DAY FIFTEEN – LAKE TAHOE, NV TO SACRAMENTO, CA

There always seems to be one night on these trips when I just cannot fall asleep at all… and last night was it. Even though we actually could have slept in a little this morning, I was already awake watching the sunrise… and even if I wasn’t, Hunter’s new shadow texted us at 5:45 in the morning not realizing the time difference. Either way… I was getting up.

There is nothing better than sunrise at a beach. It was overcast this morning, but it still gave off gorgeous colours.

I had found a blog that shared a place in Zephyr Cove where you could find Old Lincoln Highway sings, so this morning, we went searching and I wuickly realized, they weren’t in the resort, but in the private neighbourhood next to the resort. Not a problem, I can tresspass at 7:30… no one will notice!

After sunrise we went to Heidi’s for breakfast. Heidi’s has been around since the 1960s, started by a Swiss family who wanted to bring European‑style comfort food to Tahoe… It looks like Maria just cut up some curtains…

My original plan was to hike… perfectly reasonable… very in line with last summer… but somewhere along the way it hit me that we are at a lake… there are boats on a lake… so we should go on a boat on a lake. Logic for the win. I did a bunch of research, and not only is it wildly expensive to cruise on Lake Tahoe, most of the excursions were party boats with unlimited beer and wine. After digging through reviews, I found Emerald Bliss Boat Tours… prepaid through Venmo… and was given a couples discount which was both nice and hysterical.

This morning we met Captain Jay promptly at 8:30… and I had two of the best hours I think I will ever have. Jay brought us all around South Lake Tahoe… showing us different sites… telling stories… listening to ours. He was absolutely brilliant. I genuinely wish I lived in South Lake Tahoe because I want to be friends with him. I haven’t been on the water like this in years… and Hunter loves anything that goes fast… so he was genuinely happy and kept telling Jay to go faster. These are random pictures of the two hours.

One of my favorite stories Jay told was about Camp Richardson. It used to be an actual mill and a small town… but when the dam was altered and the water level rose, parts of the old town were submerged. The shed we saw from the boat once held trains… and the water is so clear you can still see the old railroad tracks under the lake leading right to the shed. Absolutely unbelievable. And look at how clear that water is!

I already knew a little about the castle in Emerald Bay and the tea house on the island… but getting this close was ridiculous. Lora Josephine Knight was a wealthy philanthropist who bought the entire Emerald Bay area… built Vikingsholm, the Scandinavian‑inspired castle, in 1929… and added the tea house on Fannette Island. She owned the property for about fifteen years before donating the entire estate to California… which is why it’s preserved today.

Jay said hosting high tea on the island was a whole ordeal… they had to transport her by boat… carry her up the steps because she was older… and bring multiple courses and supplies. It was a production… and the pictures we got are unreal.

Then he brought us over to the Alpine Caribbean

Before we left the boat, Jay gave Hunter his brand‑new Heavenly hat. Heavenly is the ski resort in South Lake Tahoe where Jay manages the ski lifts… and when it came up that Hunter snowboards… and that Heavenly is a Vail resort just like Hunter Mountain in New York… Jay handed it to him without hesitation. Hunter wore that hat all day long. He has never worn a hat in his life… Jamie bought him one years ago and he wore it for five seconds… but this one stayed on all day. No words.

I stopped to get gas before crossing into California at the bargain price of $5.84 a gallon. For anyone who says California is crazy expensive, I want you to remember I live in Suffolk County, New York… the comparison really depends on where you live. Suffolk often lands around 120–150 on the cost‑of‑living index depending on the category… and South Lake Tahoe usually sits around 110–130 depending on housing and tourism season. So honestly, they’re not worlds apart. Groceries, restaurants, day‑to‑day spending all feel pretty similar. Housing in Tahoe is a little higher, but not by some wild, impossible amount. Gas is the only thing that goes completely off the rails because California has its regular fuel tax plus two clean‑air fees baked right into the price. Gas just lives on its own shelf… you put it there… and forget about it.

Hunter and I did a little tourist shopping at the base of Heavenly Mountain.

Then we headed to Emerald Bay because I wanted to find a waterfall. Sometimes my brain does not connect with the rest of my brain. (I said what I said). The waterfall is at the top of the mountain. Which means you have to drive to the top of the mountain. Which means switchbacks. And possibly no guardrails. It was terrifying. Horrible. Terrifying.

