Snowboarding in Tahoe

Day 1 - Kirkwood Mountain, prepare to meet your maker!

Here are my notes for Day 1:

- Kirkwood is cheaper than Heavenly and far less crowded. However, Heavenly is higher and has a much prettier view. More on that in the next entry.

- If you want to rent cheap, rent from Powderhouse. They have 3 stores around the area. Reserve 48 hours in advance and you get 20% off. I got a freestyle board - Soloman Prospect - with boots and bindings and it only cost me $64 for two days! Skis are just as cheap at only $45.

- Freestyle boards are really fun because they're light and you end up being able to do a lot more tricks and quick turns easier.

- If you're going to go crazy and do tricks, be sure to wear a helmet. I didn't and hit my head pretty hard and had a headache for the next day.



Review of the first day
- Alice and I went all over the mountain and conquered the blue trails across Kirkwood

- The trails are pretty nice. Some of them are a little crazy and steep. But for the most part the blues were very manageable. This is only my 3rd time snowboarding, by the way.

- The view of Lake Tahoe is beautiful! It was a sunny day, with the sun glistening along the deepest blue [lake water] you'll ever see. Snow capped off the mountains sitting around the lake. The skies were clear with a touch of coulds the way Bob Ross would want it to look...Happy.

- Happy it was. With the crisp air and soft powder hitting my face and trailing behind my snowboard marks, I felt a sense of calm each time looked over to my companion, Alice, who was racing down the slopes with me, weaving between fellow skiers and snowboarders. The best was when we decided to take a break and jump into the puffy powder...sinking in about 1 foot.

- Around mid-day, we were at the bottom of the mountain and to our surprise there was a marching band playing! Trombones, Tubas, drums, symbols, everything. All of the players were decked out in the casual snow gear. It looked like an old navy commercial, actually. A really fly one! But what's nice about Kirkwood, is that at the Main Village area, they have live music playing throughout the day. After the marching band, they had a cover rock band. It was a really great way to be greeted each time we make our way to the bottom of the mountain.

- No better way to end a full day of snowboarding than to chill out in a steaming hot tub with 5 of your friends and a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon Light!

Drive to Tahoe

Apparently the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, is California Traffic Day. Everywhere we drove between San Francisco to Sacramento, there was a traffic jam.

Hour 1 was ok, because everyone was still awake.

It was at around hour 3 when everyone fell asleep (even my passenger side navigator, Anthony!) and I was stuck in traffic that I started to go a little stir crazy. keep in mind, I only had about 4 hours of sleep on a plane the night before. Thank goodness for hunger pains, and Denny's!!!

The last time we took a road trip to Maine (Anthony, Melissa, and I), we were craving Denny's like crazy, but ended up settling for iHOP.

We're at Denny's in Vacaville, CA - home of outlet shopping, fast food places, and Denny's! I ordered the meat lover's skillet (that's pronounced skill-ay...not really). To my surprise, Denny's has done away with the skillet and has just called it the Meat Lover's Breakfast (2 eggs over easy, 2 sausages, 2 slices of bacon, 2 pancakes, hash browns, and ham. Doesn't have that same ring to it. But ok. Anthony threw a curveball at me when he ordered a strawberry sprite.

Denny's serves strawberry sprites! That's Sprite with REAL STRAWBERRIES! And the best part is that you get free refills. There's nothing more delicious than a plate full of Denny's cholesterol and a glass of sprite mixed in with frozen strawberries. Always order your eggs with a raw yoke. Otherwise, the scrambled eggs are made from powder. YUCK! but for $12 how can you go wrong with Denny's. I even saw a few couples on dates there. Interesting choice.

Now with a full stomach, 3 hours of driving behind me, and 4 hours of sleep under my belt. I was ready to head into a food coma. "Kenny, you're driving!" I wasn't looking forward to more traffic either.

I passed out in the car and woke up at our cabin in Lake Tahoe! Apparently there was no more traffic after I relinquished the keys. Awesome.

Anthony, Kenny, Alice, and I pound a Pabst Blue Ribbon and head to sleep. Now we are ready for Tahoe. The next day, we conquer this! Kirkwood Mountain, prepare to meet your maker!


