Sea to Snow and back again

Two weeks ago we got an invitation to join Rae's family skiing up at Alpine Meadows near Lake Tahoe. Peter and Lenora, Rae's father and stepmother made reservation last year to stay 3/20-24, at the Stanford Alpine Chalet, of which he is an alumni. Unfortunately, Timothy, Rae's oldest brother, cancelled at the last minute so there was an extra room and would we like to join them. Rich and I thought, sure why not, but we only had our ski jackets but no other ski stuff. Rae said, no problem, she would bring family extras. So on Monday, 3/21, we packed up the Subaru and headed east on I-80. Even though there was snow on the highway, the mighty Subaru got us there with no trouble and we did not have to put on chains. That evening we joined Peter, Lenora, Katie (Rae's stepsister), Jenny (Rae's twin sister) and Rae for dinner at the Chalet. We also went through some of the ski gear that Rae had brought and selected some items such as goggles and gloves and ski bibs. Tuesday morning after breakfast we got a shuttle ride, all of 5 minutes, to Alpine Meadows ski area. At the ski rental area, you filled out all of the necessary information for ski rentals, took the printout to the cash register, and after paying, on to the boot section and ski section respectively. The longest part of this process was putting on the boots. The snow was coming down in buckets and there was already a considerable amount on the ground already, as much as 2 feet of new snow in the past 24 hours. We rode up the Roundhouse chair with groomed slopes to get our ski legs back and then up the Summit chair to Alpine Bowl. This is usually an intermediate slope but with no grooming and a lot of new snow it was a lot more challenging. Leaning back was the order of the day. If you fell and your ski came off it could mean an ordeal trying to find your ski in the deep snow, much less standing up and putting it back on. We saw at least two people that day that were furiously digging in the snow looking for their lost ski. Unfortunately Rich forgot to take his meds in the morning and with the altitude, and the deep powder he was having difficulty catching his breath. Wisely he quit after a few runs and hung out at the lodge. I skied with Rae, Jenny and Peter but I was pooped by the end of the day.

Our car is somewhere under the snow

Peter, Elaine and Rae with Lake Tahoe in the background

Rae, Jenny and Katie

On Wednesday Rich and I passed on skiing and checked out Tahoe City - a small burg covered with snow. We picked up Lenora after her cross country ski lesson and the three of us went out to lunch.

Thursday we started to drive back to Emeryville. Unfortunately we spent 45 minutes going from one exit to the next and putting on chains only to be told that the road was closed for an indefinite period of time due to whiteout conditions. We stopped for lunch and then tried again. This time it took us only 30 minutes to go from the same first exit to the same second exit to find out that the road was still closed - proper signage would have been sooo helpful. So instead of going west we drove east to Reno and then south to Carson City, Nevada. As Highway 50 was our next planned road and it was closed partially for avalanche clearing we decided to stay the night and get an early start on Friday morning. The Best Western hotel included a casino so I told Rich that I wanted to play the slot machines after dinner. Of course he thought I was a little silly but he played along. I tried to put in my $10 to start playing the machine but it would not take it so I went to the cashier and got 10 - $1 tokens. I put in my token, pulled the handle and watched the things (tumblers?) spin around. After a few coins and no joy, I was resigned to just losing my $10 and going back to the room when, wait, wait, jackpot!!! $50 in tokens started to pour into the tray. WooHoo! I counted my tokens and put them in the tray I got from the cashier. I still had a few of my original 10 tokens left, so I continued and wait, wait, jackpot again!!! Another $50 in tokens poured out. I carefully counted them. Now I had $100 in tokens on my lap. I had 2 tokens left of my original 10 plus a few credits on the machine, in they went. No more pay outs. So I took my tokens and cashed them in. I had won enough to pay for our night at the hotel, dinner and breakfast the next morning. I was so proud of myself. I didn't do a happy dance (but I felt like it). Rich thinks I was channelling my father, getting something for nothing.

Friday we drove back to the boat, with little fanfare. It was a fun few days.

Passport Two

In previous posts I recounted my sad tale of trying to renew my passport. As the original renewal application was lost in the mail, I applied for a new passport in Seattle with a certified copy of my birth certificate on February 23.

As chance would have it, on exactly this same day, my renewal application is mysteriously delivered in Philadelphia with no record if having been scanned at any postal facility previously. A few days later the passport facility in Buffalo, NY (not sure how it made the transit from Philadelphia to Buffalo...) attempts to process the check that was enclosed. This was the same check that I stopped payment on, thinking that the application was lost. Of course, the check did not go through. The next week I receive a letter from Buffalo indicating the check could not be processed, and that I needed to remit payment, including a $25 surcharge within 30 days to avoid adverse action. After 30 days if no payment is received then repayment including interest and penalties must be sent to St. Louis, MO.

