Flip-Floppy February

Mother Nature does what she wants.  February in Tahoe can now be called Februne!  No?  How about Febuly?  Febgust?  Febtember? Our weather has been crazy.  Some days we've actually worn flip flops because it's been SO warm and beautiful!  Flip flops... in February... in Tahoe.  That should not be happening.  

Of course the weather has flip flopped a bit too.  As I write this, it's starting to snow.  I say snow, but really it's just barely spitting the worlds tiniest flakes (which by Tahoe standards lately is practically a blizzard).  

Speaking of crazy weather, allow me to take us back a few weeks to one of the craziest wind storms I've ever seen in my life.  Actually, let me back up a bit further.  A little over a month ago we had a horrible wind storm.  I was working which means that I was out driving in it (gotta get from one school to the next).  My poor little car got completely sandblasted.  It was unavoidable.  I ended up having my windshield replaced.  

Now, fast forward a few weeks to a Friday afternoon.  We got another crazy windstorm, but this one was even worse than the last.  Gusts to 100 mph.  Crazy, crazy weather.  I had been working down at one of my lake level schools, and then I had to drive up and over the pass to get down to one of my valley schools that afternoon.  I stopped at home for a quick lunch and truly debated on just staying home (I didn't want to risk damaging my new sparkly windshield).  But, being the dedicated employee that I am, I drove down the mountain.  What. A. MISTAKE! 

The curvy mountain grade becomes a wind tunnel.  I drove less than 20 mph and I got absolutely sandblasted (stupid desert).  My windshield instantly was ruined.  I finally made it to the bottom of the grade but things only got worse from there.  Visibility was low.  It's so flippin' dusty here!  

LOTS OF CLOSED ROADS DUE TO DOWNED POWERLINES
OR FALLEN TREES! 

 I FINALLY made it the parking lot of my last school.  I only had 1 kid to treat.  As I put my car in park, I got a text on my phone.  It was from the kid's father and he said he was picking him up early because he didn't feel well....so "NO PT TODAY."  As I'm reading this text, my car is literally rocking back and forth in the wind.  All I could think was, "I knew I should've stayed home after lunch."  I had planned on doing paperwork for the rest of the day (which I could easily do from home) so I turned around and began the 20 mph trek back up the mountain.... screaming out loud every time my car got sandblasted.  

Overall, I should be very grateful that I stayed safe and only had a little damage to my windshield.  A lot of other people weren't so lucky.  Lots of people had damage to their homes or barns.  Our neighbors had a tree fall on their roof.  I'm very thankful that things weren't any worse.  

So, all this crazy windy weather blew in some moisture (yay!!!!).  But, it fell mostly as rain.  We did get a lot, which helps with the crazy drought we're in BUT, we really need snow.  We need snow for the water, and for the tourism.  We NEED a miracle March!  

It could happen.  Back in 1991 the term "miracle March" began when Tahoe was in a severe drought and then this happened.... 

It could happen again.  Right??? 

Anyway, the ski resorts have been able to hold onto a little bit of snow, but even Heavenly isn't 100% open (and very likely won't be at all this year).  Mike and I did manage to get out for a morning skin on Valentine's Day.  It was lovely.  

THE SUNRISE FROM OUR DECK. 

We just did one hike to the top and then skied back down.  It was a great workout with beautiful views. 

The next day Mike went backcountry skiing with a friend and I went mountain biking with the dog.  You can see Mike's pictures on facebook and well, I didn't take any of my mountain biking adventure.  

Monday was President's Day and I was off work.  It was sunny and warm and the lake was calm = paddle boarding!  We paddled around Zephyr Cove with a friend and took a nap on the beach!  It was perfect!  

The past week has been so sunny and warm.  Which I love... but I kinda miss winter. 

 

Anyway, since it's never going to snow in Tahoe again, I invested in a new mountain bike and yesterday we went to Auburn to ride.  Since we rode the same trail last year and I took pics which you can see here, I didn't take many pictures this year... I just focused on riding my new bike. 

There were a few differences between last year and this year... 

