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I have a confession to make. I love Lake Tahoe.  I live in paradise.  This place is perfect.  And no, I don’t work for the Chamber of Commerce.

I was at a lunch meeting a few weeks ago and was asked how we came to live in Tahoe.  My answer was “slowly.”  Actually, it was quite by accident.

Paddleboarding in Lake Tahoe

My wife and I are avid skiers.  For my wife, skiing was a returning to her youth.  She grew up on the slopes.  For me, skiing is an adult learned skill.  It took some convincing to get me to take that first ski trip to Tahoe from our home in Santa Barbara.

We came to Tahoe for three days. Then later we came back for three weeks. Then later we came back for three months.

The winter’s here are gorgeous.  There’s nothing like watching the fresh fallen snow glisten.  Nothing like climbing a snow mountain in the back yard with my three year old.  Nothing like sitting by a hot wood burning stove with a  hot chocolate.  And there’s nothing like the feeling of shredding fresh powder on the slopes.

I had come to love Tahoe as my winter ski destination. And then we took a trip to Tahoe in summer. We got to the lake and I thought to myself, “Are you kidding me?”

I spent ten years in Santa Barbara.  It’s the American Riviera.  But given the choice between a summer day at the beach in Santa Barbara or a summer day at the beach in Lake Tahoe–I’d choose Tahoe every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

It’s not Hawaii.  Please, please, please don’t comment at the end of this post and tell me I’m crazy for comparing Lake Tahoe to Hawaii.  But the beach at Lake Tahoe in summer is more like Hawaii than Santa Barbara is like Hawaii.  It’s stunning.

Fallen Leaf Lake

Were I to just sit on the beach all summer I may grow tired of Lake Tahoe.  But not when the whole summer is occupied by day trips to explore an almost endless list of fun.

There are the Angora Lakes and Fallen Leaf Lake. Bike rides with a  break at Camp Richardson for some ice cream. Rafting down the Upper Truckee River.

Upper Truckee River

Paddle boarding on the lake and all the other waterways in the Tahoe area.

Yesterday we were at a big beach party at Round Hill Pines Beach.  Families were taking out paddle boats and you’d occasionally notice a parent disappear to the rum bar set up right on the beach.

Today we’re going to the Potholes, a reportedly amazing series of pools carved out of the Silver Fork of the American River.  We’ve never done it before.  But it’s just one more thing Tahoe has to offer us.

And before summer slips away we’re planning days at Emerald Bay and DL Bliss State Park.

We travel a lot.  For our family it’s a way of life.  And when I truly love a place there’s usually some point during our stay where I turn to my wife and say, “I could picture us living here.”

But of all the places we’ve visited over the years there’s only one place I loved so much that we actually made that place home.

What started as three days turned into three weeks.  Three weeks turned into three months.  And now we’re at home in Lake Tahoe.