With so many dry years, we just had to get up to Tahoe once this season to see the snow. Unfortunately with two small children in tow, we didn’t make plans to do any skiing/snowboarding. Instead, we booked a suite at Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel through the HotelTonight app for $139 and headed up on Saturday morning for a 24-hour turn-around trip. The drive was easy and took about 3.5 hours not counting a stop at McDonald’s and a gas station. When we drove on Hwy 50, there wasn’t much snow. However, it was good to see that the creek was full of water.

Once we got to the summit, there was some leftover snow from the last storm. KK said it looked like North Mountain. Then down by the lake and Heavenly Resort, there was absolutely no snow in sight. So depressing. It looked like Spring!! So we checked in, changed into our snow pants, and headed back up to the summit. We tried to go the Adventure Mountain for some sledding but it was at capacity by the time we arrived.

So we kept driving and found a sno-park with lots of snow. It was just enough snow for KK to play and build a snowman. We played right next to the car and didn’t have to do any trekking.

Thank goodness since Peanut is not a lightweight baby. It’s crazy (and sad) that KK is almost 4 and this is her first experience with snow.

For lunch, we went to Verde Mexican Rotisserie that had a really good guacamole and my fish taco was stuffed to the top and really tasty.

In the afternoon, we went to Happy Hour at the hotel. They were serving $2 drinks and had free snacks and drinks for the kid.

Before dinner, I took my little girl ice skating for the first time. What made it even more special was that it was snowing. We both had a good time and I managed to stay up on my skates even after a few drinks. Heh heh.

The next morning, we were surprised to see that the snow had stuck and it covered the whole parking lot and our car.

It was a nice change from the spring conditions we had the day before.

Another extra perk at the hotel was free breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, and all the other usual breakfast buffet items. That was great considering both kids were up early and I was starving.

Before heading home, we took KK outside for one last play in the snow. I love how simple it was for us to find snow just outside of the hotel and KK was pleased as punch.

Our drive home was a little sketchy but we managed to get over the summit with just our all-weather tires on our 4wd car. We thought about pulling over to put on our chains a couple times but we lucked out with adequate road conditions and lots of trunks in front of us crushing the ice in our path.

Our last stop was in Placerville where we found a place called Hog Wild BBQ. It’s a no-nonsense BBQ joint that makes a tasty brisket with a gorgeous smoke ring on the meat. The pulled pork and ribs are also really good. It’s definitely going to be added to my list of places to eat on the way to Tahoe next time.

For such a quick trip, it was very doable. So glad we had clothes for the kids and it was nice to pull out our old gear again after so many years of being in storage. Maybe next time we can figure out a way to get on the slopes. I’ve been itching to break out the skis again and can’t wait to get KK on skis too!!! Let’s hope that El Niño keeps going for a little longer this season.

Also, thanks for the tip on the hotel, Ranee! It’s crazy how cheap it is considering you get a 1-bedroom suite with kitchenette, free breakfast, and it’s literally next to Heavenly and the casinos. You can’t get much better than that!