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Family Tahoe Trip: Day Three

On Monday morning, we got up early to pack up the car and had our free breakfast at the Best Western. It was a full-service breakfast complete with banana pancakes, eggs, or whatever else that was on the menu. This hotel was a pretty good deal considering it was close to the casinos, was super clean, and had free breakfast every morning.

We then drove to Sierra-at-Tahoe but also made a quick stop by the lake for a group photo. Unfortunately, it was a little icy and it took a couple takes for us to get the timing of the camera right. I managed to slip on one of the takes and this is what we got. It makes for a pretty funny photo. Love how Brother was totally laughing at me.

Once we got to Sierra, we were one of the first ones there and I don’t think I’ve ever parked so far up in the lot before.  The mountain was nice and empty and Brother and I got a few fast runs in on the blues in West Bowl before heading back to SF.

On the way home, we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory for a tour, tastings, and to pick up a big bag of “Belly Flops”, which are unlabeled, irregular Jelly Bellies that didn’t make it into the packages.

We did all this and still managed to get home by 5pm.  Amazing!  So for dinner, we picked Jes up from work and had the salt and pepper crab at R&G.  Soooo tasty.

Here are photos from Day Three.

Family Tahoe Trip: Day Two

On Sunday, we got up bright and early to drive down to Kirkwood.  The roads were kinda icy but we got there in one piece and didn’t need to bother with chains.  Yay!  The mountain was pretty empty and the sun was shining brightly on our heads.

For old time’s sake, we took Jes’ favorite run called “Whiskey Slide”.  It’s too bad he didn’t come along for a ride down memory lane.  We even rode the lift that goes over the run that he fell on that fateful December morning in 2001.

Joy got pretty good at carving by the end of the day and we got a good five hours of skiing/boarding in without a lunch break.  Now that’s hardcore!

Once we got back to the hotel, we all showered and rested and then headed out for Happy Hour and some gambling.  We had drinks and apps at Kalani’s, played penny slots and $1 roulette, and then finished the evening with some Fatburger.  It was a good day.

Here are photos from Day Two.

Family Tahoe Trip: Day One

I’m back from Tahoe and went back to work with only 3 days until the weekend again.  Wooo!  Mommy came up on Thursday night and the sibs came Friday night.  On Saturday, we left the house by 8 and made it there by noon with a 30-minute pee and gas break at the Costco in Rancho Cordova.  I don’t usually drive to Tahoe so I was a little nervous about putting chains on and driving in icy conditions but we lucked out with dry roads and no traffic.  Phew.

Once we arrived in South Lake Tahoe, we had a buffet lunch at Harrah’s with a sweeping view of the mountains and lake.  After losing a dollar to the penny slots, we checked in at the Best Western that was super close to the casinos and Heavenly Village.

We took a walk to the lake nearby and found a beach that was half-covered with snow.  It was freezing cold out there but we got a whiff of the fresh air.

We also went for a walk around town before dinner and did a little window shopping. I still love the wood-carved bears all over town.

For dinner we went to Naked Fish Sushi and scored a spot at the bar.  It was the first time my mom had ever sat at a sushi bar and I think she had a good time.

On our way back to the hotel, it started to snow and we were all giddy.  Mommy even tried to eat the snow.  Funny Mommy.

Here is the first set of photos.

Slides and Street Food

This morning I got a text from Michelle to see if I was interested in checking out some food carts at a Precita Park in Bernal Heights.  I’m always up for street food so at 10:30, she picked me up with Jack in the backseat and we were on our way!  When we arrived, the vendors were still setting up and Michelle’s friends Lauren and Johnny were there setting up their stand.

They started Pearl’s Kitchen, which is what they call a “Part Time Deli” featuring a corned beef sandwich and some other Jewish delicacies that they didn’t have with them today.  With some time to kill, we went to the playground where Jack got to climb up the structures and go down the slides over and over again.  He was getting a real kick out of his new found skill of climbing up a ladder and going down the mini slide.

Once the carts were ready to go, we ordered a pizza topped with chanterelle mushrooms and I picked up a coffee creme brulee and a corned beef sandwich.

Jack absolutely LOVED the creme brulee and would run away with his spoon to make sure he didn’t have to share.

The corned beef sandwich was savory with a light rye bread that was pretty good and I usually HATE rye bread.  They also had a cart that sold grilled cheese sandwiches that had a massive line.  TLC was also there interviewing people there for a cheese episode for one of their shows.

Here are the rest of the photos.

Wolf Moon

When I stepped out of the building to walk the dog last night, I was greeted by a big bright moon. I don’t think it was at it’s fullest (actual day is 1/29/10) but it might as well have been. It looked so cool behind the baseball stadium.  I saw on the news that farmers call this a “Wolf Moon” because it’s bigger and brighter and occurs in January.

When I arrived at the docks (Koa’s usual pee spot), I shot this one. The lights were on in the stadium because they were setting up for the motocross event this weekend and made for a really cool shot of the moon behind the boats and water. I simply set the camera to ISO 800 and snapped. I love taking photos at night when there’s a full moon. You should try it out sometime!

Raaawwrr!

One of my favorite photo websites is Photojojo and they sell a bunch of really cool products. Another cool thing about the company is that when you receive your order in the mail, it comes with a tiny dinosaur! Well, in my last order there was no dino. Boo… So I emailed them last week to find out whether or not it was included in all the packages or just random ones. Just so happens that they ran out of dinos and they sent my order without it so that it wouldn’t be delayed. AND THEN they offered to send me a dino now since they had more of them in stock. So today in the mail I received not only one but TWO!!! Call me silly but I was so excited to get teeny tiny dinosaurs in the mail. They made me smile.