Tahoe

Our third day we woke up and surprise, surprise, there was hot water. Jon took a nice long hot shower. We were ready to go by 8:30. At 9, surprise, surprise father-in-law was still not ready. After breakfast, Jon had wanted to take me to Yosemite Falls. The rest of the family wanted to come. We had to hit the road early, so Jon suggested driving, which was quickly vetoed by everyone else who had all day to spend and a 2 hour drive home.

We hiked up to lower Yosemite Falls. They were so beautiful!

After we walked over to Yosemite Village so Jon could go to the Ansel Adams gallery. Unfortunately, by the time we got there it was time to hit the road so we had to turn around and run back to the lodge.


Then we were off for South Lake Tahoe. As I said before, I've been wanting to go for a long time. It did not start out well. Due to weather, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to stop in South Lake Tahoe or if we'd have to push all the way through to Mammoth. So we hadn't reserved a hotel room in advance. We pulled into a place by the lake called "Fantasy Inn." Basically it was a bunch of sexually themed rooms with vibrating mattresses, mirrors on the ceiling.....we decided to pass.

Next we came to the Hacienda Inn. See the sign? Spa Units? Fireplaces? Sounds nice right?

I didn't take a picture of the inside of the room, because, well, frankly, I don't think they allow pictures of jail cells. There was a single shower head protruding from the wall and the curtains were ripped off. No spa. No fireplaces. When we complained we were shown another room that was only a smidge better. It had curtains, only they had scratches all through them. Still no spa. Still no fireplace. We didn't stay very long. Jon got our money back and we booked it out of there before the wardens noticed we were gone.

Instead we found this lovely hotel, right down the street. Jon talked to the guy at the front desk who quickly became our best friend. He gave us a huge discount on the room, and it was a spa room! So much nicer.

We took his recommendation for dinner and went to a Chinese restaurant called "Sesame" where we had some of the best Sesame Chicken ever!

The nest morning we woke up and walked down to the lake. It was seriously one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. We had to bundle up (I wore 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, a sweater, and a jacket), but it was still worth it.

After we sat and stared out at the water we headed on our way to Mammoth. We had to stop and take some pictures, because it was just too pretty not to.

This is Mono Lake.

We got into Mammoth too early to check into our condo, so we went and grabbed lunch at Giovanni's pizzaria. Sometimes there is nothing like Pizza and Beer. And there is NOTHING like Mammoth Brew Co. beer. So good!!! Then we headed to the store, but were sidetracked by something shiny......

Jon decided my neck looked warm and he needed to cool it off. He stopped into a jewelery store and got me the most beautiful Alexandrite pendant. Happy Valentine's Day to me! Alexandrite is a stone discovered in the Ural mountains and it thought to have supernatural qualities because it changes colors all the time. It's green in natural light, but come inside and it turns red-purple. As you can see in the photos, it can also take on various shades of blue. It's beautiful!

After our short detour, we stocked up on supplies and headed to the condo where we made dinner and started wishing for snow.

Was our wish granted? Find out tomorrow!

Yosemite

Yosemite Day 1
We packed up the car, and boy was it packed! First thing was to drop Ringo off at "camp" and then we were on our way. I have always loved car trips with Jon. We have the best time, making random stops, listening to music, and just enjoying each other's company. The drive up to Yosemite was beautiful and uneventful.

We got to Yosemite and checked into our room at the Yosemite Lodge. Do you see all that snow?

After checking in, we went to find the ILs.....but they weren't there. We checked with the front desk, and they had checked in, but they hadn't bothered to wait for us or leave a message as to where they were. Nice. So glad we drove over 6 hours to see them. So Jon and I took the opportunity to play in the snow.

We also admired the scenery - niiiiiiiice! I really do love the snow.

And check out the view from our room! That's Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in the US.

We finally caught up with the inlaws just in time to head to dinner. I apologize for not taking pictures of dinner, but the inlaws don't know about this blog and I'd like to keep it this way. We had dinner at the Mountain Room of the Yosemite Lodge and it was wonderful. Jon had the Sierra Nevada Beef Stew and I had the Duck Confit and pasta (shredded duck, goat cheese, spinach, and pasta). Both meals were excellent, but rich! Neither of us could finish.

One of the things I hate about eating out with the inlaws is when the bill comes. We always split it 3 ways (parents, brother in law's family, us). The problem with this is, the parents usually order the most expensive thing on the menu, soups or salads, and multiple alcoholic drinks. Brother in laws family is made up of four people and they are also big drinkers. This means that although our "portion" of the bill is usually around $40, we end up paying over $100 because we're just splitting it in thirds. Bleh. Nothing like paying for someone else's dinner.

After dinner we headed back to the rooms. No one had made any plans for the next day. That's convenient. Mother-in-law wanted to go Cross country skiing. Father-in-law vetoed that idea. Jon and I suggested snowshoeing and that was better received. We decided to meet for breakfast at 9AM. Father-in-law announced this meant we should all set our alarms for 7:30. Thanks Father-in-law, but I don't really need you to dictate my rising time. Especially since it doesn't take me an hour and a half to get dressed.



Yosemite Day 2

We got up at 8 AM and went to take a shower. No hot water. It was about the temperature of a pool. Jon assured me it would warm up and ushered me into the shower. I started crying. Mostly because it didn't get warmer - it got colder. It was turning to ice as I stood in it. How is that even possible? Poor Jon felt so bad he stood holding a towel over the heating lamp so it would be warm for me. I exited the shower teeth chattering and shivering. Jon didn't even attempt to shower. Needless to say we were ready to go well before 9 AM.

9AM comes and goes, and there's no sign of father-in-law. We're playing in the snow with niece and nephew and just waiting. Finally Father-in-law shows up and watches us play for a moment before gruffly asking "Are we going to breakfast or what?" Look guy, we're here waiting FOR YOU! How on earth does it take you over an hour and a half to get ready?

