Memorial Day Weekend in Lake Tahoe and Carson City, NV
In the RV community, Memorial Day Weekend is much anticipated. It's the unofficial start to summer, which means that many RVers who have had their rigs in storage for the winter finally take their babies out for a spin. Even though the RV season has been getting longer and RVers have been taking trips earlier and earlier in the year, Memorial Day Weekend is the first long weekend that welcomes us with warm weather and outdoor merriment.
For us full-timers, we know that this means campgrounds will fill up and the cost might get expensive, but we've never had issues finding a campsite that works for us, especially if we plan a little bit ahead of time. In 2022, we spent Memorial Day Weekend in the Smokies, at a campground we planned several months in advance because it was a 3-week stay. Similarly, in 2023, we spent a couple weeks in Glacier, straight through the holiday weekend. Then last year, we didn't need a campground, but we did need an Airbnb. We were getting repairs on the rig straight through Memorial Day.
This year has been filled with a lot more spontaneity, and for the first time, we didn't plan our Memorial Day Weekend ahead of time. It would have been difficult to, considering we didn't even know what state we'd be in! But as the weekend approached, we found ourselves in northern California, soon to make our way back east to Nevada, followed by Utah, because axle problems. I had an idea to go to a big tourist destination, one that would still be in shoulder season at the end of May. Lake Tahoe is a huge mecca for skiing, and then in the summer it's all about the lake life. In May, most of the snow has melted, but the temps in the water are still chilly. Memorial Day Weekend seemed like the perfect time to enjoy some outdoor recreation, and while we still anticipated crowds, we didn't expect them to be too overwhelming.
Lake Tahoe had been on my list for years. It has the very topography where I feel most at home: Mountains, lakes, and pine tree forests. Also, it boasts some of the cleanest lake water in the world, and that plus its depth make for some unreal blue waters. I knew seeing it in person would be a moment. And so I began looking up places to camp on the Nevada side of the lake, finding a few private RV parks in Reno and Carson City, but if we were going to bask in nature, I wanted to camp somewhere that felt less like a parking lot. All the state parks on the shore were filled, and so I turned to Harvest Hosts.
Last year, we showcased Harvest Hosts in dramatic fashion, and so you've probably heard us mention many times that Harvest Hosts is a platform where business owners – commonly wineries, breweries, farms, churches, and golf courses – allow RVs to stay for the price of patronage. Harvest Hosts has merged with Boondockers Welcome, so members can also find private properties, where we can park in someone's yard or driveway. The Boondockers Welcome stays often allowed more than one night, but in the past year, Harvest Hosts began allowing the hosts to also choose how long campers could stay. It used to be 1 night only unless invited by the host to stay longer, but now hosts can offer extra nights right on their webpage. Usually the extra nights come at a cost, but it's usually a good deal and helps support the business. If this option had been available last spring, our Harvest Hosts Challenge would have looked very different. This year, it opened up new possibilities for a last-minute Memorial Day Weekend booking.
I filtered Carson City-area Harvest Hosts to only those that allow extra nights, and up popped Olde Life Alpacas, a farm that specializes in raising alpacas for their fiber, but also has goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, and a donkey. We've stayed at quite a few alpaca farms, but this was the first one that allows the alpacas to roam freely right around the RV parking. That sounded like the best Memorial Day Weekend ever! We booked 2 nights, the Friday and Saturday. The first one would be free with patronage, and the second was $30.
According to the website, this host had lots of parking space for RVs and seemed flexible with how many campers could park at once. We knew we'd be far from the only ones camping there, so we planned on arriving early to grab a good spot. The farm had 2 grassy areas to choose from, but when we got there, one was already mostly filled. We could see why. This was where the alpacas were hanging out.
We preferred the other grassy area anyway because it had more space and would allow us to easily unhitch and leave throughout our stay. The farm was awesome and we would have been happy just chilling with the animals, but we came to the area for Lake Tahoe, which we had plans to visit on Saturday morning.
