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Western Diary Day 5: The more it snows tiddley pom

Posted in Personal, Travel Diary, tagged , , , , , , , , on Mar 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »


As predicted, heavy overnight snow and fierce wind speeds on the upper levels of the mountain severely restricted skiing and riding opportunities on the first day of spring (sic).  On the basis of that forecast we had already resolved to take the day off.

Our first tasks were to reserve our seats on the South Tahoe Express bus to take us to Reno airport on Tuesday for the flight to Vegas, and for Janet to book a deep tissue massage in the Harrah’s spa for later in the afternoon.   Breakfast was taken at the Driftwood Cafe, a firm favourite of ours since our first trip twelve years ago.  It was well worth the lengthy wait for a table (we clearly weren’t the only people giving the mountain a miss today). 

And the snow went on falling.

Digestion was aided by a knee deep trudge through the snow piled high on the side of Highway 50, reaching Ski Run Marina in around three quarters of an hour where we bought some Christmas decorations and handmade soaps in the gift shops, and warmed up with coffee at the Wildman cafe.  The beach beside the lake was obscured by around nine inches of snow. 

And the snow went on falling.

The yomp back to the village alongside the main road was even more challenging,  and arguably as much of a strain on the knees and ankles as skiing would have been.  On returning to the hotel Janet retired to her massage, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi appointment whilst I powered up the laptop for the daily blog.

And the snow went on falling.

Out trips to Tahoe always take in a movie at either the Heavenly Cinema or the Horizon Stadiums Cinema.  Last year we saw the fabulous Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges at the latter.  We had intended to see Rango this time but plumped for Limitless instead with Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and Robert de Niro.  It was enjoyable and entertaining with some great New York city locations, though it is unlikely to figure at the next awards season.

And the snow went on falling.

Dinner was taken at a surprisingly quiet Cabo Wabo Cantina in Harvey’s casino. And, of course, we had to test the gambling theory I posited yesterday – that the penny slots always gave a guaranteed return on your investment.  Well, $20 in, $43 out – I rest my case.    

Oh yes, and the snow went on falling – tiddley pom.

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Western Diary Day 4: Janet falls over (again) and Tony gets lost

Posted in Personal, Travel Diary, tagged , , , , , , , , on Mar 20, 2011| 1 Comment »


We woke to learn that the snow had left over a foot of fresh powder on the mountain (nearby Sugarbowl had had 32 inches overnight!), and that today would see a brief respite in the relentless wave of storm systems hitting the west of the country during March.

Although it was snowing and visibility was poor when we set out, leaving both the lake and mountain invisible, breaks in the clouds brought a surprising and prolonged spell of sunshine from late morning onwards. Occasional “wind holds” aside on lifts on the upper levels of the mountain, the majority of the ski terrain remained open, including the all-important gondola in the middle of the village.  The fresh, dry, soft snow which had fallen on the groomed surface meant that appreciable bumps developed on all trails as skiers and riders turned over it.  The term “powder day” was rarely more relevant in our experience.

That said, the day’s skiing was hardly uneventful.  Firstly, Janet contrived to fall twice whilst standing still  – that’s now three nil to me!  But I didn’t exactly cover myself with glory either.  Returning from the Nevada side of the mountain at 1pm we resolved to head down the run that led directly into the new Tamarack mountain restaurant for lunch.

However, if you miss the left fork leading to the restaurant, and the gondola alongside it, you find yourself hurtling towards the farther California side of the mountain, with no way back other than by negotiating a time-consuming and frustrating return via a series of long trails and lifts, taking you back into Nevada – and that’s if the latter are operational (which, at the time I needed them, was the case).    

And that is what this idiot did, leaving Janet waiting outside the restaurant wondering where I had disappeared to.  As I had perpetrated the same felony only last year, she soon worked out what had happened to me, and had the good sense to wait there whilst I reacquainted myself with most of the mountain before being reunited with her over an hour and a half later.  My legs had started to tire BEFORE I embarked upon the additional marathon journey, so I was mighty relieved to see her waving to me at the bottom of the run!

But that wasn’t the only indignity I suffered – staggering back to the gondola for the ride back to the village my saloppettes (ski pants to the unitiated) fell down, revealing the three layers (thermals, tights and underpants) beneath.  Fortunately, Janet may have been the only witness, and it certainly raised her spirits after the long, frustrating vigil at the restaurant.  At least it proved that I had lost weight from last year!

Lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s cafe in the village was highly welcome =- and very late, thanks to this author.  After the customary late afternoon siesta, we roamed the casino and village shops before having dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Harvey’s casino.  Good food, great music, delicious margaritas and  friendly service – it is not difficult to see how it long outlasted Planet Hollywood.

I’ll finish with a tip for those wanting to have fun and win each time they hit the casinos – play the penny slots!  Ok, it’ll take a few thousand years for you to become a millionaire, but you’re just about guaranteed to win every time.  Janet and I only discovered them at the Bellagio in Vegas last year when they paid for several rounds of drinks at the bar.  Tonight we walked away with $70 from a $30 stake – that’s 233% profit, pretty good odds huh?

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First photos from Tahoe

Posted in Personal, Photo Gallery, Travel Diary, tagged , , on Mar 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »


Here are a handful of photos from our first couple of days’ skiing in Heavenly.

Me!

View of lake from top of Comet Express

Both of us!

View of lake (just!) from window of hotel room

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Western Diary Day 3: Janet falls over

Posted in Personal, Travel Diary, tagged , , , , , on Mar 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »


I realise that yesterday’s blog was rather lengthy, so resolve to keep day 3 short and sweet.

After coffee and bagels in Starbuck’s in Harrah’s we set off to collect our valeted skis and poles.  The first half hour was taken up climbing into our boots – why is it that with all the advances in ski technology in the past twenty years that getting into – and out of – boots is as strenuous and stressful as it was when we first took up the sport in 1987?

The weather was cold and overcast, and strong winds at the upper levels of the mountain meant that the lifts and runs available were very limited.  We were compelled to take an overcrowded shuttle bus – along with a cacophanous bunch of brash Texans on their spring break – to the Stagecoach lodge in Nevada, which we reached shortly after 10am. The skiing was confined to just a handful of runs, though it was enjoyable nonetheless.  The highlight was Janet’s spectacular back flip from a standing position as she was about to push off on the Olympic Downhill.  One nil to me! 

With a heavy storm approaching in mid afternoon we finished skiing around 1pm and had lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s cafe in the village – even though it’s a fast food outlet that man still puts out great food! My four cheese pesto pizza matched the cajun shrimp pasta from the night before.

The snow set in as forceast around 3pm, and had covered the road at lake level within an hour.  It did not stop for the remainder of the day, dumping well over a foot on the mountain overnight.  Seeking escape in our room I wrote yesterday’s blog and watched a great profile of the Giants’ 2010 postseason heroics whilst Janet braved the hotel’s swimming pool.

We trudged through the roadside snow to Cecil’s Steak and Brew for their excellent Jack Daniel’s drenched half chicken before returning to the hotel for drinks and a modestly successful i.e. breaking even session on the penny slots.  We went to sleep wondering whether the incessant snowfall would jeopardise tomorrow’s skiing plans.

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Western Diary Day 2: From Bay to Lake

Posted in Personal, Travel Diary, tagged , , , , , , , , on Mar 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »


The first morning of our vacation maintained the traditional approach with a walk to the Eagle Cafe on Pier 39 for breakfast.  Two Eggs Benedict with fried potatoes, scallions, peppers, melon and orange slices, accompanied by orange juice and unlimited water and coffee, set us up for the impending trip to South Lake Tahoe.

We did not leave the city without an alarming revelation.  Having lamented the demise of the Border’s bookstore in Union Square only a few weeks before on this blog, I was horrified that the Fisherman’s Wharf Barnes and Noble bookstore had also gone since our last trip, soon to be replaced by an extension of the adjacent Costplus World Market store.  Barnes and Noble had again been a stopping point on our trip to Tahoe. where I invariably bought the books that I would be reading over the next few weeks.  I am a great fan of the independent bookstore but the loss of both of the large branches in the city that I enjoyed visiting is a lot to take.

We collected “The Beast”, set the radio to 95.7 The Wolf and left San Francisco at 11.30am, crossing the  Bay Bridge on a mild (58 degrees), bright morning.  Now, American readers might consider applying a Chevy Traverse with the nickname “The Beast” to be rather an exaggeration, but if you are accustomed to driving a Mazda 2 back home, believe me it’s a monster! Once we had passed Treasure Island we saw part of the new East span of the Bay Bridge which, once opened in another couple of years, will offer magnificent views towards Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.   

