The highlight of the long Fourth of July weekend was our trip to Lake Tahoe. A few weeks ago, when I first went searching for a campsite to reserve, I learned firsthand just how popular Tahoe is during the summer. Every campground was full, except for the ADA spots, which were unavailable unless I found a way to procure the proper placard. Since I couldn't claim poor planning skills as a legitimate disability, I was out of luck.

A week before the big weekend, in a fit of desperation, I checked online again, hoping somebody had canceled at the last minute. Maybe somebody had decided to stay closer to home due to the high gas prices. Maybe the non-camper in somebody's family had discovered a vacancy at one of the casinos on the state line. Maybe somebody's family cat had gotten sick. One never knows.

While I wasn't secretly (or overtly) hoping somebody's cat fell ill, I was definitely hoping something would become available. Fortunately, a non-ADA site at Emerald Bay State Park did and I snapped it up.

By 9:30 Saturday morning, M and I were packed and on the road. The drive was smooth across the Bay and Carquinez Bridges. It was smooth on Highway 80 towards Sacramento and continued to be smooth on Highway 50 east, until we reached the outskirts of Placerville.

That's when it came to an abrupt halt. Apparently, the town installed two stoplights to allow locals to cross the highway safely. Besides stopping freeway traffic, the stoplights also help to funnel some of that traffic (and business) into the town's historic downtown district.

Curious to see how historic it was and needing to refuel on both gas and coffee, we took a quick detour into town. After filling the tank, we drove down the center of old Placerville. Rundown, two-story shops and restaurants line the narrow thoroughfare. It's what Disneyland's Main Street would look like if it were given a healthy helping of grime and a double serving of reality.

I'm not very familiar with the town's history, but after a little research, I now know why so many businesses have names referring to Hangtown, like Hangtown Bakery or Hangtown Grill. Apparently, back in the 1850s, Placerville was the location of an old mining town that had its share of crime. To deal with the growing problem, the miners resorted to vigilante justice. Hanging was apparently a popular form of punishment. One of the more graphic references to the town's history is the noosed cowboy dummy hanging in front of the tavern known as Hangman's Tree, which stands where the town's original hanging tree used to be.

Of course, I didn't know any of that as I drove by the creepy sight. At the time, I took it as a sign to get to a Starbucks, get a cup of coffee and get the heck out of Hangtown as quickly as possible. It was a bit of shock when we got back on Highway 50, east of town, and found the four-lane road nearly devoid of vehicles.

It was like that until we reached Meyers, southwest of South Lake Tahoe. From there, we inched our way through town, up Highway 89, past Camp Richardson and into Emerald Bay State Park. By the time we pulled up to our campsite, it was 3:30 in the afternoon.

Out tent site was perched on the eastern edge of Eagle Point and had two distinct halves. The front half had a fire pit, a picnic table, a bear locker and enough paved area for two cars. A narrow path through shoulder-high shrubs and bushes led from there to the back half, which featured another fire pit, plenty of level terrain for multiple tents and a breathtaking view to the east of Lake Tahoe and the mountains beyond.

After we set up the tent and stored the food away, we took a short hike down to the beach along Emerald Bay. The beach itself isn't much to look at - it's perhaps four feet wide, twenty feet long and packed with people - but it offers access to the pristine waters of the bay.

Since the other person in our camping group, B, was still a little while out, we hopped in the car and took a quick drive to Meeks Bay to see what we could see. When we got back, we used the coin-operated showers (1 quarter for 2.5 minutes, 2-quarter minimum - 5 min., 15-quarter maximum - 37.5 min.) and boiled some water for our freeze-dried dinners. I had beef stroganoff, which was good considering it was a meal-in-a-bag.

As darkness came, we had the citronella candle burning to keep the mosquitoes at bay. It seemed to work, for the most part, but a few still got us. Before heading to bed, we huddled around the map, illuminated by a headlamp, and planned Sunday's hike. As we tried to calculate the approximate mileage, a brown and white beetle surprised us by flinging itself at the lighted surface and knocking itself out. When a second one made the same suicidal move, we called it a night and retreated to our tents.