After four weeks of skiing in Colorado, we had another two weeks planned for Tahoe. In the past, we have always gone to Tahoe first in December and early January. This year, our visit was at the end of March. The timing made quite a difference in the ski conditions. But as the bumper stickers say, any day skiing is better than working.
Getting to Lake Tahoe from Denver (SW)
Having finished a month of skiing in Colorado, we loaded up our SUV and headed to the airport in Denver. I had a vague recollection of a remote luggage dropoff facility near the car rental area, so I was hoping to use that instead of managing our five checked bags (skis, boots, winter bags, and an extra bag) plus four carry-on items. Google Gemini confirmed the location, and off we went, except… The facility was really only open during Covid, and the AI failed to mention it no longer existed. So, off we sped to the departure level for curbside check-in, which worked pretty well.
Our next destination was Lake Tahoe, followed by a few days in the Bay Area. As we have for years, we chose to fly Southwest Airlines to SFO because of their generous two free checked bags per person. Officially, we had four checked bags because one ski bag and one boot bag together counted as one checked bag. The ski bag had both pairs of our skis and my pair of boots, and was exactly at the 50lb weight limit. Sadly, the Free Bag King is dead. A corporate activist forced the SW board to rescind the free bag policy, so we will be shopping for a new carrier next year. Bummer.
Mmm… Maserati, Si!
In SFO, we needed an AWD SUV for a couple of weeks in Tahoe, but their availability can be sparse in San Francisco, so I went to reserve one in advance.
Even with the decent deal I get through Hertz, a guaranteed AWD vehicle was quite expensive. Then I noticed that for an extra $200/wk, we could be cruising in style in a Maserati SUV. After I mentioned it to Diana, I realized there was no going back. So pronto, off we went!
I gotta say the Maserati Grecale AWD SUV was pretty awesome. Of course, it was comfy and well-appointed. Moreover, the driving experience was an unusual combination of finesse and power. The handling was noticeably better than the Chevy I had in Colorado, but it was the power that really caught my attention. Once, we were heading up a modest hill at 70 MPH, and the engine was just purring away at 1800 RPM. A touch of the pedal and off we went. The Grecale had great handling and muscle car power in one package. The sticker price pre-tariffs was only $70k, not bad.
I did wind up swapping the Grecale out a week early for a standard SUV, saving me $450. I didn’t need an AWD around town, and area traffic meant I couldn’t really let the Maserati flex its muscles anyway.
Heaven and Hell
This year’s Lake Tahoe experience was really divided into two. We arrived on a Saturday, just ahead of a storm. Sunday was a bust for skiing because much of Heavenly Ski Resort was closed due to high wind gusts. Overnight, eight inches of snow fell, and the following two days were great. We spent a lot of time seeking out powder stashes and generally frolicking. So fun.
The remaining 10 days weren’t really hell, of course, but they were damn warm. Temperatures on the hill went up to the high 30s during the day and rose up to the low 50s by the time we left. At least it didn’t rain on us. Still, our window of decent skiing was reduced to about an hour of skiing on ice in the morning by the last day. After that hour, the snow was heavy and sloppy, making the skiing dangerous. The hard ice in the mornings wasn’t great either, but we skied anyway.
Dinner and a Show
We visited our usual restaurants, The Chart House, Edgewood Bistro, and David Walley’s. There is some food porn for those below. Some friends joined us for the middle weekend of our stay, and I managed to find something new and different down by the lake.
First, we went to the Saltgrass Steakhouse at the Nugget Casino. It was a decent, cowboy-oriented experience. A side benefit was that they validated our parking for 4 hours, so we had time to saunter next door to Harvey’s Casino. There, we caught a free casino-floor show of dueling pianos. Yeah, I know it’s kitschy, but, hey, it’s fun, especially with a couple of beers.
Bay Area Daze
After our skiing finished, we headed back to the Bay Area for some time with family and friends. As often happens, some other extraordinary things came up. While we were in Tahoe, one family member fell prey to a phishing email, and some account info was exposed, so Diana spent some time getting those affairs back in order.
Also, we have a complicated travel schedule this summer. Our summer travel starts in the Upper Midwest, followed by an African safari, followed by a few months in Europe. The itinerary has made packing quite challenging. We’ll share more details in a future post.
Probably the biggest consideration was that our long-time Bay Area hosts and close friends, Joe and Jane, are moving south. Not far, but far enough so we can no longer continue to impose on them when we are in town. We had been storing things with them, so it all had to be sorted and moved to the storage unit we got in December. Of course, we are very grateful for their hospitality over the years and look forward to visiting them in their new home from time to time.
Wine Up
Once we decided last fall to stop renting out our condo, one of the first purchases we made was a wine fridge since we no longer had to worry about theft. While decent wine is available in our area, the pickings are pretty limited, so we decided to start bringing wine in from the US or Europe whenever we could. I got some interesting, reusable, collapsible cardboard wine sleeves to ease the transfer.
Mexican customs allow individuals eight bottles duty-free each, so we stopped by our favorite wine shop, K&L, in Redwood City. We got great guidance from a clerk and walked out with six bottles to bring back to Mexico. I’ve only had two so far, but they’ve been a cut above what I could get for a similar price at a local shop.
April Birthdays
The first week of April is full of birthdays in our family, including me, my brother, and my sons. This also happened to be a milestone birthday for me. Since you only turn 40 once, I was hoping to find something special to do on or around my birthday. Alas, nothing really tickled my fancy, so I chose to have a small dinner at Selby’s, next to K&L in Redwood City. We grabbed a library wine and headed over for dinner, as their extensive wine list is a bit spendy.
While I would say I enjoyed our meal, the experience wasn’t in the same league as my last Michelin-star meal near Bordeaux. I thought the food was good, but not exceptional. That’s ok. I still have my milestone birthday voucher to whip out when the right opportunity arises.
More Food
Another new spot we hit with Joe and Jane was a buzzy new place near Moffett Field (a former blimp station) called Valley Goat. The chic new spot had only been open about a week and featured big flavor fusion dishes. The whole branzino for $38 was especially popular in our group. Have a look below and definitely snag a reservation if you feel like checking them out.
How would you like to spend your next milestone birthday?