Last year I stopped about 1,000 times (more or less) during the climb... this year I climbed the entire trail without stopping... twice!  

Last year I walked the downhill in a couple of spots because the rocky terrain was difficult for my old bike to ride over... this year I rode the whole downhill... twice!

Last year the ride felt SO long (probably because of the many stops I needed to take)... this year we did the whole thing in just over an hour... and decided to go for round two! 

Anyone who has ever been mountain biking with me knows that I have a love/hate relationship with mountain biking. I love the downhill... I hate the climb.  Honestly, I really love it.  I really, really do.  But, I hated to climb on my old bike.  It was REALLY hard and I was ALWAYS dead last (which I still am, but it's easier).  It was exhausting to climb on my old bike and I would get super frustrated and want to quit. Nothing can make me feel like crying quite like mountain biking.  

I once explained to a friend (who was an even newer mountain biker than me) that if at any point during the ride you want to cry and/or throw up.... then you're doing it right!  I truly thought that's how it felt for everyone.  

Yesterday I paced myself on the uphill instead of trying to push myself to keep up with Mike and I loved it.  I kept thinking to myself, "This is easy... and it's a great workout."  Before I knew it, we were at the top.  After the ride I felt euphoric.  I felt great!  I seriously loved every. single. second of the ride!  Let's hope that my new bike will help me develop a love/love relationship with mountain biking!  

The picture above was taken from the trail.  Let's just say that it's fairly important that you stay ON the trail.  It's not very forgiving if you make a mistake. 

After biking we drove through downtown Auburn and found the coolest little pub to sit and enjoy a frosty beverage.  What a perfect day.  

Lately I feel like I haven't been very good about taking pictures and videos of our adventures.  I'm hoping to get better with this.  I loved looking back over our past year in pictures and videos and I told myself that I would try to document everything thoroughly... unfortunately the opposite has been true.  But, stay tuned.  I'm hoping for LOTS more adventures and better pics/videos of them.  

So Cal

This weekend I flew down to LA, rented a car, and spent the weekend visiting friends and family all over Southern California. 

Flying into LA, the traffic looked horrendous. There was a steady stream of red and white lights that illuminated the freeways. So, I picked up my sporty little Toyota Corolla and drove straight to a hotel (avoiding the freeway at all costs). After a hot shower to wash the plane germs off, I went right to sleep (right in the middle of a king sized bed). Saturday morning I headed straight to the beach! 

I drove from Long Beach to Corona to check out the Jenson "superstore."  It was a big store with lots of bikes, but not nearly as big as I expected. I am in the market for a new (or new-to-me) mountain bike and they had a great deals but I didn't really love any of them (and they're still pretty expensive). 

From Corona, I drove south through Lake Elsinore to Escondido where I met my brother and sister-in-law for lunch. They were in town for Anakah's work. It was awesome to see them,even if it was just for a quick lunch!  

After lunch, I hopped back on the freeway to head to Jamul, California to see my old college roommate and her family.  They have lots of land and gorgeous views. We grilled out and sat by a fire. I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. My cheeks hurt, my sides hurt, and a couple of times I thought food was going to come out of my nose I was laughing so hard. Michelle and Jimmy are amazing parents to 3 sweet boys (8 years old and under). It was just so great to spend some time with them!  

Thomas kept saying "cheese" and then just as I snapped the picture, he sneezed. 

Let's try that again...

That's better!  I couldn't get a picture of their oldest (he was busy playing with his friends). But I did get a pic of the littlest...

Thank you so much Campbell family for being so gracious and allowing me to spend the night!  I had an amazing time and I can not wait to come back. 

Sunday morning I woke up and drove to Encinitas to meet two of my friends from my college days in Wilmington!  Apparently everyone from Wilmington must move to San Diego!  It was so great to see them!!!  We a

Had an awesome breakfast and talked for a couple hours.  Thanks again Darah and Mason and Jessica!  It was so great to see all of you!!!

