Things I Learned on my Spring Vacation

1. Getting off a ski lift with only one ski is pretty hard. Uh, at least without causing a train wreck. I actually learned this lesson twice, because for some reason getting on one of the lifts with both skis intact was not easy. Both times I tried to half-ski, half-walk off the lift and usually ended up sprawled out on the ground, often alongside a few other people I took out in the process.

2. Victor is a hero. Really. I do not fall very often (ya know, other than the situations mentioned above). The unintended side effect of this seemingly great thing is that I CANNOT GET UP while on skis. On one particularly steep slope (for me) Victor was already near the bottom when I bit it. After trying unsuccessfully to stand up and get my skis on for oh, five minutes, Victor took his skis off and WALKED UP THE MOUNTAIN to help me. Talk about chivalry! I told him I could just stay there as the snow was pretty comfy but he didn't think that was a very good idea.

3. 1 full day of skiing + 2 gin sours (yum!) + 45 minutes down a mountain in a bus = UGH

4. On a related note, bartenders at ski lodges make seriously strong drinks.

5. I like talking to random people in bars. One day (okay okay, pretty much every day) I finished skiing before Victor so I went to the bar while I waited for him. I struck up a conversation with a man sitting beside me. He was probably in his 40s and kept telling me about his multiple girlfriends (one is a scientist like me, one is from Paris, one is from the South, and so forth). I never did the bar scene when I was single, but since this conversation, I have wanted to go to another bar and talk to people. Victor probably would not approve.

6. When in California, I should always specify that my food be not spicy, at all! We went to an Indian restaurant and I said I wanted my lamb tikka masala (YUM YUM!) "mildly spicy". Right...I could barely eat it. I think I offended the waiter because he observed that I seemed to like the water more than my dinner.

7. Tahoe is freakin' gorgeous. I don't have pictures yet because I was stupid and forgot my camera. We did buy a disposable one but I have yet to get the film developed. Stay tuned.