November of last year, Blake, Lacey, Wess and I decided we wanted to go on a ski trip, and Blake told us his grandma would let us use her timeshare for Lake Tahoe. I had been before, but I was very young, so I didn’t remember a lot. I can recall thinking it was cool that you could ski over the state line and that the place was beautiful. I can also clearly remember rolling with laughter at the look of shock I saw on Dad’s face when he was smacked in the head (not just once, but twice) with a pair of ski gloves by a kid for simply trying to have a polite conversation with him. Other than that, most of my memories were pretty fuzzy, so I was excited at the opportunity to go back.
Blake got in touch with his grandma, and we looked through all her timeshare information. We picked the place we wanted to stay (Eagle’s Nest/Tahoe Village), compared our schedules, and decide to leave January 21st and come back the 27th.
A couple of weeks later, Lacey and I sat down to book our flights, and we started by going to the Southwest Airlines site. I knew from previous experience that we would actually have to fly into Reno, Nevada instead of Tahoe. We put in our information and nearly fell off the couch when the computer pulled up tickets that cost around $1000 apiece. (I checked today, and the cost of tickets was still around that price; so I wouldn’t recommend Southwest for this particular trip). After that we used a travel site (I can’t remember if it was Priceline, Expedia or Travelocity), and we discovered that United Airlines offered the cheapest airfare for our trip ($416 for a roundtrip ticket, taxes included). A little side note…United charges you $25 to check a bag, but they still had the best deal on the flight.
On the 21st, we got up and went to Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston, Texas. We had a connecting flight in Denver, and from there we flew into Reno. I made the mistake of putting Wess’s cologne in my makeup bag, and because of the increased pressure and altitude, it leaked everywhere. My face smelled like his Azzaro Chrome cologne the entire trip. So learn from my mistake and make sure any liquids (cologne, shampoo, foundation, etc.) are tightly sealed or put in a baggie. After collecting our luggage, we made our way to one of the bus ticketing counters. We used the South Tahoe Express to take us on the final, hour and a half leg of our journey ($49 per person for a roundtrip ticket).
Finally, we were able to look out the bus windows and catch a glimpse of the beautiful Lake Tahoe.
About that time, the bus driver asked us if we needed a taxi, and he offered to call one for us. When we came to a stop at Embassy Suites, our bus driver unloaded our luggage and placed it in our waiting taxi. The driver for Lakeshore Taxi was a lady that apparently had no fear of losing control on a winding, steep, icy mountain road. We were all clutching the seat like our lives depended on it, even though she assured us we had nothing to worry about. Apparently, an all-wheel drive van with tire chains is the way to go in Tahoe. We got to the top of our part of the mountain, checked in, then had to make the journey half way back down the mountain to get to our room for the week. Tahoe had seen its first real snow of the season only a few days prior to our arrival, so the fresh snow, trees and mountains made for one heck of a view.
Eagle's Nest
Our Cabin (Tahoe Village)
The view from our balcony...Gorgeous, isn't it?
We were all exhausted from traveling, but Lace and I asked the boys to go into town and buy a few groceries. Seemed simple enough, but instead of calling Lakeshore Taxi again, they tried to be thrifty and take one of the shuttle buses. After waiting out in the cold for a while, they finally found out that the shuttle they needed didn’t come up that high into the mountains. They trekked downhill, waited some more and finally boarded the right bus. After a lot of stops, they finally made it to a small grocery store and bought what we needed. Unfortunately, they still had to go through the whole process again to get back to our room. Needless to say, two very grumpy, snow covered boys walked through our door a couple hours later. After a good meal, we all decided it was time to crawl into bed.
When we woke up the next day, everything was covered in a thick layer of fresh powder.
On the railing out side our window...When we actually walked down the steps and onto the sidewalk, it came up to our waists.
It had snowed so much, we couldn’t make it down the sidewalk. We had to wait for a member of the maintenance crew to clear the path. The boys wanted to relax and watch the football playoff games, and Lace and I wanted to go explore the town. When we got ready to leave, the boys immediately started trying to explain the bus system to us. As they were talking, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Lakeshore Taxi. The boys couldn’t believe we were willing to spend money on a taxi. I told them they were more than welcome to take a long hike through the snow and wait on a bus if they wanted to, but Lace and I would be warm and toasty in a cab. There are some things in life worth paying for, and convenience and comfort are two of them.
When the cab pulled up, it was not the female driver we had the day before. This time it was a long haired man named Dave that listened to rock music and had a touch of road rage…we immediately became friends. He dropped us off in the middle of town and told us to start with the Stateline Brewery. We listened to his advice and were not disappointed. The place was underground and had a great atmosphere. People were coming off the slopes to enjoy good food and Stateline’s specialty beers. Lace and I both dislike the taste of beer, so unfortunately I cannot make any suggestions on which ones to try, but we fell in love with a drink called Rise & Shine (SKYY Vodka, Chambord, pineapple juice and Sprite with a sugared rim, lemon wedge and raspberry 8.00). We stayed there for a couple hours by ourselves (thoroughly enjoying ourselves…which might have had something to do with the Rise & Shines) before the boys showed up.
Lace definitely enjoyed the Rise & Shines. To this day, she says she hasn't found a drink she likes better.
After that, we walked upstairs and walked through the Northface store, the Stateline gift shop and several others before heading over to Harrah’s casino. I had never gambled before (I wasn’t overly fond of the thought of losing hundreds of dollars in a short amount of time), but Blake introduced us all to the game of roulette, and I loved it. I told myself I was only going to spend $20, and when I had made $60 or so I cashed out. Wess and Blake took advantage of the casino’s free drinks and weren’t quite as practical with their money. By the end of the night, they had both lost a couple hundred dollars, but surprisingly, they were still in a great mood (sometimes alcohol does come in handy). We made a call to Dave, and he came and picked us up and transported us back to the house. Knowing we were going to ski and snowboard the next day, we all decided to call it an early night and climbed into bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I prayed that my clumsiness would not result in a bodily injury on the slopes of Lake Tahoe.
