had parking, beach access, trails, and just about anything one could want along the shore of Tahoe, including stunning views.   F&O hiked along the 1.5 mile easy trail, got their toes wet in the water, and thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent there.  

Many hours later, back at camp, with the electricity fixed, F&O settled in for the night.   Since the internet was so sketch, they gave up on the blogs and uploading photos and headed off to bed early.  The following morning, they were awoken by the lovely sound of …. jack hammers.  The hospital behind their site was undergoing renovations.  It seemed as if this was not going to be the trip to Tahoe they had envisioned.   Between the less-than-ideal campground and no way to access the lake or activities, F&O made the choice to cut their losses and leave.    Ollie made an in person visit to the office, to let them know of the early departure due to conditions.  The Tahoe Valley Campground declined to give a discount or credit for our inconvenience. (Insert snarky comment here).

Off to Reno. 5g and plenty of wi-fi, roomy spaces, and fully functioning electric, and no construction noise next to our site. But, boys and girls, this is not the end of the trials and tribulations. There is more to come. It ain’t pretty, and we probably won’t get around to telling our story for another week. Whoever said preparation is the key to success is full of it.

Sorry…. more click-bait!

Fin

Flynn