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Tuesday February 14, 2012…Valentine’s Day… Besides those who refer to the holiday as Single’s Awareness Day, most spent the day being mushy, eating chocolate, and going out to an expensive, romantic cheesy dinner… I, on the other hand, decided to go shred in Tahoe at Alpine Meadow’s Resort, for the special $14 lift tickets in honor of the so called holiday. We (my sister and I) grabbed our gear and went on the road trip of the century (kinda)…

I do not own my own board yet (due to the fractured tailbone injury I acquired a few years ago, snowboarding at Heavenly in slushy conditions) and had to pay a whopping $5o for a daily rental (note: about 4 times as much as the lift ticket cost)

To sum it up: the snow conditions were not ideal (icy patches), so we optimistically went on the higher lift, hoping for better pow, boy were we wrong. To be fair, that day was the best conditions they have seen this winter, but still not good enough for a novice boarder.

End result: I ate it so hard that my goggles and beanie flew off, landed on my tailbone, which cause my back reflex, hit my head on the ice = whiplash and bruised tailbone. I waived the white flag and got a ride down the rest of the run on a snowmobile (fun). Later found out, my sister (Darla) face planted and got a black eye from her goggles and a mild concussion. Her one regret- not getting a helmet.

After the crazy day on the slopes, some time spent in the free clinic included, we went into the resort cafe, got the most delicious gourmet hot chocolates and hit the road back home. We made a pit stop at a recommended burger joint called Burger Me in Truckee. SOOOO goooood! I give the place 5 million stars! I had the turkey burger on whole wheat and Darla had the ahi burger; we both indulged in the yummy sweet potato fries. If you are ever in the area, it is a MUST to stop by and grab some food. Check out their Facebook page too.

The handsome fellow there recommended a local coffee shop so we could get caffeinated for the long drive home. The place was alright… they tried a little to hard to be organic and “green”, the house coffee was so-so and the women there did not even know what a macchiato was (and no, not the starbucks kind), my sister simply wanted a foamy latte with shots on top. I used to be a barista and I am Costa Rican, so naturally I am a bit of a coffee snob…but I digress…

The moral of the story, there IS a light…

By the time I got back home, I realized that I did not even think about  being single once that day, even though it was Valentine’s Day… I was too worried about falling and spending some good quality time with my sister…so for that, crappy snow conditions, I thank you.

Final note: I am saving my next trip to Tahoe for conditions like last year’s…13  feet of snow! Falling is no problemo. Here’s hopes to injury free vacations.

🙂

* one of my favorite reflection photos, along with the other two featured in my past post titled “Reflections, Reflections, Reflections”

 

© Emily Davidson and Pho-to-Go, 2012.