Stevo Visits Tahoe and Conquers It!

My very very good friend from college, Steve Zander, just came for a lovely visit to beautiful Lake Tahoe. I owed him a tour of the place after all the bike rides he gave me to the bars when I had torn my ACL in Boulder =) So here's the recap:

I picked Steve up at the Reno Airport and we immediately went to California's famous burger chain, In-N-Out. After scarfing down a Double Double and shake, we headed back to Tahoe and went to a free Bluegrass kinda Funk show at the local casino, the Crystal Bay Club. The band, Blue Turtle Seduction, is one of my local faves and it wasn't crowded so there was plenty of room on the dance floor!

The next day I made pancakes (that were excellent if I must say so myself) and Steve asked where a good coffee place is, so we biked to Tahoe House that serves a rich strong coffee that is often nicknamed crack cocaine coffee because of the strong after effects. We enjoyed some tasty pastries and caffeine and then biked up to Squaw Valley where we began our steep hike to Shirley Lake and then up to High Camp. My 8oz coffee kicked in on the hike and I was in the zone not stopping for anything, even a steep slab of granite that we had to scramble up! We swam in Shirley Lake and then continued to High Camp where we took the Cable Car back down to the base, climbed on our bikes, and made the 9 mile trek back home.

The one great thing about Steve coming out to visit is that he already lives at altitude in Denver and is an active person, so I didn't take it easy on him in Tahoe. I feel I just need to defend myself here in case you think, as you read on, that I'm pushing Steve a little too much with the local hiking and biking Tahoe lifestyle =) He was ready for it!

That night we made a big delicious dinner with my roommates and played a little drunken Jenga, the original wooden block game! We stacked it up pretty high and then Matt pulled the wrong block and Steve captured some good shots with his highly expensive very nice Canon camera. A bunch of friends came over and then we biked to the local bars in a Tahoe style typical bike gang. It was a great night on the town!

Saturday, we had a delicious breakfast at the Old Post Office, saw some of the classic old wooden boats (Cris Crafts and Gar Woods) at the marina and visited a "Huge Yard Sale" that was disappointingly small only offering 10 VHS tapes and a bracelet. Steve fixed our shower because the water pressure in the shower head was awful, and then I made Steve get back on the bike to stroll down the West Shore. We got some great views of the lake and all the mansions that border it and hiked up to Eagle Rock which shows a nice elevated view of the lake, as you can see below. (Steve takes great photos!)
Then we met up with Katie and Bradford, packed up our overnight bags, and hiked down to Chimney Beach on the East Shore to do a little sleeping under the stars. So you're not supposed to camp down there and when we got to the beach some guy jumped out of the bushes at us and said with authority, "You guys are busted." It ended up being another camper who thought we were rangers and he was hiding from us. He and his pal were a little strange, but they made a fire in the Chimney and didn't bother us too much.

We all got a great nights sleep, including Bradford who was all cozy in his sleeping bag after going for a late night swim in the cold waters of Tahoe. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise and Tim Tam slams, which is a little chocolate snack brought over from New Zealand. This is the wonderful part about Tahoe: camping, star gazing, beautiful blue waters, endless bike paths, hiking trails and friendly outgoing people are all in your very backyard. You have to travel nowhere to experience a lifestyle that people in the city and suburbs travel hours to get to only to emerse themselves in Nature for the weekend. I love it here.

After eating breakfast at the local cafe, Bradford, Matt, Stevo and myself headed out for a gnarly hike starting from Emerald Bay, heading to Eagle Lake and then to Velma Lakes, crossing over to Maggie's Peaks and then back down the Bayview trail to a vista piont of Lake Tahoe. About 10 miles overall. Again, Steve is already aclimated! And it was a wonderful hike with a refreshing jump into Velma Lakes and delicious sandwhiches that were previously purchased.

We ended up at a different trailhead than where we started from, so the gang nominated me to hitchhike down the hill back to the car. It was logical: a girl should get a ride quicker than a guy. I hitchhike occasionally in Tahoe City and get a ride pretty fast, but this was a tourist's parking lot and NO ONE was picking me up. I even confronted a couple and said that I just needed a ride down the road and they looked at each other like I had a gun in my backpack and then replied, "We don't have room." Finally, a truck pulled over and the driver was from Truckee...you can always rely on the locals! He gave me a ride down the hill as Steve took photos of his liscense plate with his mega zoom just in case =0)










My roommate made dinner that night and then we pretty much just passed out.