Until then, we enjoyed the farm life, and then went for a very necessary resupply in Reno. More campers came in throughout the afternoon, and we had a wonderful little community for our holiday weekend. We couldn't believe how un-chaotic things were. Most of us had dogs, and so chances were high that at least one of them would be scared of the farm animals, but nope. Everyone was super chill, including Tanner, which made us very proud pet-parents.
Our very first reel on Instagram shows us taking Tanner to a farm to prepare him for Harvest Hosts stays.
We knew he had improved since then, but we hadn't had many experiences to test his reactions when up close and personal to the animals. This was his moment to shine, and we're so impressed by how far he's come!
The alpacas, donkey, and chickens had free range of the property because the whole area is fenced in. Dogs were required to be on leash unless we were in the big field across the driveway. Here, the dogs also shared the space with the alpacas, but the field was large enough that no one got in each other's way. The closest encounter Tanner had, which you can see in the last clip in the video above, was when the alpacas left the field the same time as Tanner (who was back on leash at that point). They snuck up close to him and then ran past. Tanner would see them running and then chase after them, at which point the alpacas would continue onward, then stop and look back at Tanner. And this was the day Tanner inadvertently learned how to herd.
Well, maybe that wasn't the closest encounter. The next day, Tanner went nose-to-nose with one of the alpacas, who then snorted in his face. I wish I had my camera rolling for that one!
We can credit both the hosts and our neighbs for all of these chill interactions. The alpacas have clearly been trained to coexist with many other animals. They were more skittish than some alpacas we've met, only wanting to be pet when we're feeding them, but this meant they also usually kept their space from our pets. Our neighbs also respected the alpacas' space and made sure their dogs did the same.
Anyone who purchases an item from the store or a night's stay got a free bucket of feed for the alpacas. While we fed them, our host Jim, a MA native, gave us a little tour and info session about the animals.
Besides a few neighbs who thought it was appropriate to have social hour at 6:30am one morning, we had a fantastic time. In fact, we ended up extending our stay for a 3rd night! Well, this was partially because we didn't want to leave, and partially because I exhausted myself trying to figure out our next move. I'll talk more about that in the next post. But if we're going to delay our departure somewhere, this was the place to do it. We had flexibility, a welcome invitation, and a safe and scenic parking spot.
Staying the extra night allowed us to head into Carson City on Sunday to check out the Nevada State Museum, which we heard really great things about. This museum is the location of the former US mint, active from 1870 to 1893. It has a wonderful mint exhibit in the actual historic building. A modern annex houses many more exhibits, from history, natural science, fashion, wildlife, topography, rotating exhibits, and even a mining exhibit in the basement! The rotating exhibit when we went was handwoven Native American baskets, which were jaw-droppingly intricate and stunning. The whole experience at the museum was a lot to take in. Going to every exhibit in one day was overload. If we lived in the area, we would become members so we could go for free and visit one exhibit at a time. But overall, our visit gave us more insight and appreciation for Nevada. It's really an underrated state, but the more areas we visit and the more we learn, we realize that it has so many incredible attributes and stories. More on this in the upcoming blog posts, too. Which reminds me, if you're not signed up yet...
Western Nevada was quickly becoming one of our favorite parts of the state, and we wish we could have spent more time in the area because there was so much to do. Even the circus was in town that weekend! But we needed to prioritize excursions on our bucket list, the most important being our trip to Lake Tahoe. So let's rewind and talk about our absolutely gorgeous spring Saturday on the east shore of the lake.
Leaving Carson City and taking US50 into Tahoe National Forest, the entire landscape and vibe changed tremendously. It was like entering a different world! We drove down to the East Shore Trailhead in Incline Village, which would serve as the jumping off point for our activities. The East Shore Trail is multi-use and allows pedestrians, bicycles, and ebikes. It would take us just over 2.5 miles along the shore, where we could stop at coves and overlooks, before reaching Sand Harbor State Park. Parking cost us $14 for 4 hours, and arriving early was key, especially on a holiday weekend, because the lot is relatively small. We had no trouble getting a parking spot, but when we arrived back to the truck, people were circling that lot like piranhas! There was even a lot attendant helping people snatch spots.
