M.S. Dixie | Tahoe Pizza Company | Lake Tahoe

South Lake Tahoe, California - Today is already the 3-month post-op date of my hysterectomy. Everything is going so well! Though I can still get a little tender after a long hike, I am pretty-much "over it". In fact, we needed to replace a nightlight in the bathroom of the motorhome and felt secure enough to purchase a Kokopeli nightlight. (Kokopeli is a Native American fertility symbol.) I think we are safe.

Looking up in Tahoe

This morning dawned bright and early for us - we were roused by the blasting burner of a hot air balloon, directly over our motor home. Good Morning! As long as we were awake, we may as well get out of bed. I made breakfast and later we took a drive on the California side of the lake and then headed back to Nevada to take a cruise on the lake. There are two touristy paddlewheel boats to choose from on Lake Tahoe. We chose the M.S. Dixie II.

Sailing away to Emerald Bay

The photo above was taken by the ship staff - they snap your photo as you board - and sell it to you after your cruise. We bought the photo and then I took a picture of the picture - and it doesn't look so bad. The weather was just perfect for a cruise across the lake and we were really enjoying the fantastic views. Two years ago, we drove around the entire lake - but it is a different lake entirely from the surface. DT looked across the deck and noticed a woman wearing a George Washington University cap, so I headed over to say hello. I introduced myself as a GW Mom and her husband turned around - Jack Kvancz, Athletic Director at The George Washington University! What are the chances? They came across the ship to join us and we had a great time sailing to Emerald Bay.

The Taylor’s with Janice & Jack Kvancz


Beautiful Emerald Bay

Lake Tahoe is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide. The volume of water in the lake would flood the state of Texas in 8 inches of water. That is one big lake! The lake is fed by 65 small creeks. Because there is no large river coming into the lake, it is basically silt-free and the city brags the lake is "99% pure". (Pure what, I have no idea. The lake is crystal clear, but I'm still not going to drink from it.) But what a beautiful setting - a huge alpine lake under clear blue skies. The Nevada-California border cuts through the lake, so we sailed in two states. Emerald Bay is named so because the water is shallow in the bay and has a brilliant green color. The only island in the lake sits in the middle of Emerald Bay and a beautiful "summer cabin" - a huge stone mansion - sits on the edge of the bay.

After our cruise, we had a nice lunch at the Zephyr Cove Restaurant. We sat on the back deck, over-looking the gorgeous lake, under shading pines and umbrellas. After lunch we took a walk along the beach. Though DT claimed to want a better look at the lake, I think he was more interested in a closer look at a volleyball game... and the bikini-clad girls playing. (NOTE: There is also a very nice RV park here. At the time of our visit, they did not have wifi and were not not satellite friendly. Check it out - a gorgeous campground.)

Since we missed our pizza last night (only because we are never really sure what day/date it is at any given moment) we decided to go across the street to the Tahoe Pizza Company. It was a good choice. Tahoe Pizza Company is in one of those log-cabin-looking buildings - very rustic - yet new. The girl behind the counter, who was incredibly attractive, asked where we would like to sit. They had regular seating and a cozy non-smoking bar with two baseball games on the televisions. We chose to sit in the bar. Our waiter, Ryan, came to take our order - two salads and a small cheese pizza. Ryan was incredibly attractive. We started noticing that every waitress was gorgeous. It was like models were working at Tahoe Pizza Company. So, Ryan is delivering our salads and there seems to be a cheerleader jumping up and down in the reception area of the restaurant. She is wearing skin-tight black pants, and a little (very tight) white skimpy tee-shirt - her belly button was showing, of course. Erin was waving her hands in the air and jumping up and down to get Ryan's attention. Seems there is a little fire in the kitchen! (Trust me, DT will tell you a little fire was worth the site of this gorgeous blonde jumping up and down.) Seems an evil pizza had combusted in the wood-fired oven. Smoke was everywhere. All of the Bunnies came out of the kitchen, coughing and teary-eyed from the smoke. Ryan went in and saved the day and in a few moments things did return to normal, but there would be a short delay in the delivery of our cheese pizza. No worries.

Our pizza was simply delicious. Tahoe Pizza Company offers two crusts - regular and whole wheat and you can order them thin crust or rolled. The rolled crust has the edges turned-over to make for a thicker crust. I asked Ryan if it was a requirement to be incredibly gorgeous to work here - and he said no... but HE does the hiring and this year's college girls were of exemplary quality. No kidding. If you are in Lake Tahoe and are looking for a great pizza, go to Tahoe Pizza Company.

RV Park: Tahoe Valley Campground