Lake Tahoe. View from Kirkwood Mountain.

Cabins at the Lake Tahoe Ski Resorts (Heavenly, Kirkwood) can run you upwards of $1100+ for a whole weekend. If you drive about 30 - 45 minutes away, cabin prices decrease substantially to around the $600 range. Our cabin came equipped with 3 full beds, 3 twin sized, a fooze ball table, full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, board games galore, and a hot tub! This was a start to a great weekend.

One last thing, sleeping in the same room with people who snore loudly really blows. Kenny and Anthony kept Cynthia, Alice, and I up till 4am. We woke up at 6am the next morning. Do not get in the way of grumpy people!

Alcatraz and In N' Out in San Francisco

Day 1 - In N' Out, Alcatraz, and Tahoe!!!

Anthony and I finally arrive into SFO and go to the car rental place to rent out Standard Sized SUV. We go to the parking lot and pick out our car and lo' and behold quite possibly the most effeminate ghetto cruiser available...Big Powder Blue - our powder blue toyota highlander!

We went hyphy and ghostriding in it on Day 4.

So we meet up the girls, Cynthia and Alice and head straight to our first activity of the day. In N' Out! Anthony and I got a Double Double Animal Style with Fries and a Shake. A Double Double is a double cheese burger with special sauce, onions, and pickles. Awesome!

Full and bloated, we're ready to take on our first challenge - THE ROCK (Alcatraz)!!!

For $20, you take the ferry to Alcatraz from the Wharf. And you get an audio tour of Alcatraz which gives you a brief but in depth history of the prison as well as descriptions of the accommodations within the prison. It also includes recorded testimonies from the inmates themselves. Alcatraz had a library, art class, and some of the best food in the prison system. It was home to some of the craziest criminals in US History - The Birdman, Machine Gun Kelly, Al Capone.

The ferry ride over is smooth, brisk, and gives you a great view of both bridges - Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. If you don't have any desire to see the prison, at least take a ride on the ferry.

We headed back to pick up our friend, Kenny. And off we were with an iPod full of songs, 4 hours of sleep on a plane, and about 4 hours of driving from SF to Tahoe ahead of me!

Pictures from Alcatraz:

San Francisco/Tahoe Airport Story

Anthony and I stay up all night watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and In Living Color because our flight is at 7:30am. We have to leave the house by 5:50am and get to the airport by 6:30am.

As I'm doing some last minute work before I leave, I decide to take a look at my flight reservation to make sure that I didn't miss anything...

It's 5:30am now.

Open up my folded 8.5" x 11" piece of white paper.

Flight #: VA 238
Departs: 7:00am
Arrives: 10:40am
JFK-SF...

WAIT...

Departs: 7:00am

Welcome to the sh-t show! I quickly showered. Woke up everyone in the house.

5:50am out of shower and ready to go. Packed and everything.

Airport is 30 minutes away driving fast with some traffic!

Dad gets into the driver's seat.

Me: Umm...do you want me to drive? I drive faster.
Dad: No...just get in.
Me: ugh...fine.

He crawls out of the driveway and slowly makes his way to the highway, driving at a paltry law abiding speed limit of 55 mph. It's 6:00am. We're barely 5 minutes on the road.

Dad: So...what time is your flight anyway?
Me: Umm...in an hour! Can you drive faster?
Dad: Oh...an hour? ha...No, I don't like driving fast.
Me: WTF??? I told you to let me drive.
Dad: Hey, that's your fault for looking at the wrong time. idiot...

Dad = genius!!!

Luckily there was no traffic. We got there at 6:17am!!! Mad dash to the terminal to check in and everything. We literally just made it.

So we're all checked in and everything. Now I need to use the bathroom. After following the signs around the airport, the signs lead me to a wall...literally, the bathroom sign points to a WALL! WTF?

I ask the guy where the bathroom is. Guy says, "oh...yeah, this sign is wrong. it's all of the way on the other side." JFK airport = Genius!!!

Now I'm on the security line and I meet this girl who's going to Colombia to visit an orphanage. Should have gotten her number...Me = Genius!!!

