Day 62 - 3,530 Miles To Date - South Lake Tahoe, NV

South Lake Tahoe is absolutely where I picture my ideal house when I'm older. I may be slightly dreaming, but this is amazing! I first need to start where I left off, however, with our ride from Austin to Fallon. All I need to say is that we definitely had a fun day of riding and carried on some 4k traditions. The first 60 miles or so were awesome and I had a great group, but eventually at mile 80 we hit some gnarly headwinds and that took a toll on us. We finished the 113 miles of rolling hills and headwind and rode into Patti Anderson's long-awaited home stay. She and her family and friends were absolutely wonderful hosts and it was great to finally meet them! Our laundry was clean on arrival and the food was delicious. It was great hearing how much they love the 4k and learning all of their stories. It was also really nice having a host again since we've been camping or staying in random places (though any type of roof is all we need.) After a few cups of coffee and some breakfast, we set out with Patti, her husband, and a couple other riders and headed for Lake Tahoe (technically Stateline, NV...we can see Cali from our house.) The first 65 miles weren't bad at all - once I got out of my coma from the day before, no joke I felt absolutely awful from that brutal ride. At the water stop, we were told to turn left and then bear right so that's what we did, even though it wasn't chalked. The sign said Lake Tahoe and we knew we were supposed to have a climb around mile 65, so all looked correct. I was climbing with Harshini and we got about four miles into the climb and realized we were out of water. Now, if it wasn't a climb or we knew the van was close it wouldn't be a huge issue, but we didn't want to get dehydrated not knowing where even the top was. We pulled off and I called Emily in the water van and she said we were not going the right way at all. Luckily, we were going towards the host just not the direction the route took us. So naturally, like we always do on 4k, we stuck out a thumb and eventually Liliya, Carissa, Harsh, and I hitchhiked to the top of the mountain (which was only a few more miles anyway.) Chris, the guy that picked us up, gave us a bottle of Gatorade to share and told us about Lake Tahoe and cool things to do. We definitely wanted to do the descent, so he dropped us at the top and we got our bikes out of the back and were back on the road. At the bottom of the hill, host van came to rescue us because I called Lauren earlier and told her the situation as well. We wanted to finish the ride, so they gave us water and we rode the final 7 or so miles. Turns out, we took the shorter, easier, more scenic route - it was just a little busier which is why it wasn't chosen as the bike route. We were able to descend around the lake and through some of the little beach areas which was so cool. Our hosts' house is absolutely amazing. I feel like I'm on an HGTV show my brother and his girlfriend always watch. The four story, newly renovated stone house overlooks the lake and mountains. We had a delicious dinner as usual, mixed greens and lasagna, overlooking the sunset on the lake from the back porch. I picture myself in that exact spot with a glass of red wine (and I suppose a husband) in the next ten years (again I know I'm dreaming.) I'm up pretty early today enjoying the scenery as I sit under the porch on a swinging bench writing this. Today we're going to visit Tahoe's local cancer center and pass out care bags to patients again. It's really nice to be able to do something for them on our last rest day. There is also a luncheon some of us are going to at the Rotary club who organized hosting us. After that, we get to explore what Lake Tahoe has to offer! I want to do it all and wish we were here for more days, but hopefully jetskiing is on tap for today. Only 8 days left total, and I have two van days left, so I think I have about 300ish more miles to put in. So crazy! Oh and I also rode a horse yesterday in the middle of our ride, a few groups did, pretty casual as Evan would say.