Monday was the day for Steve's departure, so we ate at the BEST local breakfast joint, Fire Sign (we had tried to go Sunday but it was a hour and a half wait!) It was nice to have that morning to just hang out with my old college friend. The whole weekend was jam packed with adventures with some of my closest friends here in Tahoe. Everyone is always up for anything and I'm psyched that Steve got to hang out with everyone so much. Everyone wanted him to move to Tahoe, including me! And I'm still working on a persuasion plan.

So we went to Secret Cove on the West Shore to swim in one the the most amazing spots on the lake. Then it was time to head to the Airport. I was very sad to see such a good friend go, but also in life, we must travel and see all there is to see and meet good friends along the way. In a perfect world, I would create a community in the mountains where all my family and friends from all stages of life would live. But until they all turn into hippies and are willing to uproot from home, I will just have to settle with great visits to all the wonderful places where all my wonderful friends reside. And know you always have a home in Tahoe too!

A Wedding in Chicago

CHI TOWN

Chicago is one of the coolest cities in this world, and we had the opportunity to check it out with a wedding perspective. My mom's best friend, Gail King, has a beautiful daughter who met a wonderful man and they tied the knot in complete style and class.

Sarah, the bride, and I used to set up lemonade stands at the top of Surfside Dr. in Kentucky and we would sell cookies and snacks too. I remember one guy emptied out his coin tray into our tip cup and we thought we were rich. But now she's all grown up and our family was able to participate in the big day, with Michael Fay, an old neighbor who now lives in Chicago, as a date for 3 lovely ladies.

Michael works at the Hyatt and hooked it up with a very nice room with a stunning view of downtown and the Chicago River. We heard a knock at the door and in comes room service with chocolate strawberries, local beer, cheese and wine and a nice note. Michael was raised well!!

We then headed to a little Polish place to celebrate a birthday for Greg, Gail's boyfriend. We enjoyed Polish beer and tons of meat, fried and delicious! And mom took home the bottle of port she's holding in her hand with her new Polish pal, the owner. =)






The next day included shopping on Michigan Avenue and meeting up with an old high school friend, Denise. We used to be lab partners freshman year in Physics and we haven't lost our sense of humor! Shelley's pants ripped getting into the cab, which was a hilarious episode, but luckily she had a nice shawl to tie around her waist to hide the rip. The sushi was great and it was so fun to catch up with old friends and enjoy some stylish nightlife! A little different from what we've got in Tahoe. And we're pretty sure our waiter was jacked up on steroids and Red Bull, which made the evening even more humorous.

The next day was rainy and gloomy so we enjoyed the Field Museum and walked passed Lalapalooza that was happening in Grant Park. It was entertaining to watch kids scout out the concert, jump the fence and run like hell and then watch a security officer take off after them.

That night Sarah and Adam arranged for a cocktail hour at the Drake Hotel, a classic of Chicago. My grandparents on my dad's side used to dine there occasionally and it was like walking back in time going through the Hotel. Shelley and I even slipped into the closed Cod room where a bartender was cleaning up. He ended up telling us old stories about the place as he showed us where Marilyn Monroe and the like had carved their initials into the bar top. It was a very tasteful evening.

And now, the wedding day. Sarah got married in a Cathedral right on Michigan Ave. The ceremony was short and sweet (so it was not a Catholic wedding) and then we all headed to the Alder Planetarium for the reception. Michael was a good date and hailed the cab for us while the wedding party took a cute little trolley.

The planetarium was an amazing place to have a reception. It is located at the end of a point that juts out into Lake Michigan. The result: an incredible view of the city. We were able to enjoy the setting sun with a cosmo in hand (and a beer for Michael) and a delicious meal. There are also fireworks that are set off from Navy Pier every Saturday night in the summer. And of course, the wedding was on a Saturday and we all were able to enjoy an uninterrupted view of the bright show. The band was a lot of fun and Sarah's friends are even more fun. The dance floor was pumping and even a Sarah's half brother, who is 4, couldn't stop break dancing! Sarah even had a photo booth set up to take group pictures like you would with all your friends at the movies in middle school.

