The destination they set was Tahoe. Glen was willing to have them ride with us to Tahoe, but wasn't willing to drive them all the way back to San Francisco and then turn around and have to make the whole drive home from there. Abe was willing to get a rental car for their return trip from Tahoe.
We were off! First stop--Squeeze Inn for burgers.
Upon receiving our food, I'm thinking they should change the name to Cheeze Inn.
Smile and say cheese!!!!
We were happy to see our room at 968 Park Spa and Resort had a king-size bed in it after our double bed experience earlier in the trip.
We stayed in South Tahoe and enjoyed walking through the town. There hasn't been much snow there all winter and even though the locals were hoping for a snow storm, we were so happy we didn't have any bad weather while we were there.
There was an ice skating rink in the middle of a bunch of stores.
We saw lots of wooden statues.
For some reason nobody in the group enjoyed it when I wore Sarah's old rainbow gloves. The common consent was they clashed with Ben's old winter coat I was wearing.
Abe did not like the dinner he ordered that evening, so he insisted on going back to the Nestle Cafe to get a cookie for dessert.
Some of the chocolate-loving people I know would probably agree with this poster hanging on the door.
Breakfast was served at the Driftwood Cafe. It was my first time trying a potato pancake. Despite it looking totally burnt, it tasted surprisingly good.
Our plans that day involved driving to North Tahoe. We stopped at Inspiration Point to look around and take some pictures of the beautiful scenery.
We warmed up a little bit in a beautiful hotel before heading off for the surprise adventure Abe and Klarissa had planned for us.
Probably never would have guessed it was dog sledding they had up their sleeves for us. I love how everything they plan for us involves signing a waiver that states we could possibly end up dead. (Hot air ballooning comes to mind.)
Abe and Klarissa are getting all tucked into their sled. Surprisingly, the blanket they put over us kept us quite warm during our ride.
Our lead dog was in training and he kept getting side-tracked with anything and everything that went by. The driver kept yelling, "On by! On by!" whenever we came near any bush, tree, person, animal, etc. He had to jump off the sled and go get the dogs out of the bushes at one point.
Midway through the ride, the driver stopped and grabbed the camera so he could take some pictures of us and the dogs.
It was a fun activity. We learned a lot of facts about the dogs and dog sledding. We were encouraged to get our pictures taken with the dogs. It was pretty brave of me since I hate dogs!
This is the dog transport unit and also the dog resting place when they are between runs. Our driver called it the Winnebago for dogs.
It really wasn't horribly cold that day (notice Klarissa has taken off her snow pants and her heavy coat) and we enjoyed sitting outside for a while chatting and watching the skiers come down the mountain.
I do realize I have a smudge on the camera lens and I apologize, but it's going to be there for many more pictures to come. Sorry!
Lunch was at Smokey's Kitchen for some BBQ ribs, chicken and cornbread.
Once back in South Tahoe, we had just enough time to watch a movie before dinner. We thought it would be a good time to watch Big Miracle, the true story of how three whales were trapped in the ice and how they were rescued.
We ate dinner at Kulani's, which served up some pretty fancy appetizers.
Next morning we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed trying to get in our last activity before leaving Tahoe.
We had grocery shopped the night before for some breakfast items to eat at the top of the mountain. We boarded the gondola and away we went.
It was beautiful up there looking down.
We found a table where the wind wasn't blowing and settled down to eat our store-bought breakfast.
Glen's breakfast of choice included everything chocolate.
Klarissa's was quite a bit more on the healthy side.
Let's just say after I ate my bagel and banana I might have indulged in some chocolate myself. My new favorite snack is little mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. They don't have to be unwrapped before eating. Perfect for eating with big, bulky gloves!!
I shared a few of the mini peanut butter cups with Abe. He had Klarissa throw the last one up to catch in his mouth.
The gondola took us to another stop which was where the skiers got off.
Notice me wearing my ear muffs. Love those muffs!! I don't like wearing a hat, so the muffs are wonderful for keeping my ears warm.
As we stepped off the gondola and walked down the stairs to the ski resort, there was a sign off to the right that said, "To California." Another sign off to the left said, "To Nevada."
We made a stop at the lodge and then it was time to get back in the gondola and take our ride back down the mountain.
Notice I had taken off my ear muffs and wrapped them around my arm for safe keeping. It was pretty warm at the base of the mountain that day and I knew I wouldn't be needing them when we got off.
We got off the gondola and took a look back toward the mountain to see where we had been.
It wasn't until we got back to the hotel that I discovered my muffs were nowhere to be found. Somewhere between the gondola and the hotel I had lost my beloved ear muffs.
Then, like a flash, off dashed my husband, on the run, to retrace our steps in an attempt to recover the lost item.
I knew it was a lost cause if they had fallen off my arm in the gondola.
Soon Glen was back, bearing his gift for me. The muffs were lost and now they are found.
What a great guy I married!!
He's my charming, chivalrous--and yes, even romantic--prince of a husband and I'm so glad he whisked me away on our week-long getaway. It was awesome!!
