Squaw Valley Tahoe: All About the Apres Ski Life

  This last week we took a fun family trip to Tahoe! I grew up going to Tahoe a few times a year, so it was so fun finally getting to go back with the whole gang! We met my dad at my favorite spot, Resort at Squaw Creek. It’s hard not to love Squaw Valley, the weather is great, you can ski or snowboard straight from your room & there’s tons of awesome food. You can basically après-ski your face off at any of the restaurants, bars or even outdoor snow covered hot tubs! First of all, I just have to say how much I love staying at Squaw Creek. My dad picked us up from the Sacramento airport. Alaska Airlines flies directly from San Diego. Alaska is by far one of my favorite airlines. Everyone is super friendly, the flights are super reasonably priced, their mileage program in ammmmazing & the best part, they’re super pet friendly! Doug got to make his very first snow trip too! Squaw Valley was about an hour and a half away from Sacramento. We hit a little snag when my dad got a flat tire, which just served as a quick happy hour trip while we waited for the tire change!  Some of my favorite things about Squaw Valley: The Hot Tubs Sounds crazy I know, why would you want to go outside in the snow? The hotel has their pool turned up to a warm bath temperature and has multiple hot tubs nestled in the snow. There’s nothing better than a quick hot tub after flying or a long day of snowboarding! Definitely helps you relax and get into vacation mode. Even better? You can bring your drinks down! The bartender by the pool made me a fancy spiked hot chocolate that tasted like a Thin Mint – so good.  Ski Valet Ok, you know how you can valet your car at restaurants? The hotel valets your ski gear! You don’t have to lug it through any long parking lots or trek through any long lines. The downstairs of the hotel has an area that keeps your gear and gets it out for you when you’re ready. After that, there is a ski lift directly outside! Meaning you literally get to ski in & out of the resort! So convenient. Even better? There’s a bar at the bottom of the hill serving drinks, hot chocolate, snacks & s’mores! So when you’re done shredding down the mountain, you can grab a s’mores kit, refreshment & sit by the fire!  Restaurants Not only are the hotel restaurants amazing, but it’s super close to a ton of bars and restaurants in the village. I live for the hotel’s breakfast sandwiches. They actually inspired me to recreate a breakfast sandwich recipe for the blog (stay tuned). Most of the time, we just stayed at the hotel to eat because we were tired and lazy.  One of my favorite restaurants we went to was called Rocker Squaw. The name should have been a dead giveaway. Literally the best nachos I’ve ever had. And the Pum-chata (pumpkin horchata martini) knocked my socks off. Another favorite restaurant is PlumpJack Cafe. I actually grew up going here and got stuck in a blizzard here as a kid! So it was fun telling stories and visiting an old fave.  We also hit up SLOT Bar – a 300 square foot dive bar that lets you bring your dog in! There were literally tons of dogs wandering around and a bar dog that literally hops onto the bar and cruises around waiting for treats. I died. Literally one of my favorite places ever. I just wish we had one in San Diego, because I’d probably hang there all the time! The Aerial Tram Ok, you’re probably wondering what’s so cool about a tram ride? THIS tram is 2000 feet in the air and looks out over all of Tahoe! When you get to the top you’re over 8200 feet high! Once you reach the top, there are tons of restaurants, bars & even an ice skating rink!  If you’re not into heights, there are a ton of other fun things to do. I love snowboarding and it was fun to get to teach my boyfriend the ropes on the bunny slopes! They also have snowmobiles, tubing, dog sleds, cross country skiing and rock climbing! 

By far one of my favorite parts of the trip was just hanging out, watching Doug run around in the snow. The pictures speak for themselves. He literally lost his marbles and had so much fun. We played fetch and let him roam around in the snow for a few hours, definitely worth the trip!