January 9, 2014 | Tim Hauserman

Tahoe folks are trying everything at this point to get it to snow. People are removing snow tires, washing cars, and leaving valuable objects outside hoping they will soon be buried in the snow. My contribution to the snow making effort is to write this blog about the things to do in Tahoe when it doesn’t snow. My theory (and hope) is that it will quickly snow, making some of my suggestions obsolete. So here goes:

(1) Take a hike to Emerald Bay. It’s rare that you can do so in January. While the crowds are non-existent, the lake is as beautiful as ever.

(2) Toss a rock or two into the lake at the Commons Beach in Tahoe City, followed up with a saunter from one end of town to the other along the Lakeside pathway.

(3) Ride a road bike. Just twenty minutes east of Truckee is the popular Verdi to Reno road ride, or head to the Dutch Flat area for a quiet ride through the foothills.

(4) Drive around Lake Tahoe. Take your time and enjoy every glorious viewpoint along the route. And there are a lot of them.

(5) Bring the kids to the Tahoe Environmental Resource Center museum on the grounds of Sierra Nevada College in Incline. Be sure to check out the world’s greatest sandbox where your hands create contour maps in the sand.

(6) Speaking of Sierra Nevada College. It’s a good place to get some intellectual stimulation as they frequently present writers and speakers on a variety of topics.

(7) Dream of summer boat trips by heading to the Tahoe Maritime Museum, right next door to Homewood Ski Area.

(8) Quick…the Olympic Heritage Celebration is happening January 11-19th at both Sugar Pine Point State Park and Squaw Valley. We are just a few weeks before the next winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, so it’s a good time to honor our region’s foray into Olympic land with the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics. You can also check out the Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics in the Boatworks Mall in Tahoe City.

(9) Tahoe’s Mom and Pop businesses are putting out some great products for you to see and would love to see your smiling face.

(10) And then of course, you can always…find yourself in a comfy chair in front of a crackling fire, nursing a cup of cocoa while savoring a good read, or just marveling at the view of that big piece of deep blue. Ah, yes, that big blue lake that we know and love. That’s the reason we are here in the first place.