We finally get on the plane with literally 5 - 10 minutes to spare. And lo' and behold behind me on the airplane is Angel's friend Allison! Talk about coincident!

Anyway, that's my crazy story.

FYI, Virgin America flights are pretty nice. Hours of entertainment including OnDemand Movies and TV Shows, Live TV Channels, Music Channels, even foreign TV like TVB and HK Soap Operas. Awesome. No food and only 1 round of drinks though. So eat and drink before you fly. Or you're going to have to buy it on the plane.

Tahoe or Bust

We're in Tahoe right now. And the scene couldn't be more beautiful. Yesterday we gave a toast and I ultimately said 8 words, "Good friends. Good times. Great memories. Great trip."

Today we went to Kirkwood. Tomorrow we go to Heavenly.

I totally have to update on our trip to the airport. And in keeping with Brian fashion, it was yes another race to catch our flight. It's always something...

But updates to re-cap:

In n' Out burgers!!!
Alcatraz
Our drive to Tahoe
Denny's - have you ever had a strawberry sprite? DELICIOUS!!!

More later.

Going snowboarding in California...Tahoe!

I'm going to California with a bunch of my friends for snowboarding at Lake Tahoe. I'm pretty excited about this. Will try to update on a daily basis. If anything check is the Peas and Nuts gang is updating on anything.

I'm sure we'll have some similar pictures. Hopefully the place we're staying at has internet.

I will be posting up the Maine stuff when I get back. 12:15am just posted stuff on his trip to Aruba. Check it out.

Hope everything had a great holiday and new year celebration! Mine was a little ridiculous to say the least. Fun times in NYC.

Shout out to my buddy on Travbuddy, Sylvie, and Lovelylori. Lori, I hope you're having fun in the UK. Hope you're updating your blog! Sylvie, looking forward to telling you about snowboarding.

Christmas

Merry Christmas in 2007!!! Below is the e-card.


This Christmas, I am thankful for Music, Christmas Decorations, Holiday Spirit, Family and Friends, Great Times, and Everyday.

Thank you for being a part of my life and making this all happen.

God Bless,
Brian

“A truly rich life sometimes means nothing more than a series of great relationships, and the experiences that you gain from those relationships.”

Farewell Oregon. Till Next Time

My 2nd trip to Oregon was definitely something to remember. For the avid traveler, sometimes you want to taste everything at least once. The truth is that there is a lot of world to see; but sometimes seeing things for a 2nd time makes the experience that much richer!

It's like seeing a movie for the 2nd, 3rd, or 8th time! Sometimes you learn something new, or remember something that you forgot. And that's why each time is special.

In this episode, friendships got renewed. Relationships got stronger. New memories were made. The mediocre became great! I lift my drink to the girls of Oregon. Thanks for a great time!



And I leave you with this...The girls dancing.



Coming up next is my trip to Maine with the NYC crew for Lobster Fest.

One more thing of note: From New York to Portland, Continental offers non-stop service between EWR - PDX. They have a red-eye flight that totally saved me a vacation day.

Heading to the Coast - Oregon

After a fun trifecta weekend, Andrea had to head back up to Eugene to resume real life. So the dynamic duo of Tammy and I recruited a new third - Felicia (pictured left). I remember when I took my cross road country trip 3 years ago, we drove along the west coast in Washington, and I had wondered what the coast line of Oregon was like.

Tammy, Felicia, and I took a 2 hour drive out to the beach. We also brought Felicia's dog Saddy.

The Beach
2 hours later, we made it to the beach. So when you think west coast and beach, you think surfing. right? Here's the deal with the beach in Oregon (over Labor Day Wknd):

• Very cloudy and almost gloomy - Since there are mountains that run along the west coast, orographic lift occurs, which causes a lot of clouds and eventually rain; This is the reason why Seattle is always so rainy.
  

• The beach and the water is very cold - The rotating ocean current brings the cold water from Japan to the North American West Coast, and eventually warms again when it rotates down to California.

• The beach is very windy and good for kite flying - This is due to the difference in the air temperatures along the water and mainland.
  

