2-Hour Travel Challenge!

I did it! I finally took some time off from work. Yes, I went ahead and filled out the PTO forms declaring myself off of work for a couple of days and took a long (and much needed) 4-day weekend. I’m a little proud of myself and my co-workers are too, to be honest. There’s sort of a mini celebration that takes place whenever I turn in a time off request for anything over two hours in a day. So I went ahead and took some time off for myself because well, I had to. I mean its not like I don’t want to take time off or value the benefits. It’s just that I was at a point where I was not going to accrue a lick of PTO (we talked about this) if I didn’t use some of what was already in my bank. So I did what I needed to do and took some time off.

I was reluctant because it’s been a financially draining week so taking any mini-vacations or over night stays was absolutely out of the question. Yet, mini-vacations, or “stay-cations”  are so important to restoration and relaxation that even those-few days off here and there-requests make a world of difference. Now while I planned to stay home, do a little spring cleaning, and hang out with Milo whom we will affectionately refer to as “The Damn Dog”; I found myself being dragged out of the house early Sunday morning to go play in the snow. A colleague (and good girl friend) texted me my first day off of my mini-vacay to assertively tell me that we’re taking a road trip up to the snow so be prepared to be picked up at 10:00 a.m.

And we were off! Chickpea salad sandwiches and The Damn Dog in tow. The beauty of living in California’s Central Valley is that everything is just about 2-hours away! The nearest beach, ocean view, national park, or mountain terrain is only a couple hours drive.

Our journey took us 1.5 hours north of the Sacramento area. Our first stop, Donner Lake Vista, in Nevada City where Milo got his first taste of snow. I grew up in the Mid-West accustomed to bone chilling temperatures, but for Milo this was a first. Donner Lake Vista was not only a great place to get a view of the beautiful mountainous landscapes and gorgeous view of Lake Donner, but a chance to take a hike off the beaten path through the rolling hills while Milo stumbled his way through the snow. I genuinely appreciated the workout as I was reminded of my own fitness objectives and how they may have been ignored over the past few days. Our next stop landed us right at Lake Donner, a small yet alluring Lake tucked away on the eastern side of the Sierras.
Our road excursion then lead us through a small town called Sierraville. Small towns can be quite the little gems wouldn’t you say? We took a break right outside the quaint town with a modest population of 200 with spacious fields surrounded by snow capped peaks as our backdrop. Our last stop took us to the Northwest side if Lake Tahoe. It was quite interesting to see people playing in the water off the sandy shores of Lake Tahoe considering we were 29 minutes away from our first stop where we were playing in the snow! It was, however, the most perfect day to visit the lake. The clouds seemed to hoover just beyond the the perimeter of the lake allowing the suns rays to reflect off the mirrored surface revealing its radiance.

So that’s it! It took us roughly 2 and a half hours to get home. Traffic was light. The damn dog was puckered out and we enjoyed ourselves. While we explored for close to 5 hours, our drive there was only 2. It was just about a 7-hour day total. I have to tell you, it was so refreshing to do something other than binge watch mindless T.V. and actually enjoy nature. So that is your challenge my dear traveler. Let’s take a weekend. How about this coming weekend? We’re talking about 2-hours here! No matter where you live or where you are gas up the car, pack a picnic lunch, grab the family (don’t forget the damn dog), pick and direction and just drive. Go! Explore! Have fun!