The 180 mile drive to South Lake Tahoe along Highways 80 and 50 was untroubled, traffic steady and the weather lovely, the in-car temperature guage going as high as 65 degrees around Sacramento (which has one of the least attractive American downtown skylines in my experience).  One of the most entertaining aspects of the journey was spotting the Adopt-A-Highway sponsors, two of the most intriguing being Friends of Obama (some might ask whether he still has enough to cough up the money to pay for the upkeep of a major road) and Jelly Belly.

The heavily snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains first came into view as we approached Sacramento, though they hid themselves intermittently over the next fifty miles before dominating the final part of the drive.  We stopped for lunch at Starbuck’s in Hangtown Village Square in Placerville – note to self: remember to look up the derivation of that name. It was here that we experienced for the first time on this trip the classic, arguably over-effusive American customer service approach, exhibited by both the server and barista.  For now, it was welcome, but I wonder how soon it would be before it began to grate.

As Tahoe approached the side of the road became littered with signs such as “watch for snow removal equipment”, “chain installers work east of this point” and “slow traffic use turnouts” (laybys to UK readers). But in the benign weather today, they were irrelevant.

As the road climbed to more than 7000 feet the scenery of the Elderado National Forest and the gushing American River, became ever more spectacular.  And then…..the lake was teasingly laid out before us in all its beauty, only to disappear again as the twisting road plunged downhill.

We arrived in South Lake Tahoe at a little after 3.30pm, enabling us to fill “The Beast” up (it is so much cheaper than paying for a full tank of petrol at the outset) and return him to his Avis parents before the desk in the Embassy Suites closed.  Once checked in at Harrah’s we sought out Powder House ski and boot rental (the best deal in the resort) before dinner at Applebee’s (my cajun shrimp pasta was to die for), a brief , unsuccessful spell on the Harrah’s slots and bed (not our liveliest St Patrick’s Day I’ll acknowledge,but we were tired and wanted to hit the ski lifts early the next morning as a major snow system was scheduled to explode upon the area on Friday afternoon).

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Western Diary Day 1: Let’s Go to San Francisco

Posted in Personal, Travel Diary, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on Mar 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »


After a relaxing night at the Holiday Inn near Heathrow Airport our Virgin Atlantic flight to San Francisco ascended into the cloud cluttered skies thirty eight minutes late.   Most of the lost time was retrieved on a  flight enlivened by the repeated failure of the entertainment system, the noisy carousing of a handful of English rugger types in the galley area  and the malfunctioning of the pier doors on landing! 

We received an uncommonly affable welcome from the Federal Inspector on entering the U.S. and baggage reclaim and car hire went equally smoothly.  After the fork lift truck, brought in to haul  us into our seats in the red Chevy Traverse, was driven away, we set off for the City on the evening commute in hazy sunshine and 59 degrees, arriving at our customary first night stop, the Holiday Inn at Fisherman’s Wharf,  in little more than half an hour.     

Wireless connection, cappuccinos and baths – in that order – were the priorities of the next hour and a half.  Tradititon then took hold with dinner at Calzone’s in Columbus Avenue in North Beach followed by a couple of gin and tonics in Vesuvio’s, the famous bar frequented by the Beats and other counter culture luminaries in the fifties and sixties.  Our comfortable king size bed at the hotel was very welcome after a twenty four day.

That’s about as much as I can manage after such a hectic day,  Posts will be more comprehensive in future, starting with a report of today’s upcoming trip to South Lake Tahoe – the next big storm is in the offing (will it ever stop snowing this season)?

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Drastic times require drastic measures

Posted in Personal, tagged , , , on Feb 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »


Well, I was about to post on here that I wouldn’t be posting on here for a few days as my wife and I were visiting her parents in Lancaster for a long weekend to celebrate her father’s eightieth birthday.   Why should that present a problem I hear you ask? Are you expressly forbidden from venturing into cyberspace whilst you are there?  Well, no.  Or do they not have internet access, or, heaven forfend, computers, in the northern regions? No, that wasn’t the issue either.