Re-cap:
Talk about good times! Our drive consisted of going up and down a variety of forest filled mountains and lakes. Since Felicia is a environmental law student, she knew a ton of stuff about the environment. Apparently a lot of the trees in the area we were driving were Douglas-Firs (a.k.a. Christmas Trees) and that most of the logging (tree cutting) industry takes place in the Pacific Northwest. BOOM! Instant education. We talked a bunch of global warming, and petroleum issues. That will be for another entry. But good times.

In my next entry, I'm going to close off Oregon with random pictures and a special video of the brat pack from Oregon (Andrea, Felicia, and Tammy). But for now, here are some pics from the day.

Go Ducks, eat a wing.

Me sitting on the edge of a cliff (left). The view from our hiking trip (right)

Andrea (pictured below on the left) came down to Portland from Eugene (about 2 hours away). And so begins the Miami Spring Break Reunion.



The background story: One of the best parts about traveling, are all of the different people that you meet. Just look at Brazil. We met 3 amazing couples, and then some. Spring Break in Miami is certainly no different. Amongst all of the beautiful babies that were ready to party Spring Break style, I met these 2 fools (look at the corn picture below). We danced, we partied; It was a good time. Through the miracles of e-mail and affordable national telephone plans, we kept in touch. Fast forward 4 years, and we come to present day - a little older, a little wiser, a little more partied out (I seriously can't physically party like I used to).

Now with Andrea in the picture, the beginning of my trip is complete - the trifecta is back!

So it's Saturday...which means one thing, COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Tammy and Andrea went to University of Oregon (Ducks), (the team to beat until Dennis Dixon got hurt). I went to University of Wisconsin (Badgers), who was ALSO having a huge year, until...well, they just sucked. Anyway, Oregon...so similar to Wisconsin, Oregon really has nothing to get excited about about or look forward to except for major college football, a bad NBA basketball team, and the comings of what sort of looks like a metropolitan lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, a beautiful place with lots of nature stuff to do, but Portland as a major city? Definitely no London or San Francisco.

However, back to football. Oregon pummeled Houston, Wisconsin spanked Washington, and life was in perfect harmony in Duck and Badger country. But what football day would be complete without chips, dip, sausage, and chicken wings. With that said, what weekend with the girls from O would be complete without us acting like complete fools?!? Videos and pictures are below.

And my trip to Portland in a brief paragraph: It's similar to other mid-major city in the likes of Seattle, Milwaukee, Houston, etc. However, there are differences. One unique thing about Portland is that it lies on the West Coast of the US. And so the weather is never ridiculously extreme. The coastal mountains allow for a decent amount of rain fall, which means LOTS of trees and the divine makings of nature all around. We drove 35 minutes away from the city of Portland and ended up at the hiking spot with waterfalls. There is definitely a nightlife, which made for some good times. They have their lounges meant for the grown and sexy, the dive bar with rock and occasional hip hop music, and even bars for the hipster in all of us. One really nice thing about Portland nightlife is that the venues are not ridiculously crowded to the point that you feel like you're being violated by wandering hands...Oregon has a great selection of local wines and beers available at any given grocery store, bar, or restaurant. Oregon wine is some of the finest in this country.

Now for some pics from our football and bbq extravaganza:




Tomorrow's entry will wrap it up and be about the beach.

Waterfalls in Oregon

Waterfalls in Oregon, originally uploaded by spiggot123.

I went hiking with Tammy the morning after I arrived to Portland, Oregon. What a beautiful hike! This place was awesome, it had waterfalls all over the place. I had never seen anything like it. Everywhere we walked, I would hear the rumblings of water. It felt a "peaceful serenity" soundtrack or something. It was so nice.

The weather was perfect - at a nice calm breezy 75F degrees. I wish hiking in NY was this divine.

It also helps to that I was hiking with a wonderful girl from Oregon. Good Times. Below are pics of the giant waterfall I showered in.

Oregon or Bust - pt. 2

Day One (cont...)

4:55pm - Will I make it to the airport in time?