After breakfast I hopped back in my sporty little rental car and drove north on the Pacific Crest Highway to Huntington Beach to see one my dearest friends...Jennifer!  I drove through Laguna beach and Newport Beach with the windows rolled down!  I had views of the ocean the whole way and I passed Lamborghini's and Maserati's (while I cruised along in a Corolla). It was an awesome drive!  But, Huntington Beach was my favorite by far!  It reminds me a lot of Wrightsville beach but in a bigger way!  Awesome town. I met Jenn at her adorable house on her palm tree lined street and we walked to Main Street and the pier. The area totally suits her. 

I left Jenn's and continued North on the PCH. We have some friends from Tahoe who just moved a little north of LA but I didn't have quite enough time to make it up there to see them. Maybe next time I will go north to see them and Jody and Cesar (friends from Peru)!  

Although I didn't make it all the way north, I did head a little north of the airport to check out Venice Beach and Santa Monica. I didn't even stop or get out of the car. I just cruised around trying to see as much as I could before heading to the airport.  I was able to see a beautiful sunset!  

Now, here I sit... In the airport... Waiting on my final leg of this journey. My flight home has been delayed an hour (I have no idea what the delay is for... The weather is awesome). Go figure. LA just doesn't want me to leave I guess. But I really miss Tahoe and I'm ready to go home!  

Thanks again to all my friends and family for agreeing to meet me or let me sleep over. I am so happy to have spent some time with each of you!  Can't wait to see you all again... But next time in Tahoe!  

The Pursuit of the Trifecta and the Importance of Helmets

Before I delve into the meaning of the title, first allow me to back up to Tuesday, January 13th.  On this particular day, my new job was AWESOME!!!

As you know, I work as a physical therapist for the school district which means that most of the kids I treat have a disability of some sort.  I was invited (or maybe I invited myself... it's still unclear) to an ADAPTIVE SKI DAY at Heavenly with the adapted PE teachers from my district.  These kids with disabilities got a free ski lesson!  How amazing is that?  And I got to ski for work!!!  So awesome.

My co-workers and I... notice my pretty black helmet?  

 Some of the kids can stand so they skied with instructors guiding them.  Others can't, so they used Heavenly's new sit ski and two instructors helped them.  It was pretty awesome. 

My view from work. 

There are 3 more days of adaptive skiing planned for this year.  I'm definitely planning to help out with a few more!  So grateful for opportunities like these!

Ok, but let's get back to the real topic of this blog... the pursuit of the trifecta.

So, Mike went away for the weekend to Wyoming to go skiing.  Wyoming was actually getting snow unlike Tahoe.  So, I was home alone for the 3 day holiday weekend.  I decided to make big plans for myself so I wouldn't be jealous of all the fun he was having skiing powder.  

I tentatively planned to go paddleboarding, skiing, and mountain biking in 1 day -- the TRIFECTA!

Saturday morning I woke up feeling a little "under the weather."  I was angry.  

I looked at the webcams and beautiful Lake Tahoe was glassy and calm.  The sun was rising and birds were flying and I didn't have the energy to get out of bed.  I had arranged for a friend to join me paddleboarding (you know, for company and for safety reasons.  The water is pretty chilly after all).  So, reluctantly I called her and canceled the paddleboarding.  

But, we decided to meet up later in the day to do a little snowshoeing.  I was pretty excited about this because I just bought "new-to-me" snowshoes and I wanted to try them out. We picked a place, packed a lunch and headed out with our dogs in tow.  

There was NO WHERE to park at the trailhead.  Seriously.  Not a single parking spot. And other cars kept circling around, just waiting on a car to leave.  We scratched those plans and ended up going on a nice leisurely walk with the pups in a much more desolate area with drastically less tourists around.  

Beautiful Lily Lake

Zater walking along the river...
right before a big waterfall. 

Amy and Soze

Beautiful, partially frozen falls. 

Sunday morning I woke up feeling much better (thanks to 1000mg of Vitamin C and 100mg of Zinc).  It was not a good day for paddleboarding though because the winds had picked up (stupid-always-windy-Tahoe).  I had plans to meet some friends to go mountain biking at noon but I woke up at 7:00 and there were several hours to kill before I had to head down to South Lake.  