(In the photo: Shelley, Sarah, Gail, Kathy, Kim)


When the party was over 2 city buses pulled up to the planetarium and we all loaded on. Some of Sarah's friends grabbed some bottles of Kaluha and downed shots like champs! It was very entertaining to hear all the sorority songs being sung by all the Tri Deltas on the bus!


We were drpped off at the Hyatt and Michael and I went out to the bars. City life is so diverse and entertaining with every type of person and bar imaginable around. Don't get me wrong, I love my mountains and being able to see the stars in the night sky, but if I could live in a city, it would be CHICAGO!!!

WANDERLUST

Welcome to the WANDERLUST Festival in Beautiful SQUAW VALLEY USA!

So we all heard about this great weekend festival at the top of Squaw Valley a long time ago, but no one wants to buy tickets to a place they get a free pass to in the winter. So here were the list of options to see the shows:

1. Write a haiku online and win tickets
2. Call into a radio station and win tickets
3. Pass out flyers on the streets and get free tickets
4. Hike up to the top and poach the fence or know the person patrolling and beg him to let you through
5. Somehow find a festival wristband on the ground and claim it

Well I went with option 2. That's right! I won tickets from a local radio station. Funny story actually. I had to work later in the day and so I woke up and laid in bed for a while. While dozing I decided to turn on the radio to see if I could win some tickets. I heard a Spoon song playing, which is one of the bands in the festival, and I thought maybe I would call in just to see if they were giving away tickets when an artist from the festival is on air. I called in when the song was over and as it started ringing I almost hung up thinking I was an idiot for trying. Howie, the host, picked up and I asked if I could win tickets. He said,

"Are you serious, did you realize you were already calling in to win tickets? Did you even realize you heard a Spoon song? You've won tickets to Wanderlust!"

Kim: "What the heck? Really??!! I will be right there. Where are you guys located?"

Howie: "South Lake Tahoe."

Kim: "On my way!"

It took an hour to get there and Howie stuck around to meet me. He even recorded my voice telling everyone to listen to his radio station. Everyone in the station was laughing when they heard I came all the way down from Tahoe City. I was PUMPED!

FRIDAY
We collected a bike gang and rode up to Squaw to see The Mutaytor and Sharon Stone and the Dap Kings. That woman is sassy! Then we saw a decent DJ and yes, actually closed the festival down. We were the last gang in the Village and scored free pizza out of it! Our bike gang rode home and got back at 4am.

SATURDAY
We took the gondola up to the top of Squaw Valley where an immense stage was set up. We enjoyed Rebecca Welsch and her folksy banjo and guitar and then were entertained by Jenny Lewis and her band. If you haven't checked her music out, do it soon! It then got a little hot and we all jumped in the mountain lake under the chair lift. Weird seeing all those little wonders that are normally covered by snow! And of course the place was full of locals and I knew all the beer pourers. This concert was pretty much free the whole weekend!

Michael Franti and Spearhead were supposed to play, but he got apendicides and so the rapper Common replaced them. Not the same, but still a good show. Then we headed down the gondola to see the other shows: The Mutaytor again and the awesome DJ Girl Talk. He mixes old hits like Bruce Hornsby and Michael Jackson to newer songs. It was incredible!

Matt and I were going to ride our bikes home, but we were lazy and stuck out our thumbs when a Jeep pulled over to pick us up. It happened to be a Squaw Kids instructor and we were grateful for the ride!

SUNDAY
Well I had to work the close shift on Sunday, but Spoon was playing at the top of the gondola and I really wanted to go! I made a deal with my co-worker. He let me ditch out of work for 2 hours to see the show and I promised to stay extra long to finish up all the work. I hurried over across the valley and met up with some friends at the top, watched the show, and rushed back to work to close up.

What an amazing FREE fun weekend!!! I hope they do it again next year!

