Holiday Party and Reno, NV

December 18th, 2014

 Hello,

          Last night Scott and I attended his holiday work party at a nearby Mexican Restaurant in Tahoe City. We had all you can eat tacos for $15 each which included two free margaritas. There was a DJ that played at 8pm and we left about 10pm. It was a fun party. Scott is working today so I went for a walk along Donner Lake. The views of the mountains next to the lake are magnificent. Then I had lunch at a restaurant across the street from where we live which was good. They serve breakfast and lunch from 7a-2p daily. So it's convenient to be able to walk over there whenever we want and there's a small grocery market there as well.

          Tomorrow we will drive to Reno, Nevada and spend the night at a hotel that has a casino in it. We will play CRAPS and plan on winning a lot of money! Then I will go to the airport about 415/430am and fly out at 6am. I should land in Miami, Florida about 8pm and then start cruising to the Caribbean on December 21st. It's hard to believe the time has come for me to set sail. I have pretty much everything I need packed and ready to go. I am excited for this new adventure.

         Hope everyone has happy holidays with their family and friends.

Love,

Heidi

Soon to be sea bound!

December 14th, 2014

         
              It is 1037pm on Saturday night in Truckee, California and I am sorting through papers for my upcoming cruise. There is a lot to get done prior to leaving in one week. I have education modules I need to complete on-line, I have flight itineraries to review, a 17 page contract to read and turn in, as well as decide what I will bring for the cruise. Today I went shopping in Reno; I took Vantastic to the city and boy was it an adventure! I missed Scott driving and me being the passenger. It was stressful trying to drive around the small city streets in the beast. However, there aren't many 'big box' stores around here so I had to drive about 40 minutes East to get to a Kohl's and Ross store. I found a long black evening dress that I needed to buy for one of the formal nights I will attend on the cruise ship. I found a second pair of navy blue slacks that fit great (it's hard to find short pants for a 5' 3 person but luckily for me, Kohl's has a petite section). I made my way to an Army Surplus store where I found two white collared t-shirts with buttons (really hard to find short sleeved shirts in the off season). So all in all, I managed to get the last few clothing items that I needed.

          Tomorrow I plan to do some yoga and get some education modules checked off the list. Monday or Tuesday Scott and I will be going to dinner with some new friends. And Wednesday or Thursday we will celebrate Christmas since I'll be gone for Christmas and New Year's Eve :( Then Saturday I will leave Reno/Tahoe Airport in the morning to fly to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I'll spend the night and then ship out on the cruise the next day!

          I've been feeling anxious, excited, nervous, and happy to be in warm weather soon all at the same time. New adventure for me...a lot of things to learn but I'm ready for the challenge! I'm not sure how often I'll get to use the Internet but if I am able I will be putting pictures of my sights from sea on here.

          I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, Heidi

            

        

We have a home!

December 6th, 2014

          
           We were offered the studio cabin by Donner Lake (the one we looked at the day we arrived)and moved in last night! It is small but just what we need. Fully furnished, we have a new TV with a Blue Ray player and Wi-Fi. Scott's first day at work is today. So I spent the day organizing and catching up on some shows.
         
           Yesterday we drove all around Lake Tahoe. The views were amazing. Water falls, the lake, sandy beaches, mountains, and big trees. I have a book called '501 Must-Visit Destinations' published by Polly Manguel and one of the must see destinations is Lake Tahoe. I am putting a tab on each page of the book that Scott and I visit. So far, we have 8 out of 501 places checked off the list that we've been to together. I look forward to the adventures to come!

          Not much more to report at this time. I have about 2 weeks off before I head out to sea and will continue to organize the place and explore the area more. Hope all is well. I'll probably check in about once per week from now on. I added some more pictures of the last few days of our trip.

          Love,
                  Heidi

Truckee, California

December 5th, 2014

         We arrived to Truckee, California yesterday afternoon! We spent the day having vantastic worked on, they don't make 16.5 tires anymore so it would've been $200 for one used tire in that size. We switched to 16 inch rims with larger tires for much less cost. We spent most of the day in Reno finding the correct size tires and rims between two different shops. Everything was finished about 245pm and we continued our journey west toward Truckee which was only about 45 minutes away.

