Lake Tahoe On A Budget

Haha, you can't go to Lake Tahoe on a budget. Well we budgeted for it in advance by way of the Vacation Fund. And we were extremely lucky to have most of our expenses paid for my my husband-to-be's travel rewards, but still Tahoe stole our money. Here's how:

Flight - paid with points

Airport lunch - $48*

Two sodas at transfer airport - $6!

Car rental - ? I think it was $140

Hotel - paid with points

Dinner at the bar of the hotel - $40

Heavenly lift ticket (me) - $82

Ski rental (me) - $36

Heavenly lift ticket/ski rental and all-day lesson (him) - $160

Drinks and lunch on the mountain (me) - $44!

Fancy dinner where we got engaged - $200+ (I had elk. He had buffalo. It was amazing!)

Dog sledding! - $95 each

Cable car ride up the mountain at Squaw Valley - $9 each!**

*Though I decided not to save up any of my "own" money for the trip, my parents gave me $100. And I spent $88 on vacation (and $9 filing my taxes.) The items I paid for were our lunch at the airport and my lunch on the mountain.

**We got lucky at Squaw Valley. The cable car ride was supposed to cost $22 each but we bought a dinner package and got most of our money back when it turned out the restaurant wasn't open. So we spent several hours hanging out on top of the mountain for pretty cheap.

We ate all the rest of our meals in the hotel honors lounge where they give the VIPs free food. It felt good to hang with the VIPs and enjoy free eats and amazing views.

All and all it was an amazing place and I of course will always remember the trip for the moment in which a certain someone asked me to marry him.

BTW, if you ever have a chance to go dog sledding, do it! So much fun!