This is a placeholder for more on the trip report. But the short news is
that MK, Laura, and I all made it home safely, and had a nice night
before I headed to Japan yesterday? two days ago? Monday.

We couldn’t take it anymore, and today we checked out of Tahoe Seasons and into the Inn by the Lake, which is the wedding hotel for my cousin. Now, we didn’t know anything about this besides where it was (on Lake Tahoe Blvd., with views of the lake) and that it was the wedding hotel. Well, MK called, and we checked out today and into the Inn by the Lake.

We got a king sized bed in a rather big room. 3rd floor (of 3), with a view of the lake and a deck. Nice couch and table, mini-fridge and microwave. Real hangars, wooden, not those crappy theft-proof ones. A real insulated ice bucket, with some plastic bags for lining. Oh, and free wireless, just like every other frickin’ place in Tahoe, even the Tudor Engligh Pub we had dinner in last night. Except for the Tahoe Seasons. $4.95 / hour. And I don’t even get my psychic reading.

Inn by the Lake so rocks. Cheaper too. Gotta love it.

Ok… it’s official, this place is a bad call to stay in. The hide-a-bed
is amazingly uncomfortable, even by hide-a-bed standards, and the AC
makes this amazing high-pitched whine that just keeps you up. At least
the valet service is pretty prompt… although I’m wondering how much
they’re gonna want to charge per day for parking. Bah.

Even if you’re skiing and you want something close, this is a bad call.
There’s no place besides the tub to throw wet things, and there’s no
food — just a sketchy pub, so you really need to go down the hill
(pretty steep) to get food, then come back. So you may as well stay
somewhere on Lake Tahoe Blvd. so you can stumble home from the bars.

I called RCI today (the timeshare exchange company… we exchanged one
of our weeks from the Finisterra, the timeshare our great-aunt June &
John gave us), and they said somebody would get back to us. Twice. I’ll
yell tomorrow.

Oh, and guess what one station they don’t have on cable? Comedy Central.
So no Daily Show. Man, even the TravelLodge has HBO…

On the plus side, I tried out the new toy, a Nikon D70 today. We picked
it up in Oregon on the way here. The pics are nice, and will be up shortly!

OK… we got out from Mt. Shasta at a reasonable time, and made decent time to South Lake Tahoe via CA – 89. It’s a pretty route, if a bit slow at times. It’s just a rural two-lane road, so 60-70 mph but sometimes you’re behind that logging truck going 50 for 20 minutes.

We’re staying at the Tahoe Seasons Resort, located right near the California lodge of the Heavenly Ski Resort. Sadly, the season ended yesterday. Bah. But before I describe it, I need to relay the following anecdote:

You can tell the difference between McDonalds in good neighborhoods from bad ones by whether or not there are salt shakers on the tables. In bad neighborhoods, there aren’t any because people steal them. In good neighborhoods, naturally there are salt shakers.

So, aside from being the closest resort to the California lift (ok, maybe 3rd or 4th, but they appear to be small rent-a-condos), this place has nothing.

We have those annoying hangars that look like they have a nail for a hook that require you to put them at weird angles to get them into the clip in the closet. Apparently, people steal hangars from this place. The ice bucket is just a plastic shell… not even a plastic lining to prevent the condensation dripping out. Guess people steal ice buckets too.

We also have a double bed, with a fold-out hide-a-bed in one of the couches. A double bed. So, apparently this place caters to thin nympho kepto skiers. Bah. Oh, there is a huge hot tub… but it takes 30 minutes to fill before you can run the jets. Even the tub in Swedish didn’t take that long to fill (15 minutes…. Of course, you had to fill it once first, drain it, and fill again). Oh, and the controls are on the far wall. Great. And best of all, you have to take your shower in the hot tub in the morning…. No real shower. Blah.

Oh, and they have wireless. Except this room… it’s at the end of the hall. But hey, if it did, it’d only be $5 / hour, or $10 / day, or $30 / week. $30 a week! Instead, I’ll dial the local MS # for $0.50 a pop. Blah.

Luckily, we can spend the rest of the time out and about…

We’re here in Mt. Shasta. We’re staying at the Best Western Tree House Inn. It’s nice, just a bit lodgey. But the folks there are very nice. They gave us the AAA discount (so $90 a night vs $100), 15% off dinner, a free drink, & free continental breakfast for MK and I the next morning. Sweet! Also, the rooms have doors into the motel hallway as well as outside, so we got a bottom room, pulled the car around, and spent next to no time unloading.

Dinner was nice… I had some almond-crusted rainbow trout that was very yummy, and some Mt. Shasta beer, also yummy. We all crashed early after watching the Sonics beat Sac. Comfy king size bed…. Yay!

Ok… so, we thought that driving down would be a good idea. Well, that was until we realized that Laura wasn’t actually going to sleep most of the way. Nope, she’s going to be awake, and rather cranky, because she’s strapped down in a car seat.

This isn’t good.

OK, it’s 9:30 on Sunday, and we’re a day late getting out. But that’s OK. We have a week, and a less stressful packing day is better than rushing around trying to get out at 10:00 AM when we haven’t packed the day before.

My cousin Alisa is getting married in South Lake Tahoe, so Mary Kaye, Laura, and I are driving down for a week. It’s about a 14 hour trip, so we’re going to truck out the first day to Mt. Shasta (about 500 miles), and then another 300 miles to South Lake Tahoe. Should be a fun trip, and let us all have some time away from everything at 6200 feet!