Lake "Taco" and the Captain

Our next destination was found in an effort to get as close as we could to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite NP, but not be freezing cold.  The campgrounds were slim pickins, but we found one called Commanche Lake Recreation Area and even though it didn't have many ratings, the other options had terrible ratings, so we took a gamble.  It felt like we left civilization to get to the site, which if you're on vacation is good, but if you living everyday life it is not always the best.

The campground itself was nice and our site was on the lake.  Apparently it can be a pretty rowdy campground in the summer, but for us in early November, it was quiet and peaceful.

That's our camper out there in the distance.  Commanche Lake Rec Area.

Campsite view from other side.

On the drive in we saw lots of vineyards and country roads and on the way east towards the mountains the roads were some of the most windy we've been on.

Yosemite was beautiful.  We made a couple of trips out to the park and they were both well worth it.

On one of our passes through the park entrance gate we stopped for a photo with the Yosemite and sign and just after pulling out of the parking lot we saw a bear.  Huge black bear and we sat on the side of the road watching him for quite a while.  It was so cool to see him/her doing their thing out there.

Black bear in Yosemite.

Stopped by a lookout spot for Half Dome, one of Yosemites most famous rock formations.

Half Dome in the far background.

There were so many photo opportunities on the road to Yosemite Valley.

El Capitan came into view down in the valley.  We hung out there for a while trying our best to see the ant-sized people rock climbing up there.  We saw several possibilities, but nothing for sure.  This rock is a famous rock climbers destination.

El Capitan in the background

Upper Yosemite Falls in the background

Spot in the valley just down from Yosemite Falls where the girls wanted to hang out.

We had some even better views of Half Dome down in the valley.

Pointing to Half Dome

Lower Yosemite Falls

Diego took a day off in the middle of the week so we could all drive to Lake Tahoe together........Lake Taco as Luna called it.  Stopped off the side of the road to have some snowball target practice.



The drive up the mountains was very pretty and then after about an hour and a half you could see it from way up high.............the lake. The Tahoe one :)

View of Lake Tahoe from the highway way getting closer into town.

We entered on the southern side of the lake in South Lake Tahoe. We got some advice from the visitors center and then were off.
We drove up the east side of the lake a little ways and then decided to check out the state park on the west side. There was a state park there and it was beautiful. In a matter of minutes we went from the tourist area of shops to peaceful nature. 

View of Lake Tahoe from Emerald Bay.  Fannette Island in the middle there.

The most friendly, "please take a picture of me" bluejay I have ever seen.

The lake was on the right and road was winding through trees and climbing a steep grade. We climbed to an elevation that gave a great view of the lake. The elevation also brought us much colder temps.

Overlooking Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe

I can't remember the name of the trail we hiked there near Emerald Bay, but I think it had the word "eagle" in the title. Either way it was a nice hike and we were a little concerned about getting cold, but built up some heat quickly.

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After an afternoon of exploring we grabbed some dinner and headed home.

We had thought we might not be able to see Lake Tahoe or Yosemite because of weather, but are so glad it worked out. The roads into the mountains were snowed in on the Monday before we went and as we were leaving town they had another big snow fall. So we made it right in between all of that. Phew.