I actually started writing this post yesterday. But the reality of life these days is that there is precious little time for writing blogs. Anyhow, back to our weekend up in Mammoth that is part of Dennis' birthday celebration. It was a very good trip, notwithstanding the fact that the weather threw some unexpected twist into our travel plans.
The plan was to start out on Thursday evening around 6 pm and to arrive into Mammoth around 1 or 2 am. We got out only at around 7 pm and well, we made it only to Bishop that night because the final stretch of road leading into Mammoth was closed. We had to turn around to Bishop, the closest town with accommodations. As many people were caught in the same predicament, the lines at the motels were long and we were very lucky to have ourselves room for the night.
Friday morning, baby woke up bright and early, completely unaware of the fact that her parents slept for just about four hours during the night. Both Dennis and I wished for more sleep but were immediately cheered when we peeked out of the window to see blue skies. We checked for the road conditions - is the highway opened? - and set out to get breakfast and snow chains. We finally hit the road at around 9 am and arrived into Mammoth at around 10:30. So much for Dennis and Ben hitting the slopes at 8:30 in the morning!
Still all was not lost. The boys got out there by noon and had a few good hours of skiing and snowboarding (Ben snowboards and Dennis skis). I wanted to go snowshoeing at the Tamarack Lakes. Unfortunately, because baby was a little off schedule that day, by the time I made it out there, baby was fast asleep and I didn't want to disturb her. So back to the cabin we went. I figured I can still get out on Saturday. I should have gone for that was a good day for it - sun in the sky, low winds and simply beautiful. Saturday became a series of failed attempts to go snowshoeing. It was snowing hard and the winds were too strong. Even though I really wanted to be out there exercising and that the soul craved the great outdoors, baby came first (of course!). Saturday turned out to be a day spent in the car. As it turned out, baby, perhaps because she is familiar with her car seat, napped well in it (she did not nap at all on Friday; she had difficulty falling asleep in the cabin in the unfamiliar bed). Wishing to keep her to her schedule and so that she can nap a bit, I drove around town while she slept in the back. When I got tired of driving, I read my book in the car. I am glad to say it is a very good book.
One of the highlights of the trip is the food we ate. We ate well! And we had great company too because our friends Brian and Olin were up there the same weekend and so we had dinners together. Whereas previous culinary experience at ski resorts were always at best palatable, upon the recommendations of Olin, we ate at two very good restaurants: Petras on Friday and Skadi on Saturday (Dennis's birthday dinner).
As the Chinese sayings goes, there is no party that does not end in this world, so our little weekend trip had to end too. Unfortunately, it took us a long time to get back to San Diego because the storm that came in on Saturday night dumped a whole two to three feet of snow. Again, 395 was closed and was expected to closed till 7 pm! Poor Dennis was terrible unhappy about it as his being at work on Monday was a non-negotiable. To make this long story short, we didn't leave town at 10 am as plan. But neither did we leave only at 7 pm. Lucky for us - lucky under the circumstances - the roads opened at around two in the afternoon and we were one of the firsts to be escorted by police out of Mammoth. It was very slow going - the police kept us at just about 15 miles per hour most of the way to Bishop - but our spirits were improved since "at least we are not leaving at 7 pm!" We actually made pretty good time once we got into Bishop. The roads were dry and good. We didn't get back into San Diego till 10:30 pm only because of two extended stops along the way - to grab our very late lunch and to feed baby - and because we got lost in the 215/15 maze in San Bernardino.
Incidentally, baby was not terribly happy about being in the car seat for so long on our way back down (she was fine going up because it was night and she slept). It was heartbreaking to see her protest. The good news is, she was absolutely delighted to be home. When we put her into her crib, she was so happy and excited to see her mobile and toys again. We were tired but we were safe at home. And we have the memory of this family's first road trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment