Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon (风花雪月) 2-Skiing at Kirkwood, last trip of the season

H and I left Bay area at 5:30am for what turned out to be the last ski trip of the 2007-2008 season. The cold spell that we experienced at Antelope Valley was affecting Kirkwood too. We were dressed more for winter skiing than spring skiing:(

I rented ski boots from Kirkwood and borrowed a set of high performance skis from H, since the Ski Renter closed early on Friday. Then, we followed our usual routine of heading up chair #5 and doing a warm up run on Mokelumme. The snow felt a little icy in the morning, probably from melting snow freezing overnight. I was also getting used to a different set of skis. I did not get the usual carving of snow and the first run felt out of control.

I encouraged H to go up chair #6 while I got used to the snow and the new skis. I went back to skiing on lower Monte Wolfe and found that the high performance skis actually carved better, but do required a little more flexing compared to the rental skis. I did lower Monte Wolfe a few more times when H caught up with me and ask if I was ready for chair #11. She had been skiing chair #6 and felt that snow condition on black trail was actually better.

I was feeling better, so decided to joined her on chair #11. We went down Comestoga and I did feel the weather had warmed up slightly and snow condition on black trails was indeed better. H suggested skiing Wagon Trail, since it was a longer but less steep slope where I would have a chance to work on narrowing my stance. The wind was blowing hard enough that chair #5, the infamous "Wall", was not opened, so Wagon Trail was relatively desserted.

H alternate between chair #6 and chair #11, while I alternate between Wagon Trail and Comestoga, either working on technique or trying to get a little thrill:)

We broke for lunch at about 12:30pm, and resumed skiing at about 1:30pm. Sensing the day and maybe the season was coming to a close, we became very careful as both of us wanted to end the season without injuries. We skiied mostly on Wagon Trail.

H did one more run on chair #6 and joined me at 3:40p for our last run. She told me to ski freely and not worried about working on technique and I was given full authority on which trail to take. I was tempted to do Comestoga, but opted for Wagon Trail. It had been a long weekend, and I decided pushing myself on the last run of the season did not make sense.

On our ride up chair #5, we saw beginner skiers trying a wedge stop on Comestoga. Big mistake! He fell badly and was unable to stop himself even after falling for a good 10-15 feet. We were determine to avoid that fate:)

We came down Wagon Trail safely, just as the life closed sign was posted. No injuries for the season!

On our way back to the Bay area, H and I talked about the weekend. We had covered half the length of California, going from Bay area to Antelope Valley and back up North to Kirkwood. That's when H commented, "Wow, we saw wind, flower, snow and moon, all in one weekend!"

Wind, flower, snow and moon (风花雪月) is often used to describe romantic times together, which we did share, but we also enjoyed these four natural scenery. A nice word play that summed up the weekend perfectly.

Wind, Flower, Snow and Moon(风花雪月) 1-Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

H and I drove all night from the Bay area to Gorman, CA where we spent the night. Our destination is Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve.

Even with a record dry March and April, 2008 had a fair amount of rain. About a week ago, I peeked at the current photos section on the reserve's website, and the California poppies were fully bloomed! We decided to make this trip.

From Gorman, it was a short 20 minutes drive to the poppy reserve. The reserve is located amongst flat farm land, so we started seeing the large patches of golden poppies as we approached the entrance.

Unfortunately, the wind was unusually strong. The poppies did not open fully. The wind also kicked up a lot of dust and the flowers did not have their usual silk like shine.

We walked around the reserve a little and came to a patch of poppies which was behind a small hill. The hill blocked the wind, so the flowers open a little more here and it was not as dusty. We sat down inside the patches. The flowers were all around us as far as the eye can see. As the wind blew, the sea of golden poppies sway in the wind, like waves in the ocean. H and I tried very had to think of ways to describe the scenery, but both gave up after a while.

The weather made it very uncomfortable to stay in the reserve, and we figured we will get some comfort food.

