Not an entirely Heavenly weekend

Eager to use our season lift passes for the first time, we headed up to Lake Tahoe on Friday night with a group of friends (eight of us in total, in two cars). We made it there safely, even though I was somewhat worried about the road conditions: it was pretty icy in places, and in fact the temperature went down as low as -14°C. Our motel was right by the lake, and we had a great “suite” that slept up to eight people, so it was perfect, except for the fact that the hot tub was out of action.

We awoke to a sunny morning on Saturday and went to get our lift passes and skis. This took ages – there were lots of people. Once we’d sorted all that out, it was up on the gondola (which affords truly amazing views over the lake as you head up) to take in the runs of the Heavenly ski resort (that’s its name, really). While it’s still quite early in the season, which meant that a few runs were closed, the snow was pretty good and we had a really nice day’s skiing. I managed not to fall over at all. Jon did a few times, but mainly when he was trying to be clever, by doing jumps, for example. It’s hard to describe just how incredible the views are from up there. You can look down to the vast lake on one side of the mountain range, then down much further to a huge expanse of plains on the other, probably about 7,000 feet below. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I can’t share it with you!

In the evening, we had a curry that Chris (one of our party) had made, then went out to a bar in one of the casinos. They really are weird places. Interesting to take a look at, but far from being my cup of tea! Certainly a very different world from San Francisco, peopled by a wide variety of folk, some of whom could easily be rednecks and probably quite a few of whom vote for George Bush. I couldn’t believe how much hassle I was given trying to get into the bar. Now, to go into most bars in America, you need to show ID, even when you’re clearly over the minimum drinking age of 21. So, I always carry my UK driver’s licence around for that very purpose. However, they didn’t like that at Cabo Wabo (the Tahoe bar) and asked for U.S. issued ID. Well, it just so happened that I had my U.S. Department of Homeland Security Work Authorization card on me, because I’d brought it as photo ID for my lift pass, but the guy didn’t like that either and had to call his manager over. Bear in mind – all this is just to determine that I’m over the age of 21! Anyway, they finally let me in, but what a joke! Especially as I only ended up drinking water anyway!

Back at the motel, I had maybe a couple of hours’ sleep before waking up feeling nauseous. The rest of the night was spent on the toilet. I suppose I’ll never know what it was: food poisoning, stomach bug… even altitude sickness was suggested, but needless to say, Sunday was a complete write-off. Jon very sweetly went out to get me drinks and Imodium in the morning, and took my skis back, while I lay around unable to do anything. Everyone went off skiing, and all I could do was sit in the reception area (got kicked out of the room at 11:30 am), dropping off every now and then, until they all returned. At least it was a nice reception – sofas, fire pit, Christmas tree, view of lake and snowy mountains – but it didn’t compensate for missing a day of skiing in near perfect conditions. It was then a long drive back to San Francisco, with a dinner stop at a diner in Vacaville, followed by a very deep sleep for me!
I went to work today, while Jon did the shopping, picked up the turkey and made more mince pies. I got an emergency call at lunchtime because there were no brussels sprouts in Safeway or Trader Joe's, but I got lucky in the supermarket near my work. Tomorrow we’re catering for ten. It should be good fun – just hope I have some appetite back by then.