Alexis and the Lake Tahoe Tumult

“Only about twenty more minutes to the hotel!” said Mr. Howell. Alexis’s dad hummed as he guided their rented car up the winding road that would take them to Lake Tahoe.

The flat, icy landscape scattered with sagebrush had turned into snowy peaks. As Alexis gazed at them, her imagination started to go wild. She decided the snowy peaks reached into the bright blue sky like the jagged teeth of a crocodile—like the crocodiles she’d seen in a documentary on the Discovery Channel earlier in the month.

And of course her thoughts of documentaries and the Discovery Channel made her think of the real purpose she and her friend Bailey, a fellow Camp Club Girl, had for going to Lake Tahoe with Alexis’s mom and dad and twin brothers.

“Hey, Dad?” Alexis called. “Can we go straight to the animal reserve?”

“I don’t see why not,” Mr. Howell said. “It’s too late to ski today, anyway. I’ll drop your mom and brothers off at the hotel. They can check in and hang out while I drive you out there. We’ll be back by dinner.”

Alexis yawned and closed her eyes. She thought again about those big teeth on the crocodiles.

Suddenly the car began to swerve and shake as if those crocodile teeth had gotten hold of the Howells’ car.

“What’s going on?” asked Mrs. Howell.

“Not sure!” said Mr. Howell. He was struggling to keep his hands on the steering wheel. Alexis looked out the window and realized that the car wasn’t all that was shaking.

“Dad, is this an earthquake?” she asked.

Mr. Howell didn’t answer. He was focused on dodging the rocks that had begun rolling down the hill above them.

But almost as suddenly as the bouncing of the earth had begun, it stopped. Within a matter of minutes, the car was driving smoothly again.

“What a way to start a vacation, huh?” Mr. Howell laughed nervously. “I think that
was
a small earthquake.”

Alexis turned to Bailey, but her fellow Camp Club Girl was fast asleep, face pressed against the window. The breath from her gaping mouth was fogging the glass. Alexis peeked into the back of the van where her little brothers were also sleeping.

There was no way Alexis could have slept, even before the earthquake. She was too excited about her documentary.

The owners at the Tahoe Animal Reserve and Rescue at Lake Tahoe had agreed to let her tour and film their facilities. Her video would be about remembering nature in the middle of our world full of cement and SUVs.

She was planning to enter the video in a contest for young amateur filmmakers. The winner of the contest would not only see the film shown on the Discovery Channel but would also receive scholarship money. And knowing how much her mother’s youngest sister was still paying on loans she’d taken out for college, Alexis knew it was never too early to start saving money for college!

So even though she was only twelve, Alex, as most of her friends called her, was going to get started. She loved movies. She knew when she grew up, she wanted to work with films in some way, perhaps as a director. She’d lived in Sacramento all her life and knew of several good colleges that offered classes to prepare students for the film industry.

Since she loved to operate a camera, Alexis was very excited to enter the contest.

And what better place to record nature than in Lake Tahoe? From the time pioneers had discovered the lake in 1844, it had been a tourist attraction. People from all around the world visited the area to enjoy its beauty.

The lake sat in a bowl of earth surrounded by mountains and pine trees on every side. Tahoe was the world’s third clearest lake. Alexis had been waterskiing here before, and she remembered how she could see the bottom in places that were over one hundred feet deep. The lake was on the border of Nevada and California, with half of the lake in each state and the border running from north to south.

No matter which side of the lake you were on—the California side or the Nevada side—the lake was lined with plenty of resorts, vacation homes, and convention centers. In the winter, the area was also a popular place to ski and snowboard. Olympic medal winners had even been known to practice there.

Alexis had even seen these award winners practicing the last time she’d been at Lake Tahoe. Her dad attended conventions once or twice a year at the lake. And whenever they could, the whole Howell family accompanied him. They enjoyed the activities while Mr. Howell went to his business meetings.

Alexis recognized the landscape and held her breath for her favorite part of the drive. One last corner, and there it was. The view before them was a wonderful panorama. The brilliant lake shone in the sunlight like a perfectly smooth sapphire. The sight made Alexis gasp, even though she’d expected it. Suddenly the view was gone, replaced by walls and darkness.

Beep! Beep! Beep-Beep!
Alexis’s dad honked the horn.

“What’s wrong?” Bailey jerked out of her slumber. “Are we falling off the cliff, Lexi?”

“Lexi? I’m Lexi now?” Alex asked with a smile. Bailey was well known for the nicknames she gave others.

Bailey didn’t answer. She just grabbed Alexis’s coat in fear. She frantically looked around. “It’s dark!”

“No, Bailey! We’re not falling off the cliff. We’re passing through Cave Rock. It’s a tunnel that has been around forever.”

“Well, why was your dad honking the car horn?” asked Bailey, still a little dazed. “Scared me to death!”

“Sorry about that,” said Alexis. “My dad honks every time we go through a tunnel. This wasn’t bad because the tunnel was short. You should have seen this one time! We were on the East Coast, and we went through this tunnel that was about a mile long. Dad honked
all the way through!
Doesn’t your dad honk the car horn when you go through tunnels?”

“You really need to come to the center of the nation,” Bailey answered. “Where I live, we’re in the middle of the United States. The land is pretty flat there.”

“Flat? You mean like the desert?”

“Well, we have hills and stuff. But we don’t have mountains—especially not with tunnels,” Bailey explained. “You have to go up to Wisconsin to see the bigger hills and huge rocks. They might have tunnels up there. I don’t know.”

Bailey lived near the middle of the state of Illinois, outside a city named Peoria. She was also still a preteen and the youngest of the group who called themselves the Camp Club Girls. The girls had all met when they shared a cabin at Lake Discovery Camp. They had become the best of friends as they solved a mystery together. And since then, the Camp Club Girls had continued to solve mysteries—mysteries that had baffled many adults!

As they drove into the resort area of Lake Tahoe, Alexis pointed out the hotel and convention center where they’d be staying. “It’s called a hotel, but it’s really a resort,” she said.

“What’s the difference?” Bailey asked.

“I’m not sure,” said Alex. “I think resorts have more activities going on, and this place has a ski run and all sorts of fun stuff.

“And we can also enjoy any of the activities in town. They have a great transportation system—it’s a cute little shuttle bus that has places to get on and off it. So we can explore the whole city if we want,” Alex explained.

In no time they had dropped off Mrs. Howell and the twins at the hotel. The girls waited in the car while Alexis’s dad checked in Mrs. Howell and the boys and helped them get their luggage to the room. Then he returned to the van.

“Chauffeur’s back,” Mr. Howell announced cheerfully as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Next stop: Tahoe Animal Reserve.”

Bailey and Alexis had their eyes wide open, trying to take in all the sights as Mr. Howell drove through town and out into land that was still on the brim of the lake, but not as filled with resorts.

In only moments they were pulling up a long, snowy driveway to the animal reserve. A large wooden sign topped with snow read T
AHOE
A
NIMAL
R
ESERVE AND
R
ESCUE
. Mr. Howell parked in front of a small cabin that was painted a light shade of moss green. There was more than a foot of snow piled on the roof.

“I guess this is it!” said Mr. Howell. He got out of the car and immediately slid, nearly falling to the ground.

“Ouch!” he called. “Watch out for the ice!”

Just then the front door to the cabin opened, and a lady in a parka came running out.

“I’m so sorry!” she said. “I must have forgotten to put the salt out this morning!”