Walking to breakfast we learned we were the only ones without hot water. Everyone else enjoyed lovely showers. Bah.

After breakfast we discovered the bus to Badger Pass didn't leave for another 45 minutes, so we all headed out for a walk, except father-in-law who went back to the room to finish getting ready(?????) and wait. Glad we came to Yosemite because they wanted to be outside.

The snowshoeing was great fun! Well, for everyone except father-in-law. The kids especially loved it because we kept stopping for snowball fights. And Jon taught them how to make snow angels. I loved being in the middle of the wilderness. There were quite a few people on the trail, but there were times when we had the place to ourselves.

After lunch we had an hour to kill before the bus came to take us back to the lodge. FIL decided to sit and wait in the Badger Pass lodge while the rest of us split up. Jon and I found a great hill and created our own sled trail by sliding down on our butts. We started a trend. Can you see our path?

The niece and nephew went tubing. Jon, ever the great uncle, joined in.

Then it was back to the bus and back to the lodge to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at the Ahwannee - one of the finest hotels in the country. I wish we'd stayed there. It was absolutely beautiful!

All the candlelight was definitely complimentary for some of us:

Although it didn't help if you didn't help yourself.....Apparently nephew is at the age where he likes to dress himself, but probably shouldn't. When I saw where he had gone wrong I made him pose for me. Can you spot his mistake?

Dinner was excellent. Jon and I shared the pork oso bucco and white truffle pasta - like a grownup macaroni and cheese. That was followed by a flourless chocolate torte. Yum! The only bad part of dinner was having to be with the inlaws. Everytime we go out with them they order whiskey sours - with Jack Daniels. Now I won't even start on the fact that its a waste of good liquor in a mixed drink. I will say that every time they order this particular drink they send it back because they can't taste the whiskey. Really? The MIXED DRINK isn't strong enough? Really? Perhaps that's because its one of the weakest drinks on the market, favored by sorority girls and old biddies. Everytime they get irate at the server for daring to bring them a weak drink and cause a big scene. We begged father-in-law not to call over the manager to complain and he got very upset with us for not allowing him to have his say. How embarrassing. I hope the wait staff put some "additives" in his food.

Jon and his brother had arranged to split the cost of dinner since it was to commemorate their parents anniversary. Well, I should say that Jon had arranged to split the dinner with his brother who had to be guilted into it. What a sweetheart. The inlaws were notably surprised, which makes sense, since they don't think of things like that. Although, after thinking about it for a minute, mother-in-law announced this made sense since she was paying for part of our room the first night. I almost punched her. I was going to ask if she would chip in for the rest of the room, the expensive dinners, the gas, and the cost of boarding the dog that we had to do to join them at their mandatory party, but I knew it would upset Jon, so I held my tongue.

I didn't want a repeat of the shower situation the next morning, so when we got back to the room I jumped into a hot shower - yay for hot showers!!!!! before heading to bed.

Our Valentine's Day Feast

Well we're back, safe and sound. There were some serious weather situations on our drive home, but I'm happy to report we are all home and exhausted! Ringo's been sleeping ever since we picked him up from camp!

I've spent the past hours just uploading our gazillion photos from the trip - Snow lends itself to some pretty spectacular views. I really miss the snow, and trips to snowy areas are the best because you get all the benefits and none of the negatives (like shoveling snow).

I'll start posting trip highlights and lowlights tomorrow (and boy do I have some great stories). But tonight I'll catch you up on our low key Valentine's Dinner.

As I mentioned before, this was a low key dinner because we were leaving early the next morning and we were eating at home. We had already celebrated the week before, so the "deal" was that we were just supposed to exchange cards on Valentine's Day. Of course that never works out. We're both just to into getting things for each other. I got Jon some of his favorite lip balm in a bag filled with Hershey kisses. He surprised me with a beautiful flower arrangement from the local florist (you gotta love going local) and a box of Godiva cherry cordials (which are my favorite chocolates). Look how much they brightened up the table!

We went for a "green" themed Valentine's this year for two reasons. First because the next morning we were headed for the snow. Second, because on our first Valentine's Day together we did a "red" themed dinner and although Jon enjoyed the chicken with brandied cherries, he couldn't help but feel the chicken was bleeding all over the plate. Which is far from romantic. Add to that the fact that the red wine ensured his date passed out shortly after dinner (or possibly during), we weren't too keen on a repeat performance. So green it was.

As I mentioned before, lamb is a special occasion dish for us, so I made lamb for dinner. Given that Jon doesn't like mint jelly with his lamb, I thought the recipe for lamb with mint mustard sauce from the B&G cookbook would be an excellent compromise. It was. Jon LOVED the mint mustard sauce and couldn't believe it even had mint jelly in it! I served the lamb with couscous with leeks (couscous being my favorite starch) and some roasted broccoli and our green meal was set. The sides were light enough not to compete with the richness of the lamb yet definitely could stand on their own. Jon was very impressed, and it was an easy enough dinner to throw together after a day at work.

As for Ringo, I gave him a Valentine's Day treat of a raspberry. Ringo has this adorable habit of rolling in things he thinks smell good. It's quite a laugh when I spill a spice in the kitchen...or drop a shrimp shell....or put detangler in my hair.... Well Ringo thought the raspberry smelled incredible. So incredible, that rather than eat it, Ringo decided to gingerly place the raspberry on the ground and roll on it. All over his face. Once we explained to him that raspberries are for eating and not rolling he got very embarrassed. But I still managed to snap a picture before cleaning him off.

I got one more belated Valentine's Day gift, but I will leave you in suspense so that I can explain the gift in the context in which is was received.

More tomorrow!