2011.02.04 Friday - Lake Tahoe

Last full day in Tahoe. We waited around at the condo until we could check in to our flights. In the meantime we watched Get Smart.

Today is another relaxing day. Sometime in the afternoon, we headed out to do some shopping on the California-side of Tahoe, then walked through a few casinos on the Nevada-side, then stopped by an arcade to play some old-school skee-ball. I made money off a penny slot. Woo hoo.

I tried shopping around for gifts for people, but I didn't like the over-pricing and how silly most of the stuff was. I figure it would be wrong of me to add to the clutter of others when I need to de-clutter myself. Also, some of the things I was considering was food, and I'm not sure how long that stuff had been sitting around. Eck.

We tried to eat as much of the leftovers as we could, because the rest would be thrown away. Played some Spades and Apples 2 Apples.

Then snoozed.

2011.02.03 Thursday - Lake Tahoe

Went to Red Hut for breakfast. It's a micro-chain of restaurants similar to waffle house, but super greasy and good.

Today's goal: day trip to Virginia City. This place is old-school Nevada. Home of a mining craze, and Mark Twain (?). I bought some taffy at the the Barrels O Candy store, and some Pistachio Brittle (similar to peanut brittle) at another candy store. Lots of specialty shops, but not a lot of people around. Took some pictures here and there.

Kelc sent a message saying there had been some video shootings of haunted/super-natural activities. I'm not sure if this is what encouraged my dad, but he wanted to go check out the cemetery. I wasn't too keen on the idea, and my sister full out refused to go walk around. Honestly, it seems like a nice place to be buried. I took some pictures, found some Masonic symbols, and felt creeped out a couple times. Oh well.

Stopped by the Chocolate Nugget on the way home. At home I was asleep rather early.

2011.02.02 Wednesday - Lake Tahoe

Today was Spa day. David Willey's spa to be more precise.

I was first in line to receive a 60-minute Swedish massage by Jeff. This was my first time getting a massage like this, so I didn't know what to expect. Turns out this guy used to be in a band that opened for The Offspring way before they hit it big. Far out! Eventually he decided that band lifestyle wasn't for him. Something about stage-freight. I can totally understand that. Also found out that he did some miracle cures for his daughter when she was a baby just by understanding the human body better than the doctors.

My brother started coming down with some sickness, and that's the only reason I had a time slot to get a massage. Also found out he was the best masseuse at the place, and I just happened to be there at the right time.

After the massage, I went to sit in the hot sulfur baths outside. Then tried the steam room, and then back out to the sulfur baths. Super relaxing day.

For dinner, we went to a highly rated (urbanspoon) chinese restaurant for dinner. Quite possibly one of the best cost-effective meals for this entire trip. Super good.

2011.02.01 Tuesday - Lake Tahoe

Today was ski day. Drove out to Sierra @ Tahoe. Geared up and jumped onto some "magic carpets" to take us up the slopes. I was pretty bored with the lessons and wanted to just cruise around. My brother started getting the hang of it pretty well, but couldn't quite get the heelside edge down. My sister was afraid of moving and just kept falling on her butt. (It's very frustrating to watch).

We ate lunch at the lodge there. Just so happened to also be a bar. Pretty good sandwiches actually.

I went back out on the slopes for some more fun. The rest of my family had pretty much called it quits.

Back at the condo, we had baked potatoes for dinner. Everybody is exhausted. Including me.

2011.01.31 Monday - Lake Tahoe

Today we spent a fair amount of time dealing with breakfast again. If it were up to me, I would rather not worry about preparing food and cleaning up.

Drove out to Heavenly and Sierra to get pricing on gear and lessons for skiing and snowboarding.

Went to a highly rated (on urbanspoon) bar in Lake Tahoe that had some pretty awesome homemade recipes.

Drove over to Emerald Bay and around some cool windy roads to take pictures. Breathtaking views galore.

Went shopping around for a little, then picked up some ski gear for a few of us.

Tacos for dinner, then I passed out.

2011.01.30 Sunday - Lake Tahoe

First full day in Tahoe. Starting vacation off right by cooking 3 pounds of bacon. Hellz to the yeah. With all the bacon drippings, I decided to try a new bacon recipe: Scramble-Fried Egg. Now I know how to fry an egg, and I'm pretty sure I know how to prepare scrambled eggs, but I've never seen the mix of that... until now. I whipped together an egg, some milk, and a dash of salt and pepper; then poured this mixture into a pan of hot bacon fat. Results: not bad, but not really something that can be presented well. It looks like you think it would, and it's kinda hard to get out of the bacon fat.

This is slightly out of order, but one of the reasons I was able to cook so much and play around in the kitchen is because a huge snow storm blew across the mountain last night. Since we were on the top floor of a wooden structure way up on a mountain, it was rather easy to feel the building sway back and forth. I actually rolled across my bed because it was swaying so much. Didn't bother me too much. Anyways, the path down to the vehicles was snow covered, and the vehicles were stuck in snow, so we just had to wait. Oh, and this knocked out the cable TV. during breakfast we watched Hot Rod.

Later in the afternoon, we dressed up in our snow gear and went out to the park to play in the snow. We all did some sledding. I dug myself a cave. I like digging caves, but it's hard work.

For dinner, we went to the Lakeside Inn Casino restaurant. Good food. Very filling.

Back to the condo, still no TV (my family thrives on TV). We played some card games and had some classic fun. Then bed.

2011.01.29 Saturday - Lake Tahoe

The day has come; the journey of vacation is here.

Work up super early, showered, took care of some last minute things. I was ready before my scheduled departure time. Great. So I made a call to see if my ride was going to be here at the expected time. Nope. Someone is making excuses for a sensitive stomach.

Even though the ride was late arriving, we were at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Security was surprisingly pleasant; one of the security guys was lively and had a way of taking off some of the nervous edge most people get. For breakfast, I picked up some Antie Anne's pretzels. Breakfast of champions.

Flew to LAX for about an hour of layover.

Flew into Reno. My cousin, Karen, came out of nowhere and met up with us. Grabbed the bags and grabbed a couple rental vehicles. We were in Reno ready a bit on the early side, so we went to In-N-Out to grab lunch. Delicious meal. I had an "extra toast hamburger" with fries and a drink. My sister did a few things that aren't on the normal menu too.

Arrived at the condo early, but luckily that was not a problem. We had the keys, we just needed to unload all the luggage. This proved to be quite daunting of a task. The 3 bedroom condo we had was on top of a hill, and had over 80 steps to climb up to get in. Add near 50lb luggage, the high altitude, and winter clothing... quite the challenge.

Once everybody was settled in, we left to go pick up groceries at the store. Word around town is that a storm is blowing through, and it's possible that we might be stuck up on a mountain for a day.

Cooked up a dinner, drank some wine, and passed out. What a long day.