This weekend was all about the Spring skiing — getting in those last turns before hanging up the skis for the season.
We started the weekend off on Saturday at Sierra-at-Tahoe. We were actually on our way to Folsom for Jane and Luke’s birthday party, but we decided to ski on our way to their house. It was close to 60 degrees on the slopes, and there were people skiing and boarding in shorts, t-shirts, and even two brave souls wearing only swim suits.
I wasn’t nearly that brave… I am not sure it’s bravery or just a cry for attention, as I’d be deathly afraid to fall if I was showing that much skin. Anyway, they had groomed most of the mountain — really, all but two hills.
The groomers were fun. The snow was so slushy that you could practically go straight down the hill and not have to worry about speed. The moguls were also fun because it was ego snow, letting you carve turns on a dime.
On the second chair ride up the mountain, I got a bloody nose.
A chairlift IS NOT the place to get a bloody nose, especially when you don’t have any tissue! I rode the entire way up with my head back, which is a strange sensation on a chairlift. I had to sit out the next run as I lay on a table at the Grandview Station (named for its view of Lake Tahoe). While trying to get my nose to stop bleeding, I was entertained by a rescue dog named Rush — a three year old Golden Retriever that was just too cute. Luckily, the blood and gore stopped and I was able to enjoy the rest of the day.
We were two hours late to the birthday party, which seems to be our trademark. Remember that I’m married to the man that cannot be rushed. Luckily, we hadn’t missed the festivities, as we showed up just in time for dinner, and to see Luke dive into his birthday cupcake. He had icing and cake all over his face, up his nostrils, and even on his feet!
I joined my nephew Jack and his friend in the bounce house. But bounce houses are all just fun and games until someone gets hurt… As I was bouncing with Jack’s friend, Jack managed to have his knee make contact with his nose, and he came out of the bounce house with a bloody nose. I came out of the bounce house looking like the bad aunt. I’ve now banned myself from the bounce house, sadly…
We crashed at my brother and sister-in-law’s house on Saturday, which enabled us to stay and watch the boys play with all of the new birthday toys. On Saturday morning, we woke up and headed to Squaw, stopping for strawberries at a roadside stand on our way.
One of my favorite things about California is the roadside strawberry stands. Those strawberries are a taste of heaven on earth, I tell you!!!
Anyway… Destination Squaw Valley USA. Sights set on the hot tub at high camp. It was much cooler on Sunday, and the wind had kicked up. We spent most of our time at the top of the mountain around the Granite Chief area. As the day wore on, the wind picked up, and it even caused a power outage at Squaw.
You’d think that a power outage would be really bad… When I hear that, I think of people stranded on lifts and gondolas. But in actuality, it caused about a 5 minute delay as they fired up the generators all across the mountain, and the lifts continued to turn.
However, the hot tub was still closed due to the power outage. They also shut the tram down, but were giving people rides down the mountain in snow cats. Hubby and I followed the snow cat for a few minutes, carving it up on the fresh corduroy, but the snow cat was too slow for us, so we passed it and shooshed our way down to the bottom of the mountain.
We enjoyed dinner at the Pizza & Pasta restaurant in the Squaw village, where they served up a 32 ounce beer for the hubby and a yummy brick oven baked pizza. It was a nice way to end the day, and most likely the ski season.
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