So, I decided to go skiing at Heavenly.  

Just a few runs because I knew the snow conditions weren't going to be great. 

Just enough to warm up my legs a bit. 

Well, I rode the lift up and quickly saw that the trail conditions were horrible.  Where they groom the trails at night, they kick up ice chunks that sit on the surface of the snow.  Also known as "death cookies."  

"Death Cookie: 

An American term for lumps of ice found on the surface, or just under it. 

Sometimes you hit them and they move out of your way.

Sometimes they are firmly attached, leading you to be moved out of your ski."

I decided at the top of the lift that it just wasn't a good day for skiing so I would "just do that one run and call it a day."  

On the way down, I passed some small kids... (this becomes important information).

A little further down, I hit a death cookie... ejected from both skis... and bounced along the surface of the snow.  Fantastic (sarcasm)!!!

Visions of Heavenly Ski Patrol and Barton Memorial Hospital ER flashed through my head.  Then, I realized I was ok.  I sat up (in the middle of the ski trail - a horrible place to be), and took a few minutes to "alert and orient" myself.  

Do you know your name?  Yes.

Do you know where you are?  Yes. 

Do you know what day it is?  Yes. 

Do you know what happened?  Yes... vividly!

I was A&O x 4 but I still knew I took a hard fall.  I sat in the trail saying a few four letter words (out loud) when those kids I passed earlier skied by me!  So, I knew for certain that I didn't lose consciousness!  After a few more seconds of gathering my wits, I knew I had to get out of the trail.  I stood up, hiked back UP the hill ~100 ft. to get my skis and began making sure I had all of my equipment.

I couldn't find my goggles.  

I felt around my helmet... they weren't there. 

I looked on the trail... they weren't there. 

It took a couple of minutes for me to realize they had been ripped off my helmet and were around my neck.  Cool! (sarcasm again).  

With everything accounted for and nothing broken (body or equipment), I clipped into my skis, finished the run, and drove myself home.  

AND THEN WENT MOUNTAIN BIKING!  

Probably not my smartest moment.

I am well aware of second impact syndrome.  At that time I was only speculating that I might have a mild concussion from my fall.  I wasn't sure if I had a concussion. So, I decided to go biking.  I wanted to be around people who could tell me if I was acting weird and needed to get checked out!  (Seriously... that was my justification for going). 

The bike ride was fine... until the top.  As my heart rate increased, my symptoms increased so by the time we neared the top of the mountain, I was dizzy, mildly nauseous, my ears were ringing, and I was seeing spots out of my right eye.  SWEET (hopefully you're picking up on the sarcasm)! 

But lets see the positive: after a few minutes rest, I felt fine!

Happy doggy at the top!

Thanks again friends for riding with the concussed!

On the way down I felt great.  No symptoms.  Nothing. I passed a friend of ours who is a nurse at Barton and told him what happened... he agreed it sounded like a concussion and told me he would send me some of the latest research re: what to do after a concussion.  His wife was home with their baby and she had been texting me about possibly mountain biking later that afternoon.  I felt good, but not good enough to ride again so instead I offered to watch their baby for a few hours while she rode with her husband.  

Luckily I felt fine the whole time I was with their child! And I knew they weren't far away and could be home quickly if necessary.  

This is where I should have gone home and rested for the rest of the day.  Instead, I went home and cleaned my bike, showered, and went to church.  This might be the only time I will say these words: going to church was a BAD idea.  I love the church we've been attending and I hate missing.  It's like a concert.  The praise band is loud.  There are guitars, pianos, DRUMS!  And they were REALLY praisin' that night.  I wanted to ask them to keep down!  I wanted to leave, but didn't want to leave... so I just stared at the carpet to reduce the visual stimulation and hoped that people would think I was praying or something.  

Monday was a holiday.  Praise Jesus for MLK day!  Thanks MLK for having a dream!  And thank you to whoever made it a national holiday!  There was NO way I was going to work.

Originally, I had big plans for Monday... get a haircut... wash the car... clean the house... do ~5 loads of laundry.. go grocery shopping.. write a blog... bathe the dog, etc.  