Oops I Did It Again

So I have a new scar from another mountain biking mishap, but this time it's on my knee and not my head, which is a slight improvement in location. I was just wandering around Page Meadows to check out the blooming wild flowers and was then going to commute to Squaw to play some golf, and halfway though the plans I had to make a detour to the hospital after an "opps, I went over the handlebars and fell on a rock" moment. It's all good though; I carry a first aid kit and cleaned the gash right away...the doctor even said I did a good job. I was going to bypass stitches altogether, but it kinda kept bleeding, so I thought I better get a few. Luckily, my friend Katie P. was working at the hospital that day, so she kept me company and snagged a few photos. I have to admit I am a weirdo and don't mind messing a few things on my body up as long as it's fixable. I feel alive and almost brave when I do these things, and it's nothing that doctors and Dairy Queen can't fix. Enjoy!

San Diego June 16-22

Hello again friends! So my sister up and moved to the lovely city by the ocean: Saint Diego, so of course my mom and I hopped on planes to come and visit. I had never been to this city before, but by the end of the trip I'm pretty sure I could live comfortably there, even though it's so close to Tijuana, which mom had absolutely no desire to visit. Here's how it goes:

First of all, we were treated like royalty. Catherine, Shelley's friend and roommate, has parents who are, well, loaded. They have a condo downtown, and I mean downtown, San Diego that no one uses, so we volunteered for the difficult job of looking after the place. It was high security and we needed our key for just about everything. And parked in the garage to use at our disposal was a BMW convertible....yeah, pretty sweet.

So we spent some days at the beach while Shelley did her surf thing, checked out a Farmer's Market at Ocean Beach and ate at a vegan buffet that actually wasn't too bad. (My taste buds are now much more flexible after The Cleanse).

So if you ever go to San Diego you have to visit Balboa Park. It is a ginormous park filled with museums, architecture, theaters, fountains and gardens. Our first visit was the Museum of Man where we learned about the early days of brain surgery (like thousands of years ago using rocks as hammers), mummies and shrunken heads. A few days later we visited the Natural History Museum where Body Worlds 2 was on tour, you know, that weirdo process that German doctor created that preserves human cadavers perfectly in tact. It wasn't as creepy as I thought it'd be and I learned heaps about the human body and the importance of keeping it healthy. They also had a life size model of a great white shark that eerily freaked me out.


We made an excursion to a Padres baseball game. Wait, it wasn't an excursion because it was right down the street from our conveniently located condo! I was so excited for some baseball culture so of course mom and I got a hot dog at the game. The Padres are a pretty good team and I found myself cheering for them as if they were the Reds...strange, I know! And mom cheered for them too: "Go Pedros!" (It's Padres mom!!!) So then they started playing some fun music and I was having such a great time I stood up and danced to "do the mashed potato (do-do), do the alligator (do-do), put your hands on your hips (do-do), let your back bone slip (do-do). Nanananananananananana." When Shelley pulls my arm and points to the Jumbo Screen, and there was a gigantic Kim dancing for the whole stadium to see! I was shocked, but the guy in front of me said, "Just keep dancing!" It was a great game and we even got to see the "Friarworks" after the game. That city is so clever!


We also visited the world famous San Diego Zoo and did we see a lot! There's actually a gondola there called the Skyfari that takes you from one side to the other and buses that pick you up and drop you off due to the size of the place. We saw pandas, zebras, koalas, loads of snakes, polar bears, hippos, gorillas, elephants and a million different types of strollers! I mean, those prams are fancy now a days: dual strollers, fat tire strollers, wide load strollers, strollers with conveniently placed cup holders, and on and on. But back to the animals. I have to say my favorites were the gorillas. It is wildly strange how similar their behavior is to ours.








So we went out to eat a bunch and on the last night we strolled around looking for a nice restaurant. Mom and I agreed on a menu with lots of variety. We all enjoyed the meal on the patio when I glanced inside and noticed words on a big screen. This place had a karaoke night going!! I was so excited that I signed up right away. It was a little nerve racking singing in a new place, but all went smoothly and then Shelley and I sang a duet: "We Built This City." People were rocking.

San Diego is quite a town filled with great taco joints, gelato places that are open until midnight, beaches, baseball, shopping and class. I would love to visit again!

