You Can Climb Every Mountain, But You Gotta Get Down Somehow

Greetings and salutations. My name’s Rosie the Traveler, and I’m the third to make up our blog’s trio of travel-loving friends. Since I was a little tyke, I’ve been infected by the travel bug---and bad. I’ve always wanted to cross every bridge, leave no stone unturned, and climb every mountaintop.

So this weekend, I headed out of the unseasonably warm city (I live in San Francisco) to ski by Lake Tahoe, and even though the entire adventure was sunshine-filled and conditions just about as perfect as can be, my tough-gal image took a bit of a dent---but we’ll get to that part in a few.

When I arrived, the mountain, for the most part, was just sitting there all by its lonely. Sure, there were people schussing around here and there, but there were no crowds at the equipment rental counter, no lines at the lifts, and plenty of room at the top of the peak for me to stumble and fall and go all topsy turvy. Why, why, why, I wondered, would the mountain be this lonesome, when some of the greatest ski deals are available (and you can bet I took advantage of them)!

Here’s the thing: I’ve never skied before. Not a lick! So maybe it was the thin air, or the fact that Squaw’s beginner slopes are located at the very top of the mountain, but I got to the summit and thought: You gotta be kidding me! I’m not skiing down that thing!

Yep, it was a case of biting off a little more than I can chew, something I’ve been known to do before. (Go ahead and laugh---I can now.) It took a lot of hemming and hawing, but with prodding by my very patient instructor, I did actually make it down, although I pretty much went about as slow as a gal can go the entire way.

What’s funny, though, is that now that I’m back in the city---well, I keep picturing myself on that mountaintop, and, once more, that travel itch starts wanting to be scratched...