We all have credit cards that rack up points or miles. The other week my wife cashed in my Alaska airlines miles for a roundtrip ticket for me from Spokane to Tahoe, via the Sacramento airport for a family vacation. Twelve dollars for the ticket, minus 9/11 fees, real cost $6.50.
I don’t ski or snowboard but I do know how to call (509) 235-5700 from the mountain pass where I was forced to purchase chains and an install. For the unlearned that is Les Schwab’s number in Cheney. Memorized forever not even listed in my cell phone, just had to check in with them. “Should these chains be so loud?”
The afternoon drive in, turned into an evening of 15 miles an hour to get to town. Due to the snow all we could really see was the iced windshield in front of us. I had to get out twice to bang off the wipers.
My wife had secured a two-story town house at the Ashston Lakeland resort in Tahoe. Ran about $800 for the week. Heated hot tubs, pools, right on the lake, it was wonderful.
The next day was 50 degrees or so, we took our kids sledding at one of the local ski hills. Just drove up the side road until we found a 30-foot hill with four feet of snow on it. This is when the trip became spectacular. Every tree I saw was the biggest tree I had ever seen in my life, “wait no that one is bigger over there, no that has to be the biggest tree ever! We all had fun in the snow, our seven year old playing until her entire snowsuit, gloves and boots were soaked through from the ever melting snow pack in the midday sun. We planted our six-month-old daughter in the snow like a sunflower seed in springtime for some funny pictures.
Later in the week we chose a popular hike from the mountain rim down to Emerald Bay on the lake. This glacial basin was carved out after the lake itself had formed, adding a finger like expanse of the most blue water I have ever seen. Five miles up and down round trip to the lakeshore and then Eagle Falls was worth it beyond description. Even mountain vistas more beautiful than the last. Massive trees that had survived wildfires made for perfect pictures with small children for scale. Crystal clear waterfalls that were simply made for a beer commercial!
The trail was crowded but paved nearly the whole way. Baby seedling trees beckoned me, to pull and stash them in my pocket for transplant back in Cheney. Yes I snagged seven. Every switchback revealed small mountain waterfalls guarded by glacial boulders the size of your house.
Leaving Tahoe at 10 a.m. allowed enough time for a stop at the Sacramento Zoo with a late night arrival back in Spokane.
So what are you saving your airline miles or, points for?
Phil Kiver is a Cheney High School and Eastern Washington University graduate.
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