Road Trip - Day 1

This summer, we decided to make a road trip. The very first one in our life.

It was great! The idea came in pieces.

First, I bought maps of Lake Tahoe and The Grand Canyon - months before. The Grand Canyon one seemed to be more interesting, we've spent some time thinking about which part we should visit, where we should camp and hike. But in the end we just folded it back and put it away.

Then my friend Jenn and her fiancée decided to get married in South Lake Tahoe in the summer. We were lucky enough to be invited, so at least to Lake Tahoe we'll drive. Alright. What about coming home with some detour, we thought. :) And so we did, we came home with quite a detour.

It took some time to figure out where to sleep each night, what to visit and what to skip, and some parts of the trip we just figured out on the road or in the motel we were staying at. The important influencing factor - besides the National Parks and Monuments - in planning our route was Guy Fieri and his show on Food Network: Diners, Dive-ins and Dives. It was a good decision - we probably would have survived the two weeks on Subway sandwiches and Chipotle burritos, but we both like the non-chain places. These were really fun and serving tasty food for a good price, too.

We started on a Wednesday (the wedding was on Thursday), on July 21st. It was a slow start - gas station, quick car wash then the traffic jams. But after some time, we left the Bay Area and we were driving. Well, only my husband, I was the passenger. Actually, for the most of the trip - I didn't mind it, this way I could talk as much as I wanted and enjoy the landscape. We saw really beautiful places!

Our first stop was Jamie's Grille in Sacramento. Yes, one of Guy's places, which we would have never found otherwise. It totally doesn't look like a restaurant at all. Inside, it was packed and lovely - somewhat like an Irish pub where food is served. We got a tiny two-person table and after ordering, two huge sandwiches. Well, four altogether, as both of us got two - we forgot to order half-size. Oh well. We fought and and won: the sandwiches were gone in some time.

Then back to the car and to South Lake Tahoe. We arrived quite late and quite tired. South Lake Tahoe was really cute - like some fairy-tale village. The houses looked like big gingerbread houses at Christmas. Which was rather weird, as it was summertime and hot weather. We found our motel, got our room and went to sleep quickly.