Lake Tahoe has long been a great outdoor escape for Northern Californians who want to flee the city for the weekend. It’s within a 3 hour drive and is a great year round destination. When families aren’t hitting the slopes during the winter, they’re boating on the lake during the summer.
Since most of my friends have Martin Luther King Jr. Day off, we found that as the opportune time to visit South Lake Tahoe. Just the week prior, Lake Tahoe received the most snowfall that it’s ever gotten in 10 years! Once news spread, the entire Bay Area made a jump for Lake Tahoe. And we weren’t going to be left behind!
Ten of my friends and I stayed in a triangular cabin (which we quickly dubbed “the Doritos chip cabin”) right outside of Heavenly Mountain Resort. It was cozy, had a pool table, stocked kitchen, fireplace, and a hot tub–just the right amenities to keep us entertained. Throughout the course of the weekend, each of us participated in a snow sport of our choice. Some went snowboarding and skiing, while others went snowshoeing. Regardless of what we were doing, we recuperated in the evenings around a home cooked meal and good conversations.
My favorite part of the trip were the themed parties! Our first night in Tahoe we had a onesie themed party. Everyone sported a onesie and played board/drinking games. It was surprising to see what kind of onesie everyone came up with. Wearing a onesie that weekend was not only fun and silly, but it was one of the best investments I’ve EVER made. Whoever says adult onesies aren’t cool is SO wrong. It’s the coziest thing I’ve ever worn.
TRAVEL TIP: I’m sure you’ll want to plan a group trip of your own, so below I’ve gathered a few quick tips to make sure you have a successful trip.
1. Designate roles – Assign individuals to take care of certain aspects of the trip. For example, have one person take care of finding a cabin, one to three people to find cars to rent, and so forth. Other roles to consider are grocery buyer, party organizer, and someone who can research ski/snowboard rentals.
2. Book a cabin far in advance – During the winter, Lake Tahoe gets very busy, especially during three-day weekends. I recommend booking a cabin a month in advance.
3. Get an idea for everyone’s budget – Before booking anything, request everyone to share what they’re willing to spend. Once everyone agrees upon a price range, start shopping for a cabin.
4. Get a solid attendance – Make sure to get an exact headcount of who is committing to the trip two weeks in advance. Last thing that everyone wants is someone who will flake last minute, which will disrupt the amount that everyone is expecting to pay.
5. Have a group conversation – Leading up to the trip, everyone was in a Facebook group message. This allowed everyone to communicate changes to the trip, share ideas, and discuss expenses.
6. Discuss trip goals – Find out what everyone wants to do and prepare an itinerary that works for everyone. For our trip, the group split up based on snow activities during the daytime and met back at the cabin in time for dinner.
Overall, our trip was a great success and I enjoyed every minute of it. The trip was very affordable too. Between renting a four wheel drive (which is a must!), renting a cabin, tickets for snow sports, and purchasing groceries, the trip came out to be $200-250 for the weekend. I really hope this becomes an annual trip among our group of friends.
xoxo Justina
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