‘Ski trip’ and ‘baby’ are two things that don’t really go well together. What started out as an optimistic spring ski trip with our baby, ended up being more of a family vacation in snow territory. It’s ok; like so many other things about having children, it forced us to switch gears and appreciate life from a different perspective.
Wanting the nearest flight into the area, we flew from Hawaii into the Reno/Tahoe International Airport. There, by the way, I saw the most unusual vending machine I’ve ever seen: a high tech gadget dispenser. It was like the ubiquituous food vending machines, except all the products cost at least double digits, and some, triple digits. Wow! I'd expect this in San Francisco or Japan, but little Reno?
The 40-something mile drive to Northstar at Tahoe, where we rented a cabin, was quick and easy. It was a little under an hour in no traffic, and practically a straight shot on I-80 West.
The nearest town to Northstar is Truckee, about 12 miles northwest. In and of itself, Truckee-proper isn’t that fascinating. You can cover it in half a day. There’s a cute main street with quaint boutiques on Donner Pass Road, but it lasts for only a few blocks before petering out. It has a charming frontier appeal, and it’s a very small town. The visitors bureau says Truckee has 15,781 residents.
Here’s an interesting bit of history about the area. It was the site of the infamous Donner Party tragedy that ended up in cannibalism. The Donner Party was a group of settlers from the Midwest during the 1840s. They became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, and the survivors were forced to eat each other to stay alive. Boy. Thank goodness for snowplows. I guess it's not that surprising in a way; the Visitors Bureau says Truckee has the reputation of being one of the chilliest spots in the US.
Truckee also has a long history with Chinese residents. In 1867, the contruction of the Transcontinental Railroad began. Chinese laborers were crucial to the "conquest of the Sierra." At one time there were more than 10,000 on the job. We passed by this Chinese Herb Shop built in 1878, which was once the cornerstone of Truckee's Chinatown. In its day it was the second largest Chinese community in the West coast!
I'd like to mention this appealing feature about Truckee, because I'm big into the environmental movement - and not just because that Gore guy made it trendy. I've been green for decades. So I applaud Truckee's efforts to stay green. The town has an electric vehicle charging station in Meadow Park, and is the home town for the Sierra Green Building Association (SiGBA), which hosts an annual Green Building Tour in the fall.
SiGBA was created to advocate environmental design in the region, and tries to educate builders about environmental design methods. It's been doing the Green Building Tour for nine years. Other green architecture around the town includes solar energy, low impact development, water efficiency, reuse of grey water in outdoor irrigation, insulation and water stripping, the use of recycled and sustainable building materials, and more.
When we first arrive at a rental cabin, we like to visit the grocery store to stock up on the food supplies for the week. I know it sounds a little nerdy, but we enjoy visiting the local grocery stores in host towns. It’s a neat way to feel like you are sort of part of the community, for more than just the five days you’re in town. We like to see the different food products in different towns. So we enjoyed the Truckee Safeway Food & Drug (11290 Donner Pass Road. Phone 530-582-7950.)
Which brings me to my next point. If you are in the area to ski and don’t want to drop a fortune at the resort’s stores (you know that Japanese scrubby washcloth that sells for $1.99 at Longs? It was selling for $8 in the Village-At-Northstar), we happened to find cheaper retailers out in Truckee that might suit your needs.
Right next to the Safeway is Great Outdoor Clothing Company at 11310 Donner Pass Rd #5 & 6; phone (530) 582-1990. My wife and her cousin dropped in for “just a minute” to look for socks (“Oh, but the kids NEED ski socks in case we come next year!”) for our collective kids, and an hour later emerged with a big bag of stuff that looked suspiciously looked like womens’ clothing. Seriously, they claimed they got some great deals, so if you run out of ski apparel and accessories, I hear it’s a good place to visit.
For ski rentals, if you plan to be there for a long time, you might want to rent off site. It’s about half the resort’s price at Granite Chief at 11368 Donner Pass Road (which is across the street from Safeway); phone (530) 587-2809. We didn’t go that way this time because we were not sure who would be skiing, and how much, due to the baby. But next time, it’s a definite consideration.
We heard about a few other places that supposedly rent skis, but since we didn't check these places ourselves, you should call first to verify. Black Tie Ski Rentals delivers to your door (blacktieskis.com). The rest just rent skis: Dave's Ski Shop (tahoedaves.com); Porters - Truckee (porterstahoe.com); The Sports Exchange (truckeesportsexhange.com).
We also spent a day in Reno at Circus Circus. We’re not gambling types, but our travel partners Val and Pat were. Pat says he likes the low-key attitude of Reno, versus Las Vegas. Reno looks like the section of Vegas called ‘Downtown.’ The kids enjoyed the arcade area. It was so stimulating, our baby didn’t even take her afternoon nap.
The Truckee and Tahoe region is a pretty neat area, and to think - we'd have missed all this if we didn't take Olivia!
Drive time to Truckee from:
San Francisco/ Bay Area: 3.5 hours
Sacramento: 1.5 hours
South Lake tahoe: 1 hour
Reno: 45 minutes
CELEBRITY SUITCASE
What can’t they travel without?
My daughter 1 year old Olivia Hansen
Olivia travels well, but only in first class; at least, that was our experience with her on this Tahoe trip. This is great for my wallet. My wife is now convinced the baby is onto something.
When Olivia travels, she must have:
1) Milk or mushy food
2) Diapers and wipes
3) Stroller or papoose