Ride Around the Lake!

After 3 years of living in paradise, I finally followed through with a big goal of mine: riding my bike around Lake Tahoe. It's a 72 mile trip by car, which I have driven many times and became alarmingly aware of the many hills and climbs. I always imagined how I may struggle on my bike up those hills and if I could actually make the whole ride in one trip. I found out that I could.

My roommate Katie, who seems to always be by my side in these adventures, is racing for a cause around the lake next week, so I promised I would encourage her by riding by her side around the lake before the race. We planned on doing it in 2 days because the furthest I've ever ridden had been 30 miles. We were going to stay in South Lake Tahoe, but Katie invited 2 other girls who wanted to do it in one day. I was a bit disheartened knowing I would be the slowest in the pack, but then I walked into the bike store to buy a spare tube and a very nice clerk told me I could easily do it...no big deal. My spirits started to lift. I also wore some awesome 80s style thrift store spandex to keep a sense of humor.

So we started on our adventure tackling the West Shore first climbing to Emerald Bay on our way to South Lake. I quickly learned that the trick about riding around the lake is to make sure your tires are fully inflated and to go in the early season so a car doesn't shove you off the shoulder.
It was a cloudy day, which was nice because the first climb was a killer and I probably would have worn out easier if the sun was beating down on me. Here's my reaction to that first climb:



We got to South Lake and I scarfed down a hummus bagel and carrot juice blend...I definitely needed the energy. We started climbing the hill that leads to the Carson Valley, which seemed to never end. Then we made our way to the East Shore and experienced some glorious downhill where we abruptly came upon some orange construction signs and found that we couldn't bike through. Instead, we had to pile our bikes into the pilot truck and be driven by a very nice construction worker to the end of the site. It was less than 2 miles, so this trip still counts!

It only started to rain toward the very end when we were almost home. I felt great during the whole ride and could have even gone further. I wasn't too sore the next day and I could be talked into the trip again! I feel full of energy and am glad we did 75 miles in 8 hours!! And look Mom, I'm wearing my helmet!

Spring Time 2009

SAN FRANCISCO
The weather has finally stabilized as warm and sunny and I'm in between jobs again. After Squaw Kids terminated, it rained for about a week, which meant I didn't feel guilty relaxing inside all day! But Casey and I decided to hit the coast to get away from the Tahoe chill and gloom. So we packed our bikes in the car and headed to our friend's house in San Francisco where we did the typical city thing and spoiled ourselves by buying expensive makeup from a shop downtown =0)
[Chris, Casey and Kim with San Fran in the background]

SANTA CRUZ/CAPITOLA
Then we headed to the best camping spot: New Brighton Beach near Santa Cruz. We rode our bikes into the nearby small town of Capitola and took lots of walks on the beach. Oh yeah! And
on our way down we stopped at a lighthouse and saw Blue Whales migrating north for the summer!!! We also learned how to swim away from riptides at a little museum we ran into on one of our walks.







BENSON HOT SPRINGS
The next camping excursion took place in the middle of the desert with my two bosses Karen and Robyn. Robyn took the two of us seriously into the middle of nowhere: Benson Hot Springs; Population 13 1/2. We had our own hot tub at the site with the local hot water source flowing from a spring nearby. As we set up camp I thought to myself: what in the world are we going to do for the whole day tomorrow? Well, we attempted a hike that led nowhere into the hills, we drove to a local river that was more of a stream, and then headed to Mammoth Lakes to get a cup of coffee. It was actually a great and relaxing trip with lots of reading and good eating involved (Robyn is a wonderful cook). Pictured below are Robyn and Karen at the campsite, a view from our hot tub and exploring the river.

















And of course with all the melting snow we had to explore all the new waterfalls exploding all over the place. So here are two hikes taken in the Tahoe area:

HORSETAIL FALLS, past South Lake Tahoe
[Bradford, Katie M., me and Katie Kuber scrambling up the granite rock]












SHIRLEY CANYON
Located in Squaw Valley, all the snow melt caused some raging waterfalls!
[Ryan, Joy, Jack and Kim]

HAPPY SPRING! Enjoy the changing of the seasons. XOXO