I Took my Pod People on a Retreat to Lake Tahoe

My Pod People and I have been working super hard on a finish for The Starlight Chronicles series. And it’s getting hot in my office with no air conditioning. Our window units don’t reach that far. How are all of you faring in this hot weather? Yikes!

So, I was stoked when my bestie asked me to stay with her a couple nights at her timeshare at South Lake. But my energetic and fun-loving friend doesn’t just stop with an invite to stay in a charming little condo… Nope, she also provided a list of excursions for us to indulge in.

Which meant I packed up my pod people and left my laptop behind… Well, not quite. But I only wrote for about twenty minutes on Book Three when I had some downtime 😁 Oh, and I made a promo video for another writing buddy who will be sharing it on their YouTube channel because I thought it would be fun to film it at Tahoe since there’s a great scene in Ursus Borealis at Harrah’s… and a chase scene on the highway to Truckee… But that’s it for writing, I swear. Oh wait. I also bent my friend’s ear on my latest plots. She’s wonderful about that too, including injecting me with a needed dose of her vibrant enthusiasm. She likes my books and is great for bouncing ideas off of.

I only live 45 minutes from this world-class destination and visit once or twice a year, but I’ve never gone up to a ski lodge. Mostly because I don’t ski. Who knew Heavenly could be as fun in the summer! And it was blessedly much cooler than my valley this past week.

Here is a bit of trivia: The amount of water in Lake Tahoe (39 trillion gallons) is enough to supply each person in the US with 50 gallons of water per day for five years.

View from the Heavenly Gondola. I highly recommend this experience. It includes a final leg on the ski lift to the top at 10,000 feet! I live in a high dessert valley at 5,000 feet, but still! It’s great getting high on that pine scented air that only smells that sweet so far up. And there was plenty of snow left over in July.

I’ve never gazed on Tahoe like this. Isn’t it amazing?

view of the Carson Valley,
Nevada-side

From the top of Heavenly, you can ski down the Nevada side or the California side.

The other highlight of our outing was a Magic Fusion show at The Loft in Heavenly Village. (The Village is also good for fantastic restaurants and shops.)

The Loft is a small venue, purposefully intimate, so the audience can be up close and personal with the performer. Our evening included an amazing performance by Matt Marcy.