Aditya and Neeharika have made 855 Folsom,SF their residence and it is a great apartment for two I must say.Centrally located,it sports a very decent living room with a cooking space at one end and a Patio at the other.A wrought iron spiral stairway up from the LR leads to the bedroom,closet and facilities.There is also a powder room,a coat and umbrella closet as you enter the Apt.Their car is parked inside the building at the same level as the Apt (3rd Flr) and a drive way leads you in/out of the building to the street...Cool!
At first it was preparation for Christmas which was upon us.A good sized Xmas tree with lights and decor was already in place with some gifts...some more were procured,packed and placed soon.
The days were mostly overcast and temps hovered around 10 C,as 25th arrived.The gifts were opened with much fanfare,the participants being A,N,S and me..Pooja,Bashir and Aryaan were yet to arrive in the city.We treated ourselves to a movie...DANGAL,which kept up to Amir standard.
More shopping followed as we were equipping for the "Secret Santa" event at Benecia on 26th where we were to join Shoba,Babu,Bashir,Pooja,Ruthri,.,Janie and a friend, Anavi .... and Aryaan of course.
Secret Santa got on well inside the heated LR and we began by celebrating Babu's birthday and most folk got to taste the amazing Bourbon cocktail,Desi style,courtesy Neeharika and later to copious amount of wine,courtesy Babu. Shoba had cooked a grand meal befitting the occasion and we just gorged on it,desert and all.Unwrapping the gifts, bestowed secretly, fell upon Aryaan initially who was wide awake to see how many he got and was soon busy playing with his Toy.Xmas music played in the background muted by the chatter of the fairly large gathering,as wine continued to go down our gullets.
Before our trip to Tahoe went on a walking tour discovering the history of Sanfran--the gold rush,the great fire,the genesis of China town,the word Shanghaied ...read more at http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pfshanghaied.html, Portsmouth park,Trans america building with its Redwood park,skyline of financial district from the top of a commercial building and so on.Great guide we had! |
| Redwood Park at Trans America |
Set off for Tahoe... Aditya and Babu ,driving the cars,and the rest enjoying the 5 Hr trip.Lost count of the "amazing" and "awesome" that was heard as we neared our destination.It was early evening when we reached the residence of Ambrosios which was hired for 4 nights.It was cold as expected but to everyone's delight the house was not only heated centrally but also came with a good fire place.
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| AJ snow boarding |
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Enjoyed the drive around the lake with some stunning views to behold all the way and when the stomach rumbled it was Taco,burrito and salad that came to our aid at a Taqueria
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There was always plenty of food and wine to keep going and there were new board games to play.20 questions by N was interesting. Aryaan went up and down the staircase and would invite us all to his make believe tent.Someone or the other would keep feeding logs into the hearth for the fire and the extra warmth as the evening wore on.
The next day I completed 69 and embarked on my 70th year.It was good to be in the company of so many young ones.After a large breakfast and coffee we set out.The day was clear but very cold,about 7-8 C
In our quest to go near the lake, walked briskly,chatting,looking,peering and seeking an entrance to the elusive waters..Many photos were taken of the quaint cottages, snowman and wood carvings
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Very soon an access was found and treading through snow and ice entered the lake precinct and it was emerald blue with a backdrop of mountains all covered in snow.It was a very cold wind that blew and not a boat was in sight.Walked up and down the pier but could not manage to stay long.There was plenty of loose snow to pick up and throw at each other. Aryaan was squealing and enjoyed the play until he was dragged out.
My birthday celebrations were held at a restaurant overlooking the lake.
After dinner drove to a town nearby to watch fireworks,,,just 5 minutes and we ran to the car for heat.Later in the evening the cake was cut and birthday gifts were opened at our log house much to Aryaan's delight as he was getting plenty of chocolate cake to eat.Party went on for long and New Year was ushered in.
Next day,it was Sledging (not the oz word) or Sledding for Aryaan as the overnight snow had made it possible to slide down the drive away.We also found a sledding hill nearby where Bashir toiled hard to give Aryaan a good run with the sled.
Afternoon saw us driving towards Squaw valley and the Ski Resort,one of the largest ski areas in the U.S., mainly to acquaint with the site of the 1960 winter Olympics.In the hour that took to reach there,the weather worsened some more,overcast,windy,chilly with a dash of snow.While many were seen skiing and snow boarding in the slopes,we found the weather to be very harsh and soon took refuge inside a resort hotel sipping apple cider for fun.Here are some views
Hurried back for the comfort of our heated home and to our dismay found ourselves in a cold house without heat and with ice cold water!! The land lady,located elsewhere, apologized, but much as she tried no help was forthcoming that Sunday. Aditya and Bashir braved the weather to get some food as also a supply of firewood.Meantime,Neeharika had other ideas and quickly started work on getting a Burrito bar going.The frozen Pizzas the boys got were consigned to the fridge and we all had a round or two of Burritos
Initially we struggled a bit driving on snow as the car would stall on gradients,wheels spinning.They weren't 4 wheel drives.But with some help we crossed the initial hurdles with snow still falling and making visibility an issue.There was massive traffic on the roads leading out of the lake city to the Interstate.Every visitor wanted to leave!
We struggled,huffed and puffed,listening to the worsening situation on the Radio.Music and Podcasts where saviors and so was binge eating;potato chips,tacos and haldiram came to our rescue.Once on the interstate we were stopped by H'way patrol to get snow chains fitted on the wheels.Thy wish is my command.As the day wore on we crawled...the blizzard turned to sleet and only much much later we could resume normal driving. Aryaan in his child seat,observed it all and must have said to himself that he should be patient while the elders see through the ordeal.We reached SanFran at 8pm, on the road for almost 12 Hrs,which should take max 5.
Nevertheless, it was a great get together,cold,snow,blizzard and sleet not withstanding.We heard that the situation worsened in the ensuing days and Tahoe is even now witnessing one of the worst snow storms of the recent times.Many ski resorts are closed.
Finis
