My Visitors!

So since my last post…sorry, that was quite a long time ago…. I have had a few visitors. My sweet little (cough, cough not so little) brother spent his spring break in Tahoe!! I was so happy to see him that I literally almost burst in to tears when I went to pick him up from the airport. Keep in mind this was the first familiar face I’d seen since I dropped my daddy off at the airport when I first moved away from home. So my broha and I had quite a time. I think it also helped that I have boy roommates that he became friends with and could hang out with when I had to work and was lame and had to go to bed early in order to get my beauty rest for my 8am shifts. He got to meet all my friends and we got to go skiing at Northstar, which I’m pretty sure is my favorite resort. The day we skied Northstar just so happened to be the day Shaun White decided to display his skills on the slopes. Cool, us too. NOT! So that day was actually my first powder day, ever. Failboat. We had so much fun but I think we spent as much time getting up out of the snow as we did actually heading down the mountain. Needless to say it was beautiful and so great to spend time with Jason. The last time we’d skied together was my senior year of high school….wow.

We also got to drive around the lake. We got out and explored at Emerald Bay. I tried to convince him he wanted to come back and work in Tahoe for the summer, no luck there. Thanks summer school for taking my brother away from me. We had a blast, though and I loved getting to show him where I live now. I think he really enjoyed it, because up here everything is so pretty and natural (he’s the outdoor type). When I had to work he got to explore a little on his own and got some skiing in. It worked out well because I got a little extra time off while he was in town but then the few days I worked, he got some time on his own. It also snowed an awful lot before and while he was here. He got to experience mountain life firsthand. He witnessed my first bear siting and Madea (my little Honda civic) wear chains. Of course, right after we saw the bear was when we couldn’t make it up the hill in the snow. So out of the car we went to chain her up (much to Jason’s dismay…I suppose he’s not fond of bears). Well due to bad weather, we ended up taking him down to Reno the night before his flight left. I checked him into to Hyatt Place by the airport (thank you Hyatt for employee discounts….amazing) and went back up the mountain. Yes, this time I was in tears. Dislike on dropping him off after such a wonderful week with my brother. Thank you Jason for spending your spring break with me! I love you!

Next came Heather! However, thanks to Mother Nature we never quite got to Tahoe…but we did get to spend time in the city! It was so nice to have my bfer in the same time zone. I loved catching up with her and am so blessed to have a friend travel across the country to visit! We got to walk around the Ferry Building, Fisherman’s Warf, Ghiradelli Square, and Union Square. San Francisco is such a neat city with so much to do and see. I definitely would like to go back and spend more time there. Our eyes were opened in SF. We saw a burly looking ladies. Oh wait, those weren’t ladies. Helloooo transies. I will admit, as cool as the city was-there were a few sites you just won’t get many other places. I also think we got the best work out. Walking around town involves hills, lots of hills, hills that put Brumby to shame. But walking all those hills was good because we worked off our snack at the Ghiradelli factory. Yummmmy! We helped ourselves to good food and good wine. The Ferry Building (right across the street from where we were staying…thank you again Hyatt for employing me) had several specialty stores. One of which was cheese and one of which was wine. We picked out some cheese and a good bottle and had good, ole fashioned girl time! Much needed because I miss my Heather and we had so much to catch up on. We also noticed just how many Starbucks are in San Fran. Seriously, there had to be more in SF than in all of Georgia. A coffee drinker won’t go thirsty there. Heather, thanks for exploring SF with me and I look forward to more adventures with you! I love this employee rate for Hyatt, now we have a good excuse to travel!

Mommy dearest and Cindy came next! I think Mom was in Heaven. For those of who know her know that she loves snow! She even told me she doesn’t think she’s ever seen this much snow in all her life…put together. Once Cindy got to town we took a little trip down to South Lake and went up the gondola at Heavenly. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain where you could see the lake and all the surrounding mountains.

Cindy and THE lake!

Mama and all her snow.

I took them all the way around the lake, too. I think the narrow road before you get to Emerald Bay freaked Mom out a little (and by a little I mean a lot). Needless to say it is a road with a straight shot downward on either side. It is very windy and very narrow…with no guard rail. I think that’s what scares me the most is that there is nothing between you and down, down, down. We stopped there to show them around and took a peak down at the tea house. Cindy was brave enough to rough the snow and treck down from the lookout on her own. Mom and I stuck to the beaten path. My ballet flats didn’t fair well in the snow. You’d think I would have learned by now. We also go to take a tunnel tour at the Cal-Neva. The Cal-Neva is a casino hotel that sits on the California/Nevada stateline. It was owned by Frank Sinatra once upon a time and we got to take a look around and hear stories from when the mafia, Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra used to frequent Tahoe. It was very cool and a little history lesson all wrapped up into one.

Hey Mom.

 While Mom was in town she brought a little bit of home with her. Her cooking skills! Mom made me and a few of my friends breakfast, which of course included grits. Mmm hmm, that’s some good cooking right there! It was so nice to spend time with my Mom and Cynthia and comforting to have a taste of home. There’s nothing like waking up to your mom’s cooking. I’m so glad y’all got to come out and visit and can’t wait for the next time you come see me! I hope you enjoyed Tahoe because I loved having you.

I didn’t realize before quite how much I’d miss home. Seeing each of your smiling faces means so much to me and I am so very grateful you came to visit me!