Tahoe!

Last weekend, Tina's good friends Brian and Jeffrey invited Tina and me, and two other friends, up to their cabin in Tahoe. Technically it's in Truckee, and Tahoe is actually short for Tahoe Lake (not that I saw a lake)... I'm getting side-tracked... the point is this; when you say Tahoe - depending on the time of year - people either think "hiking!" or "skiing!"

It's the right time of year for skiing. :)


And so we headed up on Thursday night. Apart from the odd deadly cloud of fog the 3 - 4 hour trip was thankfully uneventful. Except that i've never seen snow. Never. This may have been obvious to anyone who saw my lit-up face. Or anyone who saw the sign I left my roomies...

So as I dutifully flipped out, everyone else kept their cool. Even Cleo (Brian and Jeff's baby!), who I've failed to mention thus far... I'll include a pic of her for good measure.

Ceo experiencing refilling angst...

Cabin life
So the weekend was a lovely blend of sitting around the cabin eating delicious food, relaxing and enjoying each other's company - and extreme sports! (Also painting, but I'll get to that)

The Relaxing Part
So here's the whole gang in a photo (except Tina and Cleo).

Jamie, me, Keith, Jeff and Brian.

And so they don't feel left out...

Tina, Cleo.
(To avoid any possible confusion...)

As you can see, the cabin is beautiful and warm and woody and full of cool people. Between Tina's baking, Jeff's cheffing and Keither Gumbo-ing we were extremely well fed.

A tour of the cabin? Let's.

The cabin. Also Jeff's head.

Their driveway. Was hand-shovelled 7 days prior. (!!)

View over the balcony.
Surveying snow fall on the first morning.

Tour over!

Extreeeeme!!!
As just about everyone was an avid (or at very least, capable) skier or snowboarder, there was plenty of interest in trips to the local ski resort.

I, being the avid outdoorsy and extreme kind of person, decided that I should learn snowboarding. Not so much because it looks cool and radical, but I prefer the idea of frequently falling and hitting my head, as opposed to my feet going opposite directions and tearing ... stuff.

So after stealing as much cold weather gear as was possible off my kind-hearted hosts, I rented some particularly smelly boots, a snowboard that didn't fully lock into said boots, and an extra large helmet to protect my melon.

Home of the pain.

This is the magic carpet.
It's a conveyor belt to drag my exhausted arse to the top of the slope...

So this is where I learnt to snowboard (from people who knew how). It's essentially the kiddie learning slope, but thankfully as I started on a Friday, there were few naturally gifted 5 year olds to show me up. Those jerks arrived on Saturday. :)

And so I fell down. A lot. Sometimes getting snow in my pants; a VERY new experience for me! But snowboarding is kinda cool. It's incredibly counter-intuitive but you soon learn to not trust anything that makes sense and embrace the madness.

After almost two full days of snowboarding, I was ready to take on a slope. The lowest, slowest of the available slopes. Thankfully, I made it to the bottom in one piece, but only just barely. I could no longer turn left, only right. My legs were too destroyed from learning. As turning left is one of the three things you DO while snowboarding (the 3rd being hurtle downhill embracing the potential for disaster) I decided to call it a day and enjoy a large beer. (yes, they sell alcohol on the slopes...)

Enormous beer not to scale.

Keith and I after conquering... stuff.
Shut up about my pants. Everyone loves them - you're wrong. :)

Painting and Snow Angels
Mercifully, we spent the last day helping prep or paint the cabin. The boys are overhauling it to suit their tastes. Currently it's got some delightful touches from the previous family who owned it; mostly skiing related prints, homely furniture and 60's ear knick-knacks.

Also, Jeff gave me a snow angel tutorial.

He needed very little coaxing. :D

Home time.
Pretty soon it was time to head home. And eat the customary In&Out Burger on the way. And have amusing photos taken of you when you've fallen asleep...

Nap time.

And that was Tahoe. For the nerdy brothers among you, amuse yourself with the photo below. For everyone else, just go on with your lives.

Missing you all.
<3 Dan

Sweeeet....