I quickly got on the phone and called the number provided and explained the situation. The person I talked to was very nice and explained that I needed to write a letter of clarification to the facility in Buffalo and send it overnight mail. She was able to verify that my new passport application submitted in Seattle was being processed. Sparing no time I crafted a letter and sent it off with overnight delivery.

Today I received my new passport from Seattle. With any luck the facility in Buffalo will return my old passport as I requested in the letter.

Some of my faith in 'the system' has been restored.

How long before we leave?

Tsunami

This morning we received a wake up call from the AWTWS - Alan Weber Tsunami Warning System. Alan is a friend of Rich's that lives in New Jersey and he called us early this morning at 4:30am to warn us. Alan also called us for the tsunami from the earthquake in Chile last year. Rich and I got up and turned on the computer to catch the news on the internet. Our hearts go out to people in Japan, the epicenter of the devastation.

Luckily for us here on Windarra, the tsunami was a bit of a non-event and that is how we would prefer it. In fact, we missed one of the larger surges as we were off exercising. Windarra safely rose above it all.

Has it been more than a month?

It has been more than a month since I last posted on the blog. So here is a little catching up.

On one of the sunny days in early February, Rich and I decided to go out and explore. We drove to Half Moon Bay for lunch at the Brewing Company. It was warm enough to sit outside and look out over the bay. We anchored here in 2001 on our way south and the plan is to visit again after leaving the San Francisco Bay in late June or early July. After lunch we drove down the coast a way. The ocean looks different when you are on the shore looking out as opposed to being on the water and looking back at the land.

In mid February we drove up to Portland, OR to visit the kids. As snow was predicted for the Siskyous we took Hwy 101 to Crescent City and spent the night before continuing north. On the suggestion of Chuck and Margie of SV Dreamcatcher we stopped at Los Bagels in Arcata for lunch on the way. They have great bagels, especially for the west coast. We continued up Hwy 199 to Grants Pass and on to Portland. Jesse and Rae were kind enough to let us stay at the new apartment in the downtown area. They are on the sixth floor and overlook a park. It is a short walk for Jesse to catch the light rail to work. We enjoyed visiting with them and with Sarah and her girlfriend, Ianthe. We helped Rae pick up some bookshelves at Ikea and select the style for the wedding invitations. Sarah and I went shopping for fabric. Rich helped Jesse and Rae put up pictures and shelves in the apartment.

After the weekend we took a quick drive up to Tacoma to visit my mother. She seems to be doing well and says she likes the facility which is a very positive note from her. After a bit she would close her eyes and doze. At one point she started to talk to herself, wondering who we were and would open her eyes just enough to see if we were still there. So her memory continues to fade but she is eating well and enjoyed the chocolates we brought her.

As you remember from my previous post the problems I am having with my passport. On our stop to Seattle we went to the safety deposit box so I could get the certified copy of my birth certificate. The rest of the day we ran errands and transferred items from the Subaru to the storage unit and picked up items to take back to the boat for our next set of boat projects. The next morning we went to the post office downtown and I submitted my passport application, again....

We managed to dodge the snow in Seattle and Portland and continued back to the boat. Visiting is fun but we still enjoy sleeping on the boat. It is home.

This weekend, Paul and Suzette of SV Altair are in town for Suzette's father's memorial. On Friday we joined them to check out a sailboat for sale at Marina Bay in Richmond and then we had lunch at the Red Pepper in Pt Richmond. The memorial was at Goat Hill Pizza on Potrero Hill. We sat next to Joe and Charlotte. Charlotte is a quilter and has been part of the quilting group that includes Suzette's mother, Jean. Joe is retired and his hobby is bonzai trees, of which he has over 300. We enjoyed talking to them.

As we are back on Windarra we are back to boat projects. I finished compounding and waxing the deck before we left for Portland. Now I am sewing cloth doors for the forward head and the pullman state room. Neither room has a big enough hatch for a person to get out if the door should jab so we are replacing the doors with cloth. It will still aloow some privacy as a trade for safety. Rich is filling holes with epoxy that were left in the cockpit when we moved the throttle and the VHF remote microphone to the new binnacle. After they dry and harden we will sand and paint over them.

Today we had a visit from Duey and Nan of The Great Escape. We met them during the Baja Ha-Ha in 2001 and sailed with them in Mexico. They have sold the boat and now they are land cruising in an RV. It was great to catch up and re-establish the friendship. We hope to visit them in Hollister or when we sail down to Monterey Bay.

Cheers