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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“we checked into the lodge, checked out where the hot tubs were for later reference and headed toward the lifts.” |
At Squaw I always feel like I'm vacationing in the Swiss Alps. This weekend was no different. My friend William and I decided to do a little bit of splurging. At first I objected to renting a Ford SUV, but then once I was behind the wheel, I started to understand what the SUV fuss was all about. I felt like a trucker. I even wanted to drive at 5 am. I picked a sleepy William up, and away we went.
William decided he was hungry at about 7am and wanted Jack in the Box, which I think is gross. But there is something nice and comforting about fast food and roadtrips, so I settled for a McDonalds egg and cheese bisquit. I guess that makes me a bad vegan, but what can you do?
It’s about 4 hours from San Francisco to Squaw Valley on 80 to 89. I make William take photos of the sunrise and me driving the SUV. We stopped at Albertsons Supermarket for about 15 minutes and poor William had to listen to me saying things like “hurray up, I didn’t get up at 5am to ponder which wine to get.” I was very antsy to get on that mountain.
Once we arrived in Squaw Valley, we checked into the lodge, checked out where the hot tubs were for later reference and headed toward the lifts. William was snowboarding for the first time, so I left him to take classes and attack the mountain on his own. This weekend a bunch of the North Lake Tahoe resorts were hosting a beginner's weekend and for $20, you could get a lift pass, lessons and rentals! What a great deal.
I took the Funicular Gondola and headed toward one of the 11 lifts that were open. This isn't a great year so far for snow, so a lot of the runs weren't ready yet, and weeds and rocks were sticking out in places. After a few runs I started to get tired and was ready for lunch. At 1, I was supposed to meet up with William. Unfortunately, I was on the other side of the mountain and had to take a few lifts over to meet him. I took the "Siberia" lift, aptly named for it's location on the top of the mountain. The wind propelled me around and the ice called for my feet to slip out from under me. Soon I found myself falling on my tailbone. I decided to just lay down on the ice for a minute before I wimped my way down. Then I just needed to take one little life to the lodge for lunch.
Suddenly in the lift line I felt nausous and dizzy. I got out of line and sat down. I got back in line and felt even more dizzy. People around me started to wonder why I was acting so odd. I started to wonder as well. Them I layed down in the snow. The man behind me in line called for the ski patrol who started filling out a form and asking me questions. She also gave me some water which was nice. I asked them to get in touch with William so he would know that I'd be late. She said, "Let's just get you down the mountain as soon as possilbe." Such drama. As soon as I got a little bit down the hill, I felt better. Lack of sleep and water added to the altitude sickness. I'm thinking I shouldn't climb Mt. Everest anytime soon.
I decided to take a long lunch and call it a day. I met up with William later and watched him board a little. He was pretty good!
That night we watched a few movies, soaked in the outdoor hotubs, drank Bailey's and hot chocolate and ate cheese.
The next day, I headed toward the mountains to get my mojo/confidence back. The ice again beckoned me to fall down. But this time there were no Ski Patrol incidents, and I went down some really long runs and had fun.
We headed home early to return the Suv. So sad.
previous travel blog entry
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