We passed Camp Richardson from the land, now a cute resort area, and finally reached the vista point. We got out, looked around, and I was done. We were not looking for any waterfall. Peace out homeslice.

We descended the mountain, and Hunter filmed me having one of my little episodes. I kept the language clean. At least, I don’t think I cursed. Shocking.

Descending

Wildlife!

The drive to Sacramento is only about two hours. I had no big plans. Maybe an early dinner, except the 2 ½ hour drive took five hours because I have to double everything.

The descent from Tahoe into Folsom is absolutely insane. South Lake Tahoe sits at about 7,386 feet, and Folsom is only around 257 feet — so you really do drop roughly 7,100 feet on US‑50. It’s not a gentle glide either… it’s long, winding mountain highway with tight curves, steep grades, and switchbacks that make your ears pop and your hands grip the wheel. It’s gorgeous, but it’s the kind of gorgeous that demands your full attention. And right near the bottom of the descent you hit the California Border Protection Station — officially the Meyers Agricultural Inspection Station, run by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It looks enough like a border‑patrol checkpoint that your heart jumps for a second, even though they’re just checking for produce, plants, and firewood. After that, the rest of the drive into Folsom feels like a victory lap.

We made a quick stop at historic Strawberry Station. The station was a major stop along the Pony Express route from 1860 to 1861. It served as a remount station where riders changed horses before continuing over the Sierra Nevada. The modern building sits near the original site. While we were there, I rescued a husband and wife who left their phone in the bathroom. I caught them before they drove away. Hero of the day… if I do say so myself.

We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls. There was no water. None. I had to look it up on Google to make sure I was in the right spot. I was. It was just dry.

Placerville is adorable and has a wild history. It used to be called Hangtown because of the number of vigilante hangings during the Gold Rush… in 1849, three men who robbed and attempted to murder miners were publicly hanged, and the name stuck. Eventually the town changed its name to Placerville, but the Hangtown nickname still hangs around as part of its identity.

I even had a treasure hunt ready for Hunter, but we got there so late I drove straight through without stopping. I would love to go back and walk Main Street… it’s one of those places that feels like a movie set. We did at least snap a pic while driving by the bell in town… the one that marks the old Hangtown days and ties the whole place back to its Gold Rush roots.

White Rocks is a natural granite outcropping along the historic Lincoln Highway corridor. Early travelers used it as a landmark when navigating the Sierra foothills. It is one of the few original roadside features still visible from the modern road.

We stopped for a picture. It was pretty I suppose.

Next stop was Folsom… Yes… just like Johnny Cash. Only instead of the jail, we went to see the Rainbow Bridge and the Powerhouse. The Folsom Powerhouse, built in 1895, was one of the first hydroelectric stations in the country to send electricity long distance, and Rainbow Bridge followed in 1917 as a major crossing point for early Lincoln Highway travelers. Folsom Prison inmates actually laid a section of the Lincoln Highway nearby, and that stretch still exists today. The Truss Bridge beside it is even older and honestly feels like the real attraction. There’s also a Lincoln Highway marker on a small pedestrian bridge from the second‑generation alignment, so we grabbed a picture of that… and of the Johnny Cash Trail, which looks cool as anything. Folsom is one of the towns I would love to come back to. The historic downtown looks incredible; there’s a hotel dating back to 1868… I told Hunter to grab a pic, but he ignored me, but what are you going to do. We thought about swinging by the prison for a photo, but even though it was only a mile and a half away, traffic would have turned it into twenty minutes… and we were starving. I look it up online for you here.

We finally made our way to Sacramento. I have zero interest in Sacramento, so Hunter and I went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. It’s a West Coast chain with real history, even though they’ve expanded a bit and now have locations as far away as Missouri and Tennessee. The very first Old Spaghetti Factory opened in 1970 inside a converted 1909 warehouse in Portland, Oregon — a former train freight depot they filled with antiques and salvaged pieces. The Sacramento location follows the same tradition. It opened in 1978 inside the old Western Pacific Railroad depot, a Mission Revival–style station built in 1909 that once served passengers traveling through the city. The building still has its original arches, brickwork, and rail‑era bones, and the restaurant kept the historic feel instead of modernizing it. It’s one of those places where you can picture people stepping off trains a century ago… and they even sat us inside a train car.