Monaloca

I wanted to see snow this winter. No matter that I can’t ski while pregnant – I missed the serenity of freshly-covered mountains and the softness of falling snow. I also wanted one last weekend with adult friends before the baby arrives. Joey (somewhat reluctantly – we have so much going on!) agreed, and we rented a fabulous cabin in South Tahoe along with Melissa, Patricia, Kitt, and Brian.

While the others were skiing/boarding, Joey, Melissa, and I rented snowshoes and traipsed around the shin-to-knee-deep powder behind the cabin, which butted up against extensive forest land yet was just a few miles from the casinos. In the late afternoons we baked brownies, made dinner, and watched movies (thumbs up for “The Illusionist”) and at night played games or gambled. Aaaaah, relaxation at its finest!

We didn’t expect our same luck getting home as we’d had driving up Friday afternoon. (We girls and Joey made it up in a record 3 1/2 hours, including a lunch stop.) But we also weren’t prepared for what awaited us when we left the cabin around 11:30 on Sunday morning: a 12-plus hour ordeal, with the first eight hours spent going a total of six or seven miles just to get us out of Tahoe proper.

We started with a skid-out driving down our quiet street. From there, snow fell continuously, wind whipped an extra layer of powder onto the roads, we caved and bought/had chains installed on our rented 4WD SUV, and at one point long after night fell I had to pee so badly that I climbed into knee-deep snow next to a Chevron station and mooned the cars driving by at 5mph. I’m betting all these travelers were as weary as we were and didn’t bat an eye. And it beat standing in a 40-minute bathroom line in the frigid night air.

Rain had never looked so fine as when we finally reached Placerville around 10pm, and by midnight we were greeted by a whining cat at our door back in Berkeley. I realize it’s going to take years and a lot of convincing to get Joey to do another winter snow trip, but for me it was still worth it. It’ll be even better next time when I can ski, too! Though next time I’ll probably pick a destination other than South Tahoe…

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