Usually we agonize a bit over where to go for summer vacation, but this year was easy — with Zoe spending the summer working in South Lake Tahoe, a trip here was an easy choice. Looking at the forecast (sunny skies every day, highs in the high seventies to low eighties, no humidity) — along with the gorgeous photos that Zoe sends us — cemented our decision.

To get a direct flight at a reasonable cost, we flew into Sacramento and didn’t arrive until around 8:30pm PT. Nadia and Lanie have been talking about In-N-Out Burger for months, so we had to stop there on our way to Lake Tahoe, even though by the time we made it there it was close to 11pm (that’s 2am ET). The drive started out pretty easy, but close to Lake Tahoe we had to go over a mountain pass, with steep, winding roads. (Luckily it was too dark to see the sheer dropoffs on the side of the road, but later on we saw the road and were retroactively terrified.) By the time we made it to our complex and navigated the confusing parking situation and labyrinth-like pathways to our condo, it was after midnight.

Despite this, Bob and I were up fairly early the next morning (given the time zone situation). We were excited to stroll around and see our surroundings, having arrived in the middle of the night. We’re staying at the Lakeland Village resort, which is a grouping of townhouses along the lake. Zoe told us that the public beaches tend to be crowded, and the parking expensive and hard to come by, so we splurged for a community with its own private beach. It was well worth it. The beach is long and lovely, with a pier stretching out over the blue-green water. The resort’s parking is around the outskirts, so our condo looks out over a pine-filled courtyard rather than a sea of asphalt. It’s a five-minute stroll to the community beach, where the water is warm enough for swimming. And soon Zoe arrived! She’s on an early schedule with her hawk-monitoring job, and lives only about 5 minutes away, so she arrived before 8am.

By the time the other two girls were up, we were hungry for breakfast (oddly, since we’d had a second dinner at 11pm the night before). Zoe took us to a nearby spot and we had a little time to check out the adjacent Goodwill while waiting for our table. The girls had high hopes of good deals on rich people clothes, but alas found that the rich people clothes were quite expensive, even at the Goodwill.

After a large breakfast feast, Zoe brought us to see her house (an airbnb that she shares with her three teammates). It’s in a lovely little neighborhood just off the main drag, but quiet and calm. At the end of her street was the Upper Truckee Marsh, a breathtakingly beautiful area of hiking trails that we couldn’t believe she could access just with a quick stroll down the street. Everything is very beautiful here, though. Around every corner is a new view of the lake, stretching out toward the distant mountains in colorful bands of aquamarine, deep green, and deep blue.

Less beautiful but more practical was Zoe’s favorite haunt, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. (Yes, it’s really called that.) Somehow this grocery store has almost everything you need, mostly at bizarrely low prices. Zoe has been raving about it for months, as an oasis of economy amidst a sea of high-end prices. We still managed to drop a fair bit here, but got pretty well stocked up for the week for some meals, snacks, and evening apertivos.

Since we’re staying in one place for the whole week, and it’s a pretty laid-back place, our pace has been very different from our recent sightseeing vacations. Certain parties felt in need of a nap before our evening excursion, so we spent a little time in the condo playing games and reading. We had 7:30 pm tickets to a show at Sand Harbor State Park, about 40 minutes up the road in Nevada. (The state line is only about 5 minutes away, and from the resort on our beach we can see the high rises of the casinos that are literally like one inch past the border.)

We decided to have dinner in Incline Village, near the park, and found a cool brewpub with excellent pizzas. Then we headed back to the park, which seems to have a nonstop line of cars waiting to get in. (Apparently if you want to arrive during the morning, you actually have to make a reservation.) Its popularity is not surprising — situated on a rocky penisula jutting out into the lake, you can climb to the highest elevation and get amazing views in all directions. We had a little time to look around, exploring the beach and the rocky coastline. Nadia and I did a little wine tasting at the little food court set up near the stage area. We wished we had more time here, and are hoping to return later in the week.The stage itself was amazing, right at the waterfront with a natural amphiteater rising up all around. The

play was “Peter and the Starcatcher” — a beloved family read-aloud book from years ago — so when we happened to see a brochure for it we bought tickets right away. I wasn’t super impressed by the play itself, but the cast was extremely talented and the setting couldn’t be beat. We were sitting pretty high up and could see the sunset over the lake and the emergence of the moon and stars. It was another late-ish night for us East Coasters, but well worth it.