 |
| View from the Village |
We spent today exploring.
No skiing = TONS of photos.
The very original itinerary listed today as a spa day. As you probably know, we've been spending at least some time in the spa everyday. This resort is so all-inclusive, we were starting to get a bit of cabin fever, if you know what I mean.
I tried to plan a hike but the concierge just would not give me permission to go out in the snow. After 5 days of Ritz quality hospitality and service, I REALLY needed her to tell me it would be okay. I thought it would be nice to go cross country skiing, but it was cost prohibitive because you needed a trail pass in addition to rentals. I decided that this part of the world isn't the best place to learn how to cross country ski.
So we headed over to the Village to prod around and get into some trouble early in the morning. Serendipitously and totally randomly, we met up with Allie and Chris from a seperate gondola. There was this
adorable restaurant called the Chocolate Bar so we got a table for four.
 |
| Coffee at the Chocolate Bar |
 |
| Fondue at the Chocolate Bar |
 |
| Caramel Cheesecake at the Chocolate Bar |
 |
| Chocolate Bar Logo |
 |
| Chris and Allie So sweet |
The village was adorable. By the time we had got our fill around noon, Casey and Matt wanted to meet up so we invited them to sit with us at the Chocolate Bar. It was very strange that The Chocolate Bar had closed its kitchen RIGHT at lunch time, but close it did and we were out again in the village looking for something to eat.
 |
| Complimentary Sleigh Rides at the Village. This picture also gives you and idea of how CROWDED the village got. |
 |
| Can we sit in your restaurant please? The restaurant says no. |
Every restaurant in the village turns us down so we went back to the Ritz for more food.
 |
| Gondola Ride back to the Ritz |
 |
| Backyard Barbeque at the Ritz Midday |
 |
| Casey's Lunch |
 |
| Matt's Lunch |
 |
| Matt and Chris! Friends! |
 |
| Allie and Chris Again. They are so sweet together. |
After lunch we decided that it would be silly to drive all
the way up to Lake Tahoe and then not actually see the lake. The hotel valet kindly gave us directions east on the 267 and also helped us take off our chains. The lake was so wide it looked like the ocean, like La Jolla shores. I've never seen snow on the water like that before.
 |
| Where the skis hit the surf. |
 |
| Action Shot! |
 |
| Me on Still water |
The valet also suggested we should try to see Truckee while we were in town. It was basically one street of notable shops. I ended up buying a
delicious Turtle caramel apple and the fudge that would deem this portion of the day
the “fudge excursion”.
 |
| Truckee is so Picturesque. |
 |
| More Truckee |
 |
| The Caramel Apple I bought. |
 |
| Me eating that caramel apple like whoa. |
 |
| Leaving Truckee. |
Then, as a big final dinner, we ate at the Manzanita
restaurant in the Ritz. We put on our fancy outfits and had a fancy dancy
dinner. I can’t say this about everyone, but I felt really grown up.
We took some photos afterwards, and I thought that was really
sweet. It wasn't even at my prompting this time.
READ MORE