That was ambitious and I got none of it done.  Instead, I woke up feeling like I was 90 years old.  Looking left or right involved turning my entire body because my neck was "out of order."  I would instinctively lift my left arm to do something & then let out a string of profanities as I lowered it back down (when did I injure my left shoulder???? - I don't remember that part of the fall).   Going from sitting to standing made my head throb and the room spin.  Other than that I was fine!

All I wanted to do was sit in darkness.  I know that's not really what you're supposed to do anymore after a concussion... new research is indicating that you recover better if you do certain exercises to retrain your brain.  Monday though, no brain activity was happening.  It was all I could do to get through 1 load of laundry and I only attempted that because I needed clean clothes for work!

Tuesday was much better.  I still decided to stay home from work and I'm SO glad I did.  Mike was still out of town and the house was quiet which I needed!  Wednesday I went back to work.  I took it easy but still came home with a headache and had to rest for a few hours in darkness.  Thursday was better than Wednesday and so on.  Everyday showed noticeable improvements.  I'm still taking fish oil, doing some brain retraining exercises and trying to take it easy, but I'm definitely feeling better!

I had no idea until a couple of days later, that I had even cracked my helmet.  When I finally got around to looking at it, it was in worse shape than I thought.  

Little crack in the foam. 

Goggles ripped off. 

And the buckle of the goggles left an imprint.

Big crack #1 - held together by the sticker.

Big crack #2

Big crack #3

That space isn't supposed to be there. 

I was very lucky.  

And now for my PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Many people ski without helmets (also known as: dome protectors, noggin' savers, brain buckets, and head armor).  DON'T DO IT!  Do NOT ski without a helmet.  I am a cautious skier.  I don't want to go fast.  I want to ski slowly and in control!  I don't race.  I don't go off jumps.  I like to keep my skis firmly planted in the snow.  Yet, accidents happen.  Don't be stupid.  Wear a helmet.  And wear it correctly!  Don't be this guy: 

And if you see this guy (or someone like him), TELL THEM THEIR HELMET IS ON BACKWARDS!And anytime you fall, check your helmet for cracks!  And if it's cracked, GET A NEW ONE!  And don't go skiing in jeans (sorry, this doesn't relate to helmets or concussions but it needs to be said).  And don't go mountain biking after a hard fall!  That's just stupid and could end badly.  This concludes my public service announcement (and my really long blog post). Thank you. 

As promised...

.... this blog begins with the sledding videos I talked about in the last post.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!  There's a chance that you might watch them and think... "yeah, that's not that funny."

 If that's true then, "you had to be there".  We had a blast!

HA!  Let's try that again... 

Much better.  Now... let's go at the same time (sort of). 

Mike: I've got an idea. 

Me: Oh yeah?  What is it?

Mike: You hold my feet and we'll go down together. 

Me: AWESOME!  Let's do it.  

You can't really tell in the video, but more body mass = faster sledding speeds!

As a side note: Zater hates it when we go tubing.  He barked.  A LOT.  And he nipped at us the whole way down.  He's not a fan.  But, running back and forth up the hill totally wore him out and he slept the rest of the day so I'd call that a success! 

Since the sledding/tubing adventure, we've had a few more adventures.

Mike's sister and her boyfriend came into town on Wednesday.  We really only saw them in the evenings but it was great to have dinner together and catch up.  They just spent several days driving across the country (which I'm super jealous of all the cool places they visited) and they now they are in Hawaii... their new permanent home.  I could not be more excited for them and all the adventures they are sure to have. We are also excited to have another reason to go back to Hawaii!!!!  

Yesterday we went backcountry skiing in North Lake.  We skinned up Castle Peak with a couple other friends. 

The boys. 

The 1 mountain in the distance getting ALL the sun!!!

Still beautiful.. even with all the clouds. 

Castle Peak in the background. 

Looking back toward Andesite Peak. 

The clouds are parting a little bit! 

Resting my weary feet while I wait on the SUN!

