LAKE TAHOE

THURSDAY, 30th JUNE.

It was an easy departure from San Francisco this morning, my driver had no difficulty at all in negotiating the early morning traffic and we were soon on the Bay Bridge and then Highway 80 heading north east towards Lake Tahoe.  We had an easy, though slightly boring drive for the first half of the journey and it wasn't until we'd skirted around Sacramento that the light fog/smog finally lifted.  We stopped for coffee and a house-made almond crescent at Zia's Caffe & Gelato Bar in the heart of El Dorado Hills Town Centre and a little further down the road the terrain became hilly and a bit more interesting with pine forests either side of the highway and a little bit of snow still clinging to the distant mountains.
The traffic in South Lake Tahoe on our arrival was extremely heavy, this is obviously a very popular tourist destination.  After checking in and relaxing for a while  (we are both feeling the effects of yesterday's Tour de San Francisco), we drove to nearby Heavenly Village to check out the Heavenly Gondola of which we have heard so much.  It was too late in the day to go on a ride, and we'd have been looking into the sun at that time so early in the morning is a much better option.
An early night is on the cards tonight.