1st American Ski/Snowboard Trip

As a Canadian I've done my fair share of skiing and snowboarding (my homeland peps have mad snow sports skillz) but I have never snowboarded as an American...until last week. My dad and I headed up to Tahoe without my brother (who couldn't take time off) or my mom (who was miserably sick :-( poor mom) thus making our family trip a father daughter trip.

Two full days at Heavenly and it was...you guessed it...heavenly. Views were incredible and it snowed the night we got there so we actually had some fresh powder.

It wasn't all fun and games though...the first casualty was my dad's ski pole that was broken in half by a snowboarder who (after falling from a jump) was totally out of control and slammed into it. He just missed me and just missed my dad's leg so, all in all, we were really glad this was just a ski pole accident. Fyi the guy felt horrible and offered to buy a new one. 

The second casualty was my dignity due to the fact that on the second day I fell ALL over the place. I blame the trails...straight, flat trails from one chair to another get me every single time. Any time I'm on a straight part I'm usually thinking 'don't catch an edge you're going too fast...don't catch an edge you'll fall over the cliff...broken bones are not fun' ...and then I catch an edge and faceplant. Feels sooooo good to have your feet go over your head. 

Best way to fix a bruised ego and a bruised tailbone? Booze and food. We ended up at Fire & Ice on our second night (first night = pizza mmmm) and it was AH-mazing. You get a bowl and fill it with any of the dozens of veggies, seafood and meat that you want then you bring it over to the grill. Its a giant circular grill so everyone stands around by their food while two guys work insanely fast to get everything grilled up, cut up and seasoned. Those guys seriously earned their tips for working so hard. Oh and I should mention that this place is an 'all you can eat' place...well then...challenge accepted. I have some rules at all you can eat places to maximize my dollar$: minimal carbs/food that fills you up, max flavor (they had so many sauce options!), and eat as fast as possible before your body realizes its full. Nailed it!

Mmm food...this is portion 1: tons o' veggies, salmon, tuna, teriyaki sauce and sprinkle of rice on top. Salad on the side. Second portion was more veggies, more salmon and a miso ginger sauce...mmm.

Then I headed to the Fox and the Hound to celebrate my friend Bridget's birthday with her and her husband Robbie. It was so good to catch up...and to show Bridget how to play Big Buck World ('Don't hit the doe!!'). The bartender even had the tiniest cupcake ever which made it super birthday-y.

Hey I know where you're from.

Guess which one was for the birthday girl.

 On the way back home, I took an epic nap (I am SUCH a good navigator) and then we stopped for a break in Placerville. Fun fact, before being called Placerville, the town was known as Hangtown. Hangtown???Yup, Wikipedia tells us this is due to the "numerous hangings that had occurred there. By 1850, the temperance league and a few local churches had begun to request that a more friendly name be bestowed upon the town" Yea no kidding. Lets just say that driving past this historic landmark when you just woke up from a nap is pretty shocking:

I get that its a historic spot (the original hanging tree stump is in their basement! There is a plaque) but yikes! On a happier note, their downtown is super cute and I bought a ton of stuff (second hand books, cool old oil lamp and old wooden Coke bottle crate). So to wrap up, first American ski/snowboard trip was awesome! Can't wait to head to Utah next week for more snow!