It was the fact that because we were travelling by rail for a change, leaving the car to put its feet up for a few days (though it is forbidden to have any parties), we had to keep to a minimum the amount of luggage we were taking.  And I had made the painful and heroic sacrifice of deciding to leave my laptop at home.  The fact that it is currently unwell and not fit to travel is entirely irrelevant.

I was not contemplating the prospect – the absence of a computer rather than the weekend itself I should quickly add – with much relish.  But the more discerning or awake of you will have observed that the previous paragraphs were written wholly in the past tense.  Yes, I have swerved that calamity, a trifle drastically you might think, by purchasing a netbook this morning!  Having  installed it with a surprising minimum of fuss I can take it with me tomorrow. So, I may still not post as much over the next few days, but there is a chance.  You’ll just have to keep hittin’ on me to find out.

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California Dreamin’…….and of Nevada too

Posted in Personal, Travel Diary, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on Feb 8, 2011| 2 Comments »


Five weeks tomorrow (Wednesday) my wife and I will be flying out to our second home, San Francisco, California, USA.  I use the word “home”, not in the sense that it is where we are permanently domiciled, but rather as the place where we feel most “at home”.  This will be our eighth trip to the City by the Bay and we could not be looking more forward to it.

Since the millenium we have, in the Spring of every even year (’00 to ’10 inclusive), spent 3-4 weeks “out west”.  Each vacation has followed a similar pattern – a week or so skiing in Heavenly, Lake Tahoe at the beginning and  week or two in San Francisco at the end, with three or four day visits to other locations sandwiched in between for a few days – these have included Vegas, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Death Valley and Yosemite.

Following last year’s vacation we decided that life was too short to have to wait two years for our next skiing and SF fixes, so, at least for now, it has become an annual event.  Our long term aim, finances permitting, has always been that once my wife has joined me in Retirement Row, which may still be a few years yet, we will spend longer in San Francisco / Heavenly, upwards of three months at a time, twice a year. 

But for now it’s three and a half weeks, starting with the customary first night stay in San Francisco followed by the drive to South Lake Tahoe on the following day. Ever since the night in 2002 when we thought we could make the trip from SF to Tahoe immediately following an eleven hour flight, and then, after negotiating a heavy rain-splashed evening commute out of town, spent seven hours crawling through a four foot snow storm (of which more another time), we have seen sense and stayed in the City before venturing out refreshed the next morning. 

Besides, we have developed a routine, now I suppose it warrants being dignified with the word tradition, for that overnight stay that sets the scene for the entire vacation – dinner at Calzone’s on Columbus Avenue in North Beach followed by a scan of the shelves in the City Lights Bookstore and a few drinks in Vesuvio’s in the evening, and breakfast at the Eagle Cafe on Pier 39 the next morning, along with half an hour in the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Fisherman’s Wharf stocking up on any vacation reading before we head off to Tahoe.

We are only skiing for four days this year, though it’s four more days that we would have anticipated when we left there last March.  So we are hoping for perfect spring conditions – they snow is already there, all we need now is the sun.  And the best meal of our entire trip last year was at the Riva Grill on Ski Run Marina, so we plan to eat there again.

After five nights we fly from Reno to Vegas where we are meeting my wife’s parents, both of whom are now 80 and still hitting “Sin City”! Just three nights there but, as ever, action packed – Cirque de Soleil Viva Elvis show in the Aria, possibly another show yet to be booked and a trip to the Hoover Dam with a deluxe cruise on Lake Mead. And then there’s at least two of those nights spent tackling  feisty “Whiskey Girl” cocktails at Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill.

With such tasty appetisers cleared away we move onto the main course – San Francisco.  Last year we eschewed a hotel for the first time and stayed in an apartment in Hayes Valley for two weeks.  This will now be the template for the future.   We wanted to “live like locals” as much as possible, and staying in someone’s home is a good starting point – no maids knocking at your door in the morning anxious to clean your room, you can eat in as often or as little as you want and, if you have a washer and dryer, you are never short of clean clothing!  The last facility is particularly important this year since Virgin Atlantic has halved the cabin luggage allowance since our trip last year.

