Archive for the ‘Tahoe Donner’ Tag
Soon the dust will settle under a fresh dumping of rain, and we will all be happy mountain bikers, hikers and leaf peepers. But then those pesky and lovely children who reside in our mountain homes will look out the window at the steady rain coming down and say, “I’m bored! What are we going to do?” And you, being the brilliant parent you are, know the answer: The Truckee KidZone.
The KidZone Museum is located at 11711 Donner Pass Road. It’s the large white dome between Truckee High School and the Fire Station. At the Museum you will find a hands on museum and a place for young children to play. There is an outdoor nature play center, an Art Studio, indoor play structure and a Scientastic lab where kids can join in on weekly hands-on science activities. A highlight of the KidZone is the Take Flight Tahoe hands-n play exhibit, which comes complete with a plane, from which kids can communicate with the control tower. Once they are finished flying they can go fix stuff in the airplane hanger, before retiring to the hotel and café they will visit while traveling.
All the Museum exhibits are created with the same philosophy in mind, learning through play. Kids have fun, work off excess energy, and learn along the way. In fact, perhaps they will have such a good time at the KidZone, they will want to go there on a sunny day.
Summer hours are Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 am to 1:30 pm. Starting October 15th, winter hours go into effect: Tuesday-Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 am to 1:30 pm. KidZone Museum is also available for parties when closed to the public. Information is available at http://www.kidzonemuseum.org/ or (530) 587-5437.
Share this: Lynn Richardson, Your Friend in High Places
The community of Tahoe Donner is located on over 7000 acres of land, with 6500 homes and 25,000 members. It has a downhill and cross-country ski area, golf course, several restaurants, fitness center, swimming pool, tennis courts, sledding hill, and thousands of acres of open space for hiking and mountain biking, including a connection to the Donner Lake Rim Trail. How did this immense development, one of the largest in the country, come to be just a few miles outside of little old Truckee, California? It all started with Jack Kirby.
In his 2006 book, “Jack Kirby: Autobiography of a California entrepreneur,” Kirby talks about selling newspapers as a kid before becoming a pilot for the Navy during World War II. After the war he became a football star for USC before going on to play in the National Football League. After his career in the NFL, Kirby purchased 4000 acres of land north of Truckee in 1968.
Although the land which would become Tahoe Donner had recently been the victim of a major forest fire, Kirby was impressed by it’s potential for development. He thought it was rare to find this large a parcel of land in the middle of the beauty of the Sierra that had gentle enough contours to create a development. Kirby also purchased a five acre parcel on the shore of Donner Lake, which could be used to provide access to the lake for Tahoe Donner homeowners. He hired a ski development expert to determine if a ski area could be built on the burned out slopes of the current ski hill, and by 1971 people began buying Tahoe Donner lots for $8000. Kirby said, “I figured if I could develop a resort that was completely different-that offered something to homebuyers, second homeowners and retired people-it would be saleable.”
Looking towards Tahoe Donner ski hill
After developing Tahoe Donner, Kirby went on to develop the Alta Sierra community near Grass Valley, before turning his entrepreneurial mind to the manufacture of golf clubs. In 2006, he told the Sierra Sun about Tahoe Donner that he was “very proud of what we’ve done here. I think it’s turned out to be a great community development.”
Share this: Lynn Richardson, Your Friend in High Places
Getting into the spirit of racing in middle school
While in the winter the Tahoe region might be best known for it’s downhill skiing, with Tahoe Donner Cross-Country, Royal Gorge, Tahoe Cross-Country and Northstar’s cross-country venue all right here, the North Tahoe/Truckee area is the greatest concentration of groomed Nordic skiing in North America. People head to the cross-country ski areas for a great aerobic workout and the wonderful views, but once cross-country skiing gets into your blood, it is the great spirit and devotion to the sport that you see from your fellow skiers, and in my case, fellow parents of children who race, that makes this activity such a great part of our community.
Middle school girls racing at Auburn Ski Club
While us Nordic folks have to admit that cross-country skiing is a poorer step child to the big downhill resorts, cross-country skiers are just as devoted and excited about their sport as those who get to the lifts early to catch the powder. And they pass it on to their kids. At Tahoe Cross-Country in Tahoe City, for example, there are over 250 kids in the Strider-Glider’s after school cross-country ski program and the North Tahoe Middle School has over 50 kids on their cross-country ski team, with a total school enrollment of only about 300 kids.
The interest amongst Truckee kids and their parents is equally strong, including my twin children who began cross-country skiing when they were 5 at the Auburn Ski Club, then went on to race for the Alder Creek Middle School, then the Truckee High School Nordic team as well as the Far West Nordic Team. While a busy real estate business has kept me from attending all of their races, I try to get to as many as I can and what I see is the best of what Tahoe and Truckee has to offer. Not only do I see kids with a wide range of abilities doing their best in a challenging sport, but I see parents and other locals waxing skis, helping out with training, and driving car loads full of kids hundreds of miles to watch kids ski. Why? To introduce their children to a healthy, outdoor sport that you can do for a lifetime. Right here, in the best place to cross-country ski in America.
Share this: Lynn Richardson, Your Friend in High Places
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