Tahoe

Disclaimer: Before you read this I want you to know that first, I am very grateful for the awesome vacation we were able to go on with Chris’ family. Second, Chris and I love most dogs. With that being said, let me tell you about Tahoe.

The long drive to California was just as long as I remembered. Well, it wasn’t hard to remember having driven to Cali just the week before, but anyway, the long drive was overflowing with fun. My favorite part was a blow out tire in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, it was funny! Chris’ dad got a little stressed trying to figure out if we should turn around back to Battle Mountain or keep going for-ev-er to the next exit. Plus, all the tire stores were already closed. Who knew Chris could change a tire like that! The best part was the tiny donut on our big van that looked hilarious. We were piddling along so slow that even big semi trucks were passing us in annoyance. At this point, was it rude for me to laugh?

Then you have to love the many miles of warm dog smell creeping in your nose. Yep, all six of us and our luggage plus Rocky in the van. Maybe I should share Chris and my feelings about the family dog before I go too far. We’ll just say Chris was in a ton of trouble when he told his little sister he hated Rocky. Anita calls him the “little brother” and I just think he’s high maintenance. Two walks a day rain or shine. He eats human food at the dinner table with us. He whines until Anita does what he wants, but the worst is his bark that makes you wonder how really terrible it would be if you were deaf. Too far? Okay, I’ll ease up a bit. It’s mostly that Rocky hates us, well everyone except Chris’ mom.

It wasn’t until after we ate soggy food in our hotel room (which you can’t help but question if another dog had peed where you were sitting because the hotel “happily accepts animals”) because we couldn’t leave Rocky alone to go out to dinner, when Chris dropped the “hate” word. That was some funny stuff! Anita kept saying, “But Chris, he’s your brother…” That's a conversation that should be put in the family history books. Really Chris? The “h” word...that took guts! I love it!

Just imagine this. Chris' dad walking to Burger King to get Rocky a hamburger while we all got Taco Time because duh, Rocky doesn't eat Taco Time. Funny! To top it all off, the last straw was when I couldn't put my feet down for a couple hours in the car because Rocky decided to occupy my only two feet of personal space on the floor. When I reached down to move him after my feet fell asleep, he snapped and growled at me. Don't be fooled by his friendly exterior. Okay, enough about the dog. The rest of the trip was amazing. I’d like to name our vacation “the ultimate action packed Torgersen boot camp vacation.” Here’s our schedule to prove it: golf, rafting, beach, tennis, the park, baseball, more tennis, more golf, the fitness trail, more tennis, and on and on. Now, I like to think I am the ultimate planner, but this planning was way out of my league. We always had something going on. I finally had to give myself a time out while everyone else went to the course to let my muscles (and sunburn) recover. Tahoe is so pretty and it was nice to get the entire family together.

We don’t get to spend enough time with Chris’ aunt Jen and her family from Arizona. I’m really lucky to have married into such a fun family (minus the dog). Okay, okay, I’m just kidding! If anyone in Chris’ family is still reading this and doesn’t hate me for the dog comments, thanks so much for a great vacation! We loved it!