       There was a cute studio apartment we looked at on Donner Lake and really like the place. It is furnished, shares a dock on the lake with a few other people on the property and is about 25 minutes to Alpine Meadows where Scott will work (which is a gorgeous drive along a creek and through forest).

         We ate at Moody's Restaurant in Truckee last night which was delicious. The town is very quaint with chocolatier stores, breakfast diners, gift shops, and several bars to choose from. There is a train and bus here which goes through the Tahoe area for transportation. We stayed at The Truckee Hotel and had a nice stay. We have about 15 minutes left before check out time so I have to head out. We are going to explore Lake Tahoe today and hopefully hear good news about the apartment so we can move in tonight!

         Happy to have arrived to our final destination...until we plan our next road trip :)

Love,

Heidi & Scott

Tire troubles in Nevada

December 4th, 2014

We were expecting to be in California yesterday however when Scott checked the inside rear tire pressure (there are two tires on the back of both sides), it read low. So we filled up the tires that needed air and ten minutes later that tire that had been low in air blew. We drove another few miles down the road and found a safe place to pull over on the highway. We hung out in the RV for about four hours by the time a proper size tow truck could move our RV. The RV we are driving when it's empty weighs 10,500 pounds! It was a long evening but having a tv and DVD player made the wait pretty easy.

A nice tow truck driver brought us to the tow company he works for in northern Reno where we spent the night in the RV and are now having vantastic looked at (they noticed a slice in a second tire and a bubble in a different one) so we may need three times replaced instead of one. We are hoping to have everything taken care this morning if possible. We'd like to check out a studio apartment we are interested in today that we couldn't see yesterday because of our tire troubles.

There was a huge rainbow when we woke up this morning so we are taking that as a good sign!

Love, 

Heidi

Colorado and Utah

December 2nd, 2014

Hello everyone!

Sorry it has been so long, I've missed updating the blog. I have been dealing with altitude sickness and sinus issues for the past few days. I needed time to rest up. So, after we drove through Kansas we drove to Denver, Colorado and along the way saw the most beautiful sunset. We met up with Scott's friend who let us stay at his apartment which was nice. The next day we walked around Denver and explored the city. We went to a nice coffee shop and visited Union Station which is a beautiful train station which has bars, restaurants, shuffle board tables, and even had a hotel in the building. I would recommend checking this out if you ever visit. We met up with Scott's friend Glenn a few hours later and found a German Christmas Festival. There was a German beer tent set up, we had German food (peroigies and bratwurst), and watched dancers perform. It was a very fun day to explore the city and it was about seventy degrees outside all day. We bought some tire chains in preparation for the snowy weather that we may encounter however so far we've had amazing weather (which I knock on wood every time I say that).

The next day Scott skied at Vail Resort where he use to work two years ago. He skied with his friends while I went shopping with one of his friends' girlfriend named Heather. We had a successful shopping day. I bought snow pants I've been needing and walking shoes that were 30% off. I was experiencing altitude sickness all day which was a downer. That afternoon we left for Park City, Utah which took about seven hours. We arrived about 1am and were both so exhausted. However, we were able to spend the next two nights at a condo my friend offered us. We caught up on sleep, got to do laundry, and watch scandal by the fireplace. Very thankful for this stop. We also met up with our neighbors from last year and had a nice Mexican meal with them. Visiting our old neighborhood was great! Park City is a beautiful place, with Christmas lights decorating the trees and houses this time of year. Like my mother had said while visiting last year " Park City is like living in a fairytale". There is something magical about it. 

We have been on the road since about 4 o'clock in the afternoon (3 hours behind eastern time now). Currently we are driving through Nevada and will spend the night here. Tomorrow, we will have a few hours of driving then reach our final destination of California! We have yet to find an apartment however are hopeful. We have an appointment for tomorrow to check out a studio on Donner Lake and found another cottage tonight that we hope to check out as well. Until we find an apartment we have a few acquaintances that we can stay with temporarily. 

Thank you for taking this journey with us, we love to share our adventures with you! I will continue to blog even when we reach California to let you all know how everything is going.

Love Heidi and Scott