Best Tahoe Weekend Yet

This was my third time to Tahoe this season, and only my 5th time since moving to SF, and it was AWESOME; best weekend yet. Alexia told me she had a winter rental with a group of people. I thought, sure, I've seen shared cabins in Tahoe - good times, nothing fancy, no big deal. But this ain't no shabby cabin; it's a million dollar home, complete with heated floors, a large and well-equipped new kitchen, super nice bathrooms, an awesome hot tub, the list goes on...what really made the weekend was a great group of peope and more fresh powder than we knew what to do with.

We left early on Friday afternoon, finally getting out of the city at 4:30pm. We got to the house (Alpine, North Lake) at 11:30pm. Given one hour or so for stops along the way, yes, that's 6 hours of driving. Thank God for Lance, Alexia's friend, who was willing to drive us (Alexia, two of my roommates and myself) all up. We amused ourselves on the way with Meet the Fockers (in car DVD hanging from the rearview mirror!), getting to know each other conversation with our new chauffeur, and general silliness, including an incident with a kiddie pushcart in the Tahoe City Albertson's...

Once there, we stayed up for a bit and chatted with our weekend cabinmates, but headed to bed fairly quickly so we could get an early start the next morning. Shawna, Jamie, and I were taking snowboarding lessons (yes, I am still trying to tap into this elusive skill of turning without falling or going too fast on top of an ice-surfboard), so we had to get over to the lodge for rentals. I have to say, for once, the best part of the day was falling. There was so much powder, that falling never really hurt too bad--SUCH a difference from the other days I've tried learning. So I may not be good enough to appreciate powder like the pros, but I can appreciate it on my own terms.

My lesson was semi-private, with just one other boarder, so I had some personal instruction that did help quite a bit, until I went too fast, fell, and practically fell apart with frustration. I enjoyed a tasty beverage (bloody mary) at lunch, on the theory that I just needed a little more confidence in myself. Didn't work as planned though. I was back in the lodge an hour after lunch, calling it quits because my muscles were shaking, I was getting scared (damn all my friends who are better than me and leave me alone on the bunny slopes), and I stopped enjoying myself. A cookie and hot cider was just the cure.

Now, the real fun (and the real reason I still subject myself to Tahoe weekends) - We made it back to the house by 6pm for hot tub happy hour, and have several silly pictures as evidence. We played various games, such as "balance the bottle" and "guess whose leg?" and rotating who had to be beer bitch-duties included reaching over into the cooler for beverages and opening them without losing the top in the tub. After several suggestive hints, David offered to cook for everyone, basically taking everything out of the fridge that we brought and making several dishes out of it. He did a stellar job and we were all given the 10 minute dinner warning around 8pm.

The rest of the evening, at least according to the pictures, included eating, drinking, dancing, massages, and...who knows, except that we were all in bed by midnight, but after the day on the mountain and an early start to the festivities, it felt much, much later. Sunday morning was spent breakfasting again, and cleaning up before heading out to "beat the traffic". Good idea in theory, but it was still another 6 hour drive home due to weather conditions and chain control.

Even though we only boarded one day, it's so nice to be home, with pictures loaded and grocery shopping done for the week, by 10pm. I was going to work some this evening, but as my English friends would say, I'm knackered. Instead I am going to subject myself to a 5am wake up, and getting to the office early. Wish me luck.