Tuesday PM

This going to be a fairly boring recounting of the Tahoe weekend. Not that the weekend was at all boring. But I don't normally like to just blah away at the things I/we do on a daily basis.

The trip out was pretty uneventful. Drive to O'Hare (using my buddy Pete's I-Pass for tolls). Wait. No pit-BBQ chicken this time. Ride the aerobus to Reno. Chatty gals in the seats directly in front of us. On-time arrival. Efficient car rental. Hyunda Sonata sedan. Nice. A little snack at a McDonals's drive-through. A hungry Susan is not something to ignore. Drive up the hill to Tahoe.

Phil was entertaining the groom's family on Tursday evening. Just as we parked at his house, the California and KC families rolled in too, so we had a rush of about 10 people who's collective presence may have been a little much for the new folks to handle. They took their leave pretty quickly.

Our accomodations were at a private residence in Incline Village. The owners, who also own the retro-condo from our last two Tahoe vacations, have built matching 4 bedroom additions to each end of what was once a fairly small ranch house. They rent rooms in the one side by the night. So we took two separate rooms, each with it's own bathroom. Very nice. Our LV relatives took another room for Friday and Saturday nights.

Interestingly, the husband/owner is a retired Marine pilot whose career included flying President Johnson's heliocopter in the DC area. The couple has several kids and the additions to the house were to make visits by those families easy. He retired as a colonel about 15 or so years ago at age 52. How do you say, "Not a chance for the LT?"

The retro-condo has been at least partially redone. The shag in the lower two levels is gone! And it may not even be available next summer.

Back to the story. Friday. Early to SB's. The gals didn't like my request for an extra hot Americano. 2 and 4 sleep in. There's juice and light snacks provided at the house as part of the fee. I watch CNBC as the market tanks. A few business calls to nervous clients.

The plan had been to do a hike on Mt. Rose mid-morning-ish. Once 2 and 4 arise, we get set to depart and the car won't start! Some electrical problem. Bottom line: I spend about 3-4 hours swapping out cars. First time in all my years of car rentals that I have any such problem. The hike is ditched. The girls spend most of the mid-day at Phil's hanging out. They are very popular with the young kids.

Once the car is replaced, we decide to get cleaned up and head over for the annual Salute to Wally at the Embassy Suites in South Shore. We do this and it is good. A little annoying with some loud fellow customers, and a non-English speaking wait staff. The strip at Stateline has really been cleaned up on the mountain-side. A few t-shirt shops remain on the lake-side, but I suspect that their days are numbered too. No purchases for our crew, but we did look at a $5 sale rack. Then back to Incline for a groom's family hosted get-together. Nice. Really good catered stuff. A fairly early evening.

Saturday became the hike day. SB's early. Less worry since the markets were closed. 2 and 4 get up between 9 and 10 and we head up to the trail. Lots of snow on the trail. About 2.5 hours of up and down. LV Doyle took the long route and was out for 6 hours or so. We ran into him on his way back to the trail head.

Obligatory stop at Raley's on the way back to the house. Subway for lunch. Chips. No Herdez. Rest. And get ready for the big evening. I managed to get lost on the way to the event. Too cute for my own good.

The civil ceremony was held outside at the Incline Village golf club. Cousin Kevin officiated. Rev Kev. He did a great job. 20 minutes. Music by a parlor quartet. No singing. Very nicely done.

The reception was right there at the club. Hors d'oeuvre's on the balcony for half-three quarters of an hour. Then inside for a sit-down dinner of either chicken or pasta. (The pasta was great.) We had the San Mateo and LV clans at our table. Toasts. Dancing. Good times. We stay till they shut it down.

Many of the contemporaries of the bride and groom were acquaintances from Warsaw, Poland where the bride taught 10-12 years ago. Most of those folks have moved on to other things, but many still reside overseas. And we aren't sure how many work for the CIA. Hmmm.

2 may have been over-served for the evening.

Sunday is a pure travel day. We get to say good-bye to Phil and Jan as they have breakfast at the Stardust(?) across from the Biltmore. Then down to Reno. I loose a bet to 4 on how many bikers we'll see on Mt. Rose. I say more than 5, but less than 10. 13 was the number. On-time departure around 11:15 local. We are at the back of the bus and get to listen to some self-absorbed engineer sitting behind us describe his water research project in painful detail for almost half the trip. I am reminded of the character in Airplane! with the drinking problem who describes his plights to several seat-mates who all try to kill themselves rather than to listen to his dribble.

We land early in Chicago, but sit on the deck waiting for an empty gate. Finally out. I go get the car in Economy Parking as 2 and 4 get the bags. We meet and get on the road. A visit to 3 downtown just isn't going to happen. Snacks and gas in DeKalb. Home around 9 local. Long day.

Summary thoughts. I never get tired of Lake Tahoe. But I don't think I would want to live there full time. It's certainly not as much fun when our entire family isn't there together. We have a wonderful extended family. The wedding was as nice of an event as I can recall attending. It would be nice to travel from the QC rather than have the drive to/from Chicago on both ends of the airplane ride. An upgrade to first class might be nice. Always have an I-Pass when travelling in Illinois. I can almost get the Friday and Saturday NY Times crosswords done on these trips because I have the time and don't have the distractions. The disadvantage is that I don't read a book, which, it could be argued, is a better mental exercise.

So that's about all. I may have some other thoughts after re-reading this myself tomorrow.

In other news, 4 says that Lance will be in IC for a cancer event next week while in Iowa for his RAGBRAI visit. And she will be part of the filming crew. He's in France today for the Tour. An American is back in yellow.

Be careful out there.