Shiara & Sharki3 cutting that turkey

Our first ever Thanksgiving was in Lake Tahoe with our pals and their friends all of us celebrating it for the first time in a truly fabulous place to be at this time of the year.

the gang

Julia and Tim from Germany working here in SF Bay area, whilst Joh a scientist at Berkeley University and his partner Susie, also studying at Berkeley had joined us for this adventure weekend.

the slopes

A few miles down the road we went snowboarding at Squaw Valley Ski Resort, the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Julia, a ski instructor from back home giving us lessons on how to fall, proved to be the most useful tip I got all day. The more she taught Shaun and myself some sophisticated moves, the more confused we got, but hey, we turned, we did 360’s, we swerved, we surfed at speed, and we fell……So much so that my ass, back, shoulders, arms, hands and legs felt like I had been run over by a snowmobile the following morning.

beginner, basic, no falls yet then later on a true expert at falling

knees up Shaun

Keanen throwing a perfect virgin throw of snowball, kerplunk, splash right in Shaun’s mush

Some clever clogs came up with the great idea of playing Uno, but little did our German friends realise that the likes of us from SA, like to talk and ask questions all the time, and I mean all the time, whilst their version is somewhat calmer and quieter. After driving each other crazy with various borderline ‘cheating’ techniques, we all agreed to play a round without talking. Gee, you try playing Uno without talking, it’s incredibly hard, well maybe if you hail from South Africa. Our German pals looking at us in sheer amazement, as the rest of us argued and shouted different rules at each other, no matter what. One thing for certain, a simple card game, a glass of wine, some snow, and some cool friends it’s easy to have fun if you really want to.

the look of amazement playing uno

Staying in a cabin next to the south part of the lake, the snow fell perfectly, giving Keanen and myself the chance to build our first American snowman, come the morning he was completely drowned in the overnight downfall, the snowman not Keanen, but it was our first and it was getting cold.

the one on the right is the snowman