Ski Trip, 2:3

Here's the group on Day Two at Squaw Valley, riding the Cable Car up the mountain. What a sexy group, eh? :-DThis is a view from below. You can see the tower up there on the mountain (it's not the top, just the first crest). Every time you go past one of those on a crest, the car sways a bit (don't worry, mom--the operator warns you ahead of time). During the course of the cable car ride you go up over 2000 feet from where you started. Then you can get on a chair lift and go higher! Over all a pretty trip up and over some very interesting terrain (see our car's shadow in the corner?) I love those rocks!!At the top of the cable car lift is an uber-chalet. Not some dimly-lit, close-quartered cabin where you smush together and buy cocoa and warm your toes . . . this is huge. There are restaurants, an olympic-sized ice rink where you can skate, an Olympic museum, and an outdoor swimming pool (not frequented in the winter)! There's also a great picnic/observation deck area that looks out at Lake Tahoe from a distance. Pei, ready to rock the hill on her board Ben, after a long skate over a flat starting area, coming to tell me that I was not going to get any good downhill shots from that angle Our time was not wasted, however! Erik helped haul a snowboarder out of the pit around one of the lift supports. How many times have you heard the words, "Thank you, kind stranger!" floating on brisk winter air? ;-D

We then spent some time in the Olympic museum, which was neat! It's small and well-organized, with posterboards outlining the audacious proposal to have the Olympics in the relatively unknown mountains outside of Europe, as well as news stories from the 1960 Olympic games. It was really interesting! Erik won the gold for being patient and waiting for me long after he was done reading stuff.How about that blue sky?! I took approximately 1 bazillion pictures while trying to catch the flag open enough to read. Ha!Heading back down in the cable car (if you click and make it bigger, you may be able to see the buildings at the bottom) . . . whoops! As I click and look, this isn't the cable car; it's the funitel, which is similar, but smaller and it doesn't go as high. It's also a continually rotating line of cars (there are only two cable cars and they do not make a loop--they take turns going back and forth every 15-minutes). The funitel cars have seating and standing room for 28 people (that would be CRAMPED) while the cable car, when stuffed full (not when I was on it, thank goodness) holds 110! Erik & I took it really easy that afternoon--watched some Warren Miller footage that Ben had along (FUN stuff!), and picked the young'uns up in plenty of time for an early dinner/movie/game night--and a Real Fire!

Back in our digs, Ben videotaping. . . everything. Hey, it's a new toy. ;-P Just called the vet and Sam is out of surgery and doing well. He'll be ready to come home late this afternoon. Now we wait for the biopsy.

On another note, I made Gammy's Fish Chowder last night. I'd never made it before (and I haven't had it in YEARS). It tasted like home. It was so good! Come over and have some. ;-)