At the top, I don't think any of us (especially me) was excited about skiing down.  But, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  The sun warmed the snow a little so the turns were decently soft. Once back at the truck, Mike and I ate our soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then promptly decided to go to the Bridgetender restaurant in Tahoe City for waffle fries and beer!  Thanks SO much boys for letting this GIRL tag along!!!  

Saturday night I spent with my good old friends from Barton.  Oh, how I miss them!   They really might be the best group of people.  Ever.  We laughed... and ate... and they still include me in their outings even though I no longer work there and I can't tell you how awesome that is!  I still feel like part of their team (I just don't have to go to staff meetings anymore).  

Sunday morning Mike made this southern girl PROUD.  He made biscuits and gravy, hash browns, eggs and bacon for breakfast.  YUM!  Our delicious breakfast fueled us for a few turns at Heavenly with a dear friend of mine who I've never had the chance to ski with (until today of course).  After a couple hours of skiing we came home to clean and do laundry, etc.  Gotta get ready for another work week which should be a pretty exciting one!  Stay tuned!

2015

Well, our 2015 is off to an amazing start. We spent New Year's Eve at our neighbors house. We stayed long enough to watch the ball drop in NYC (which actually happened 3 hours earlier... always a little disappointing and definitely a point for the East coast if anyone is keeping score).   Then we promptly walked home (uphill) in the cold, and hit the sack (because we feel old and it was a challenge to stay up 'till midnight). 

New Year's Day we each did our own thing. Mike had plans to go backcountry skiing with a friend and I made plans to meet up with a few different people at Heavenly. I had an awesome day of skiing, both by myself and with friends. Mike had a long climb and an excellent workout with great views. We were both successfully tired and happy at the end of the day. 

In fact, we had so much fun, we chose to do more skiing the next day!  We met up with some other neighbors on the slopes and took a few runs with them. 

So that brings us to Saturday... On a holiday weekend... In a tourist town. We chose NOT to go skiing for fear of crappy snow and a plethora of "tourons" (tourist +moron = touron).  So we went sledding instead. Yep... two 30ish year old children took our river-floating-tubes to the gas station for air and then went in search of an awesome sledding hill. We may have made a ramp area and we might have packed some snow on the sides so we could bank the turns. We had a blast. I'm so grateful to have a partner in this life who will act like a 5 year old with me sometimes!  It makes life fun! 

Saturday afternoon I joined some of my favorite Tahoe girls for some shopping and Greek food in Reno. I can not express how much I love being around these girls. My face was constantly red and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much. They are simply some of the best and I feel so lucky to have met them! 

This is normally where I would insert pictures from our adventures BUT I only took videos of the sledding...and they are awesome!  I can not post those videos at this time however because I am blogging from my phone (basically like writing the worlds longest text message) and unfortunately my phone won't allow me to upload videos?!?! 

 Why am I blogging from my phone?  

Because my husband is currently on a road trip to Wyoming in search of "fluffy fluff pow pow" and he took the laptop. 

Why don't I use his desktop?  

Well, I could but I'm lazy. And this way I get to blog from my cozy warm bed.  

So... you will have to contain your excitement for now and check back for the videos which I hope to post soon. 

In other news, having 2 weeks off from work for the holidays has been fantastic and simultaneously makes it very difficult to go back to work (which I have to do tomorrow morning... Which is also why I'm not in the car on my way to Wyoming with the boys). 

I've got some plans for 2015 in regards to finishing my "30 before 30" list. I'm officially over half way done with the list. I will post an update on that at some point.  

Right now though, it's time for bed and I will leave you with some inspiration from today's sermon (yep... as in church sermon... as in Blair and Mike have been trying to go to church sometimes).  Anyway... this life is temporary. We are all just passing through on our way to a better place. All the stress we put on ourselves is truly for nothing. All the possessions we want may not be necessary (you can't take it with you).  In the big picture, we really don't get much time here, so how are you going to spend it?  Put your hope in the future (the heavenly future) because that's when life truly begins!  

Happy 2015 to all and seriously, stay tuned for those sledding videos... they're good!!!