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Lake Tahoe.

Ashlene, Gapa and I ended up leaving for lake Tahoe at 8.30am (haha, didn't you see that coming?) instead of at 6am as planned, and we reached our hotel by 1.30pm. I drove part of the way!! :) It was the last 39 miles, but it still counts as my first US on-the-highway drive. And I didn't screw up! Wheeeeee! :)

On reaching Best Tahoe West Inn, we were pointed to (literally) the building where our room was, and we even got lost looking for it - customer service here just isn't like customer service in India! We'd have had a bell boy carry all our stuff right up till the room. But, when we got to the room and had taken all our stuff up, we were happy to see a nice big room with 2 big beds, although just one bathroom. We did fine though, no one fought over bathroom-time! :D We also had a small balcony in the room. Pleasant :)

We walked to a Baja Fresh for lunch, and until my stomach saw food, I was incredibly irritable. But I had a massive burrito and then I was ok. And, all our packing was (stupidly) very out-of-place, because Tahoe, even though on a high altitude, was HOT! I know, eep! moment happened. It was totally beach weather, except without the humidity. So while everyone on the road was in minimal clothing (read bikinis, shorts, etc.), the three of us were thinking about how we've come loaded with 2 jackets each! :| We actually considered buying a sundress or something of that sort, but we didn't do that in the end. Stuff there is expensive too! But then it all worked out - Ashlene had something sleeveless, and I found a spagetti top that I'd packed to make layers in the cold. (Lol!) Gapa found shorts.

Anyway, after we'd eaten, we chilled in the room for a bit and then rented bikes and headed out.

Lake Tahoe is lovely, very scenic. Lots of pretty birds around, and a lot of activity on the streets. People walking around, shopping and so on. Many tourists. We cycled to the lakeside beach (for which we needed a beach pass, and needed to head back to the hotel to get it). Ashlene and I experienced Gapa's total lack of a sense of direction, because he wasn't able to figure out how to go back. Hehe, we got back with a pass in the end. The lake is MASSIVE, so it almost looks like an ocean, and you can't see the other side. And all along the edge of it you see pine trees, and in the background, snow capped mountains. Imagine those sets of landscapes put together right - beach and snow-capped mountain? The beach I think is manmade though. Soooo pretty! The water was ice cold and after a point from the shore, 1600 feet deep. :O

The three of us chilled out (NOT! We were the warmest dressed there!) near the water, taking photos, checking out the scenery and people and making plans for the next day. We then went to a lakeside view restaurant and had Sangria and a Mediterranean platter. There was a live music there too, this guy was singing and playing guitar. It was nice and peaceful, each of us were pretty much to our own thoughts, talking every now and again, and otherwise staring into the lake far ahead.

Then we biked. Biked randomly all around the town. It was a whole lot of fun! Hadn't biked in a long time, and my legs were aching a little by the end of the day. Also, the air is rarer there, so breathing got a little strenuous after the physical exertion. But, geared bikes are less taxing on the legs, mostly because you can control the strain while pedaling.. sort of. :)

We returned the bikes, and although all the driving and biking had us tired, we stepped out for dinner. We went to a place called Heavenly Village which was across the California state border - just 1 road away. So basically I can stand in the middle of the road, and be on the border - have Nevada on one side, and California on the other. :) We ate at a restaurant that had lots of fires going, and random groups sitting around it to eat, so we were around a fire, eating with a lot of people we didn't know. Of course, you don't need to talk to them. :D Then we got ice cream and drove back to the hotel. By this time, we were quite beat, so we all just slept. During the course of the day, we'd also planned out what to do the next day - go to the lake in the morning to jet ski and kayak before driving to Yosemite.