We are staying in a much larger apartment this year on Fulton Street, half way between Alamo Square and Golden Gate Park.  Not only is it more spacious but it comes with a huge TV, computer and, rarest and most precious of all in San Francisco, a designated parking space.

I will post separately about our plans for San Francisco but our emphasis this year will be on new places and new experiences, though I’m sure that we won’t be able to resist returning to many of our favourite haunts such as Beach Blanket Babylon (already booked for our fifth visit), the Cliff House,  Haight-Ashbury and AT & T Park.

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Resolution update one month on

Posted in Personal, tagged , , , , on Jan 28, 2011| 1 Comment »


New Year’s Resolutions – I think most of us make them in the guilty aftermath of Christmas excess; though we may keep the detail to ourselves, ensuring that there is only one person to admonish us when we sink into a pit of drinking, eating and smoking on 5th January.

I’ll confess that I always make them – most of the usual suspects such as losing weight, getting/keeping fit, drinking less and being nicer to people.  Sadly, the last one is always the most difficult because it is so rarely reciprocated in this country. Quit smoking?  I accomplished that one thirty seven years ago.

So here’s a brief report on my performance so far, with my personal rating (1-5) of how I’m doing – which I think is rather well.

Lose weight – almost eight pounds in the three weeks since I adopted the latest Weight Watchers diet.  I hoped to lose at least a stone before our holiday in March, so I am comfortably on course to exceed that goal.  4

Keep fit – been to gym three times a week, which has had the added benefit of making our membership better value for money that it has sometimes been.  Plenty of walking too, not just everyday but regular countryside rambles at the weekend.  The latter have been thwarted so far by the weather but we plan to tread the fields and woods on Sunday this week.  Doubtless, it will finish miraculously adjacent to a warm , inviting pub, which will place unbearable pressure on the first resolution above.  But still, doing well.  4   

Write, write, write – the first objective was to setup the blog and then to post on it regularly, which has been achieved.  The specific aim of launching the San Francisco related series is also coming along well.  Much work to do on the quality, and preparations for the vacation diary need to be stepped up, but otherwise, quite pleasing.  4

So all three (principal) resolutions firmly intact after the first, crucial, month.   

And finally, in the immortal words of Joey, the Matt LeBlanc character in Friends, “how you doin”?.

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A little bit about me

Posted in Personal, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on Jan 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »


I have presumed that anyone visiting this blog might wish to know a bit about its author.  Although the following can also be found under”About” at the top of this page I thought I would post it here too as part of the initial scene setting.

I was born in October 1952 on the day tea rationing ended in Britain (good timing, that) and, as an only child,  enjoyed a happy childhood, revolving mainly around football and cricket.  I had the good fortune of growing up during the sixties, the music of which provided a thrilling soundtrack to my childhood.  I attained a BA (Honours) in English and European Literature at Essex University, writing my dissertation on the novel “At Swim-Two-Birds” by Irish novelist and journalist Flann O’Brien.  This was followed by studying towards an MA in Anglo-Irish Literature at Leeds, majoring on Joyce, Beckett and Yeats and producing a paper on the novels of Patrick Kavanagh (“The Green Fool” and “Tarry Flynn”).

Eventually, I exchanged academia for the last refuge of the modern scoundrel and joined the UK civil service in March 1980.  I subsequently spent 29 years in the Department for Work and Pensions and its many antecedents, latterly in human resources and diversity before securing early retirement in March 2009. 

My interest in travel led me to undertake a Level 3 BTEC Advanced Certificate in Travel and Tourism via home learning.  I completed the course in December 2010, achieving a Distinction in all three elements – understanding the travel and tourism industry, tourist destinations and tour operations).  My ambition now is to concentrate on writing, for which I believe I have some aptitude, and, of course, to publish on a regular basis.  I expect to focus on travel in particular, though I suppose it is the nature of the writing experience, especially for a novice such as I that I may be drawn into other directions. That is part of the excitement of this journey. 

Aside from reading and writing my passions are walking, skiing, cricket (as a member of Kent County Cricket Club), baseball (a fan from afar of the San Francisco Giants), association football (a life long fan of Gillingham), music (principally folk, blues, country and West Coast rock), theatre and eating out.

And, of course, my wonderful wife Janet whom I married in Vegas on Halloween 2009 after 27 years together.  I am grateful for her support and encouragement.

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