LOVER’S LEAP, my recent contemporary release, takes place in Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area. I’ve been to Tahoe to ski, but have never spent a summer in the area, so I had to do some major research.
A couple of facts you may or may not know are, Tahoe is mostly located in Cali, but when flying there, you use the Reno International Airport in Nevada. Like I mentioned, most of Tahoe is in California. Some is in Nevada, and many people who go there to vacation choose the area in order to enjoy the Nevada’s casinos. And did you know certain parts of Tahoe are just a drive away from other major California cities, like San Fransisco?
Summers at the lake are very cool, even just cruising around in your rent-a-car (or Aston Martin, if you’re Logan Shaw, LOVER’S LEAP’s hero). There’s a cool scenic road, around 72 miles in diameter, that encompasses the lake, that’s a tourist attraction all on its own.
One of my favorite discoveries was the little California town called Truckee, driving distance from Tahoe. The area was once inhabited by Native Americans mainly of the Washoe Tribe. Truckee is named for one Washoe Indian mistakenly thought to be called “Tro-kay.” (It turns out, that was something the Native American often said. It means “all is well.” People thought he was trying to introduce himself, however, and were attempting to name the town after him.)
The town built up around a habitable section of the eastern pass over the Sierra Nevadas to California currently known as the Donner Pass. It’s ripe with colorful history, like the account of one group of travelers (the Donner party) who got stuck in Truckee trying to make the pass one brutal winter. As the story goes, the party was reduced to cannibalism to survive. There’s a Donner museum in Truckee if you want to learn more.
I mention an actual coffee shop, name changed slightly, in LOVER’s LEAP. Wild Cherries Coffee is on my bucket list next time I make it to Tahoe!
Kimberly Keyes
author of LOVER’S LEAP, a contemporary romance
http://www.KimberlyKeyes.net
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