July 10, 2013 | Tim Hauserman

Welcome to the new Sunnyside blog where you will find my humble recommendations on how to take advantage of what Lake Tahoe has to offer. So why am I writing a Sunnyside Resort blog? Because this west shore haven has been an important part of Tahoe life for several generations. In fact, if you have lived in Tahoe for as long as I have, you certainly have a number of fond Sunnyside memories you could happily recall.  Here are a few of mine:

My earliest Sunnyside memory is of chowing down on plate loads full of fried zucchini in the ancient lodge. Of course, like hundreds of other Tahoeians, I also remember my wedding reception at the new and sumptuous lodge. It was on April Fools Day, and while the weather was still a bit too crisp to party on the deck, the views from the restaurant still made us feel that Lake Tahoe was an important part of our day.

Speaking of weddings, my favorite Sunnyside wedding event involved a true trooper of a Sunnyside employee who pretended to be the bride. All eyes were on her as she approached the Sunnyside dock in a full wedding gown in the back of a classic wooden boat. She was happily waving to the crowd of cheering onlookers when she fell ass over teakettle into the lake. A second later the entire crowd gasped loudly in unison, followed by an interminable few seconds of silence and then… the real bride emerged from her hiding place to a raucous ovation. Now that is an employee that deserves special recognition for customer service.

I also remember all those nights when my teenage daughter returned home, exhausted from another busy summer night as a hostess. Sunnyside is where she first learned the essential public relations skills that led to her current occupation as a flight attendant. And of course, I remember countless evenings on the Sunnyside deck, letting the colors of alpenglow softly remove all of my cares.

I grew up in Tahoe City and went to Tahoe Lake School, followed by North Tahoe High School. After college and grad school, I became a real estate agent for twenty years, but then decided that my true calling was to mash words together in an attempt to pass on some of my passions to others. I wrote Tahoe Rim Trail, the official guide for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians, now in it’s third edition, as well as two other books: Monsters in the Woods: Backpacking with Children, and Cross-Country Skiing in the Sierra Nevada. As soon as the illustrator is done doing whatever it is those artist types do, I will be putting out a children’s book about the natural history of Tahoe. I have written over 100 articles for all the local publications you see around Tahoe and Reno including Reno Magazine, Nevada Magazine, Edible Reno-Tahoe, Sierra Heritage, Tahoe Quarterly, Reno News and Review and North Tahoe Weekly. And I write a regular column on what it was like Growing Up in Tahoe for Truckee based, Moonshine Ink.

Aside from writing, my passions revolve around doing something fun outside: cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, road and mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, kayaking and yoga…it’s all good. In the winter, I teach cross-country skiing and direct the Strider-Gliders after school program at Tahoe Cross-Country Ski Area.

I look forward to conveying my thoughts about the Tahoe outdoors lifestyle in this blog, but I will also be passing on tips on a few more sedentary activities such as the Sunday concerts on the Commons Beach, or gazing longingly at a dock load full of wooden boats at the classic boat show. And I believe a fish taco or two may be thrown in to keep us all sated. The focus will be simple; passing on what I know about the greatest place on earth. Look for my thoughts here a few times a month.