5:10pm - And then my "Oh Sh*t!" moment...(see left picture for example)

I still need to check-in!!!

In circumstances like these, I always have a lifeline. Because it was then that I remembered that you can check-in online. But with no computer or internet access I am seemingly SOL (sh-t out of luck).

Lifelines...I call my hero Kim.




*ring* *ring*
Kim: Hello
Brian: Hey...kim...How's it going? So yeah, glad to hear things are good. blah blah blah (foofy foofy stuff). ok, KIM! I need a big favor.
Kim: What do you want from me now?
Brian: I'm on my way to the airport to go to Oregon and I'm late, as usual, and I didn't check into my flight. Can you do it up for me online? My OnePass number and password are as follows...

Alpha Niner Fred Kappa Charlie Beta Delta Murphy (yaddy yaddah...)

5:25pm - All checked-in, I haul ass to the airplane with my hair flopping around all over the place. Between the heat and me sweating my rear off, my hair product basically melted and streamed down my face. Not my best look.

"Dear G-D,

If I am to sit next to Alessandra Ambrosio on the plane, please give her beer goggles, and bless me with mad game so that I may properly MAK it to her.

Amen"

Hair may be floppy, but at least I made the flight with about 10 minutes to spare. And in 5.5 hours, I get to hang out with these two genii.



No bust...

P.S. Newark is a really good airport to fly out of. I have never had any delays what so ever. And it is much easier to get to from the city than JFK and LaGuardia. Continental has a hub over there. I flew direct from Newark to Portland. It was awesome! So convenient.

Portland, Oregon or Bust!

Me at a waterfall in Oregon.

My 2nd trip to Portland, Oregon. Honestly, who the heck goes to Oregon of all places? It's like saying that you're going to Idaho...Oh wait, I HAVE been to Idaho.

Actually, Oregon is a really neat place. It has a great mix of nature and metropolitan life, without all of the congestion. I can actually walk through the streets without bumping into anyone. It's a great place to get away from it all. Also helps to have 2 ridiculous friends to visit too! More to come on them later. Let's get this trip started!

Honestly, what trip would be complete without another one of my ridiculous airport stories!

Day One:

Full day of work as usual. My flight is at 6pm at Newark Int'l. My office is at the World Financial Center. I was supposed to leave work at 3pm. But as usual, I'm late...AGAIN!

So I end up leaving work at around 3:30pm (I hope my boss isn't reading this). Haul ass to Penn Station to take NJ Transit to Newark.

4:00pm - Arrive at Penn Station. HUGE LINE for NJ Transit ticket

4:10pm - Still on line. 1st train to Newark leaves.

4:25pm - Still on line!!! 2nd train to Newark leaves.

4:35pm - Lady in front of me pays with CASH!!! CASH!!! She sticks it in, and the machine won't read her money. Spits it out. She tries to flatten it out. Sticks it in. *waiting...waiting...*

...

...

...Spits it back out again. AHH!!! Again, smoothening the creases. Sticks it back in. *waiting...waiting...*

"Processing Ticket!" YES!!! Lady get out of my way.

Not so fast. She didn't use exact change so now I have to wait for all of her freakin' change to fall out.

4:40pm - "Last call for the train to Trenton (Newark is on the way). All aboard!" *SH-T!!!* Select stations, credit card, pay bounce! 1.5 minutes. Running again like Home Alone, except there was bad Penn Station jazz music.

4:44pm - Get on the track. Doors closing. It literally felt like I leaped into the train. Made it! Sweaty and everything. On my way to the airport. flight is at 6pm!!!

4:55pm - OMG. It's 4:55pm! Will I make it on time?

The conclusion to this saga coming up tomorrow!

Does this suspenseful ending officially make me an ass?

By the way...please use credit cards when there is a long line. Don't you ever watch those silly visa commercials?

Oregon is Next

Stay Tuned...

followed by Maine.

More Pictures

These are extra pictures that never made it to the individual posts. But definitely worthy of view. enjoy.

Next week, I write up on my trip to Maine for Lobster Fest, and then Oregon to visit some old friends.










Brazilian girls doing a Brazilian electric slide at Sauipe Fest.