Here you go, Delia! :-)
After a long and busy summer, I was finally in the home stretch… September! It’s my favorite month in Tahoe. Often referred to the “Local’s Summer”, Beautiful weather coupled with shrinking crowds, allows the residents to enjoy the beaches, restaurants and mountains of Tahoe. This September was a little different than normal. With two out of three dayshift dealers on vacation, I was able to cover their shifts. It turned into a power work session for me… looking at my records, I only had September 9th off. Other than that, I worked every day of the month. Twice, I worked a floor shift on swing, followed by a dayshift. It was a great chance to get my hours in before leaving town. (Thank you, Delia!!!) So, the first thing I did when my last shift ended…met my better half at Garwoods for a glass of wine and a bite to eat! Sitting on the side of the bar with a view, I got the chance to enjoy the beauty before flying out!
This seemed like a little irony… we laughed with the bartender because the paper for our restaurant check had run out! The pink stripe says it all. Summer is over… No more paper! ha :-)
Crawling out of bed long before the sun woke up, I was tired but excited for the upcoming trips! Choosing a flight that departed at 6am, we left the house at 3:45am. Settled in my seat, this long awaited season was finally beginning! First stop, Houston. Before heading back to Tahoe for the summer, I started packing for this trip. When this aircraft lands, I have only a few tasks to complete before catching another early morning flight!
Uber took an hour to get a ride, which is quite unusual. By the time I reached home, I was famished! Jeremy was working but still managed to feed me… Ordering pizza and pasta for Ezra and myself, the driver left it on the hood of the car. No knock at the door, no txt. Jeremy told me that I needed to go outside and get the pizza off the car! Boy was it good… a gluten-free Domino’s Pizza… parmesan sauce, cheese, feta, chicken and spinach… yummy!
Another early morning! Jeremy got up really early to take me to the airport… this leg, I had a confirmed seat to make sure I got to the cruise port on time. Upon landing, I headed to baggage claim to gather my luggage. Rideshare area was just outside the door and easy to find. It took a minute to get a Lyft but it only cost $13… which is great considering the short distance had so much traffic. While riding in the car, I received notification that my room was ready (4 hours early) and my “digital key” activated. This will be home for two days before we go into our interior cabin (cave)… which is fine because it’s a free two weeks!
Our room has a view of the harbor. Initially, I thought I was going alone so I booked a king bed and it was on the ocean side with a balcony. Once Roxanne was able to join me for the first week, I switched to two queens, but they only had availability on the marina side. As the bellman brought me to my room, he said, “ this is perfect for you… since you are going on a cruise, you’ll see enough black ocean water. At least now, you’ll have a view!”
Here’s what kept me up late last night… I had to prepare tip envelopes for each cruise day. Definitely had to organize the door decorations. That took awhile! Sunscreen, coffee carrier and magnets are part of the essentials packed. Oh, and I couldn’t forget our luggage tags for the cruise!
At 5:30pm, I headed downstairs to catch a Lyft back to the airport to fetch Roxanne. Her plane was landing at 6:30 and it seemed easier to just do the whole baggage collection and rideshare arrangement, instead of trying to explain where and how. So, we met at the carousel #5, walked across to the Lyft pickup area and waited for our “purple toyota”. Reaching the hotel again, we jumped in the elevator, dropped off Roxy’s luggage and headed to the lobby to eat. Though it was beautiful sitting outside, the meal left something to be desired. The menu description of the shrimp tacos sounded amazing… reality was uncooked corn tortillas (described as sizzling, crisp corn tortillas) and the shrimp was skimpy instead of scampi… But it was easy and we were both exhausted!
Despite being tired, Rox found enough energy to demonstrate her snorkel gear! I guess we better get in the water Actually, we will be snorkeling with turtles in San Juan, Puerto Rico. That should be interesting… time for sleep! It’s been a long season and two long travel days for me.
