Tales from our roadtrip, day one {image heavy}

I wanted to title this "The one in which G foils my plan and screams for 2 hours, then falls asleep 10 miles from our destination" but it seemed pretty long. You now have a summary of day one of our road trip vacation to Lake Tahoe.

happy during the first hour

We had wanted to go to Lake Tahoe since we moved to the area. It's a super beautiful place, only 3 hours from where we live...how could we not go? I finally got my husband to okay spending some cash to go on a mini-vacation, booked our hotels, planned a few 'excursions,' and waited until the end of August.

We packed up last Wednesday morning and headed for our first stop--Sacramento. I had looked up a few good stops between here and Tahoe so that we could do something fun to wear out G (so that she'd nap in the car). Fairytale Town was the clear winner--it was cheap, had animals, and was not out of the way.

It was also a slight disappointment. The castle moat (and crocodiles inhabitants) was closed for repairs...bummer. We were unaware of this fact, prior to our arrival.

The first hour of our trip was pretty smooth. G read books, sung songs, looked out the window, ate some snacks, and we cruised on. Fairytale Town is right across from a little pond with plenty of geese and ducks for your viewing pleasure. We decided to eat our picnic lunch there. Of course, we and our food attracted the feathered friends, much to G's delight. At one point, I feared we were going to be attacked, but we survived thanks to a family across the way who decided to feed the birds (so they all took off in a huge flapping hurry). G was already tired at this point, but we wanted to make sure she was worn out and ready to nap, so we trotted around Fairytale town, looking at animals, taking a ton of pictures, and making animal noises. 

she loves driving anything, especially Farmer Brown's tractor

her absolute favorite thing was the water pump at Jack & Jill's hill

enjoying watering Mr. McGregor's garden for Peter Rabbit

Checking out the 3 Little Pigs

She cried when we left; I'm not sure if it was because she didn't want to leave or if she didn't want to get in the car or if she was too tired. I'll assume a combo.

To make a long story short, she did not nap. She only screamed. No matter what we did. It was MISERABLE. Our road trip was looking pretty rough at this point. My husband and I are used to dealing with / ignoring screaming that we can't do anything about, but that doesn't mean we enjoy it. at least the scenery was beautiful.

Literally 10 miles from our first night's hotel--in Squaw Valley--she fell asleep. We drove by our hotel and then down to Lake Tahoe (another 15 minutes) to let her sleep more. She woke up after about a 35 minute nap, not completely refreshed, but definitely in a better mood. We explored a pebble beach, touched the water, talked to the water ski people for the next day, and then headed to our hotel.

she loved it, even though it was cold

happy to see water, mountains, and boats all at once!

Is that a UFO in the sky???

Our hotel was right in the middle of Squaw Valley ski resort area. I got a pretty good deal on a one bedroom suite with kitchen, which had a very mountain-ski-lodge feel to it, despite being August. We unloaded our stuff and set out in search of dinner. There were several eateries in the ski area, but we ultimately decided on an "Irish" pub place. G had the blue box and applesauce, I had a burger + mashed potatoes, my husband had a corned beef sandwich + fries + beer. Everything was delicious. We walked around more after that, taking pictures, deciding we wanted to move there, and taking in the cool mountain air.

Fun!!

we just imagined it with snow

she's getting good as smiling on command

they brought her food with a HUGE spoon, thankfully they brought a smaller one when we asked

my amazing dinner (homemade beef gravy)

my husband's awesome sandwich

tourist.

they have a mini-golf course throughout the shopping + dining area--I loved this shot of G standing on one leg

Once back at our hotel, we settled in for the night and got ready for bed. Wouldn't you know that G screamed for over an hour before we finally got her to sleep (and woke up twice in the night and early the next morning). We tried everything....I guess she was just scared to be in a different place, and she had a runny nose and is still teething. This was our first trip since she weaned--which was always really helpful for calming her before bed in a foreign place. I slept horribly because it was hot (no a/c or fan in our room) and I had a headache. My husband didn't sleep great either. I will say, though, the next night was better for us all.


Highlight of Day 1: G's excitement  + the beauty of seeing Lake Tahoe for the first time
Major bummer of Day 1: screaming, duh
Lesson Learned: Plans are futile with a toddler, seriously
--I thought the planned stop would help her take a solid nap in the car. False
--I thought having a separate room for G to sleep in would make the night better. False.