Our early arrival also worked in our favor on the trail. We didn't need to pass many people on along the way, and we had plenty of room to pull over and soak in the views.
At one of the overlooks, we met the family who donated money for that very overlook! The bike path and vistas along the way were built due to the contributions of local residents. This family just happened to be taking their morning walk and decided to rest there because "they earned it." When the man told us, "I paid for this," we first thought he was joking. Turns out he was very much serious. Ron Ashley and his wife Maureen not only paid for the construction of this vista, but they also happen to be big supporters of the arts and have a chamber music concert series in their name. And that meeting is likely the fewest degrees of separation we'll ever be to people rich enough to live at Lake Tahoe and contribute to its culture and recreation. They're like local celebrities!
We hit some of the beaches and coves on our way south and saved some for the way back. Each stop offered a unique vantage point of the lake, with some being right on the shore, some more elevated, and some hidden among large boulders. But no matter where we stopped, we were mesmerized by the clear blue waters.
Hidden Beach:
Sunset Cove:
Our turnaround point was Sand Harbor State Park, but before heading back north, we parked our bikes and walked some of the paths in the park. Nevada State Parks charge entrance fees, and so we each paid the $2 walk-in/bike-in fee. Sand Harbor Beach was awesome. Even though the water was still too cold for swimming (for most people), the beach day game was strong. Some people were setting up full-on buffets underneath canopies, preparing for fun family time and Memorial Day celebrations. Other people had brought out the cutest beach tents and were enjoying a day of relaxation.
The park had tons of walkways and little paths, as well as a visitor center and grill.
Everything was idyllic...well, almost everything. We may not have battled big crowds of people, but we did encounter big swarms of bugs. It took a lot of effort to not inhale any as we walked and biked around. At one point on the walkways, the group in front of us decided to turn around because the bugs got so bad. We persisted. This was our only day at Lake Tahoe, and we weren't about to let bugs deter us! We found creative ways to make sure we could breathe without inhaling them.
Thankfully, the bugs stayed in swarms, so we had moments of reprieve before needing to hold our breath once again.
After exploring the park, we headed back to our bikes, making more stops on our return trip. Many of them included little hikes.
Emerald Cove:
Harbor View Overlook:
Memorial Point Scenic Overlook:
We got back to the now-crowded parking lot, and needed to disappoint a lot of people who saw us packing our bikes away and asked, "Are you leaving?" We weren't done yet! After our bike ride, we headed to Tunnel Creek Road, just behind the cafe, where we caught the hiking trail to Monkey Rock. This is a 2.6mi trail with almost 500ft of elevation gain, which we knew we could do quickly before it got too hot out. The hike was a bit of a workout, but we got some views along the way.
Then at the top, a fun boulder climb with views from almost 6800ft in elevation, 550ft above Lake Tahoe.
So why is it called Monkey Rock? We thought you'd never ask! A rock sits at the top, which back in the day some thought resembled a monkey. And so at some point, someone carved it, giving it more of a monkey shape, or really, a gorilla. The rock is easy to miss if you're not looking for it. It's a few feet down, hidden among the other boulders on the north side of the hill.
Time and seasonal limitations restricted our ability to see more of the shores of Tahoe, but we must say, the East Shore did the lake full justice! We would love to take a road trip around the whole lake someday.
Looking back at our Memorial Day Weekends in our RV, we're really happy seeing how we've embraced the vibe of each place we've been. We've soaked in beautiful weather, immersed ourselves in the culture of the area, and have even been able to honor fallen soldiers with Memorial Day ceremonies. No matter where in the country we are, this weekend marks the time where the RV community comes together for another incredible season of travels. Our summer adventures are officially beginning!