H suggested Din Tai Fung in Arcadia. I had heard my Taiwanese friends talked about this restaurant and eagerly agreed. We arrive at about 1:30pm and we seated almost immediate. We shared a chicken soup, 2 orders of the famous xiao long bao, vegetable dumplings and fish dumplings. The food was comforting and homey. After a cold and windy morning, the food really hit the spot. I will be yelping about this place soon!

After lunch, we started our drive back to the Bay area, stopping at Casa de Fruta for nuts and dried corn. H will be going on a back country ski trip and needed ration.

It was a full moon weekend, and being a cold spring day, there was no a cloud in the sky. The moon looked especially bright as we drove along 152, crossing Pacheco Pass back onto 101.

First Black Diamond!

We woke up at 7:30am, again trying to arrive at Kirkwood for powder before the wet stuff forms:)

With stops for gas and breakfast, we arrived at 9:05am. H and I warmed up on Mokelumme off chair #5 again. Sensing my comfort level, she suggested trying chair #11. There are 2 runs off that chair: Short Spoke and Comestoga. They share a common trail at the beginning. Then the trail splits. On the left is Short spoke, blue slope slightly steeper and longer than Mokelumme. To the right is Comestoga, an easy black. In fact, according to H, Comestoga was classified as a blue slope until this season, when it was upgraded to black.

We did Short spoke on our first run and since the snow was decent, H asked if I wanted to try the black slope when snow condition was still good. I agreed.

As usual, H led the way and I followed. I was focusing on my turns and made a series of wider curve down a particular steep portion of the slope when H stopped me.

"I don't understand why, but you skied better on black than on blue." she commented.

"What black slope?" I asked, thinking we were still on the common portion of the trail.

"We just took the trail to the right," she replied, "You mean you didn't know you are on a black slope?"

"Actually, no...I was just following you...I was wondering to myself why the same slope felt steeper than on the previous run." I answered.

I had unconsciously skied on a black slope and apparently did quite well. But, having known I was on a black slope, however, made me overly cautious and started skiing slower. Without speed, I was not getting the same carving I had achieved before.

H was clearly disappointed. "I shouldn't have told you!" she exclaimed. "You were doing so well!"

We tried Comestoga again, and again I was very cautious coming down the black portion of the slope. H gave up. "Congrats on your first black," she said. "Now, if only you can stop being conscious about this being a black slope..."

The snow condition got worse quickly and I began to feel tired, so we stopped for lunch. We shared an Asian Bowl and soup in Monte Wolfe bistro. Probably due to the excitement that I had just skied my first black diamond slope, I ate a lot.

I went up Comestoga 2 more times. However, snow condition had deteriorated much fast on Sunday compare to Saturday and by 3pm, I felt like I was skiing on a sticky mash. The heavy lunch also made me felt bloated. I was totally spent and decided to call it a day. H did another run and not wanting to risk injury, call it quits too.

We left Kirkwood at 3:15pm and reached Bay area about 6:45pm, ending our 2 day tiring but fun spring ski trip.

Graduation from green; D'vine Wine Bar

Spring skiing continued...

H and I left Bay Area at 5:30am since weather had been unusually warm, and we wanted to hit the slope early and end early to ski in the best possible snow condition.

We reach Kirkwood at about 9am, just as the lifts were opening. H suggested warming up on Mokelumme off chair #5, a blue slope I skied 2 weeks ago. This time though, she suggested using a narrower stance to improve carving.

Snow condition at 9am was surprisingly good. Unlike our previous trip, it was not icy, probably because of the warmer weather. However, it was still cold enough for the snow not to melt into mash.

Mokelumme is still a little too steep for me to work on technique, so I practised mostly on Lower Monte Wolfe. I was slowly gaining confidence and by my third or fourth run down Lower Monte Wolfe, I skied down the entire slope without stopping. The downside to gaining all this speed was my pole timing was all messed up. I was not initiating my turns with my poles, instead was sticking them out after my turns had started.

Snow condition gradually turned bad as the morning worn on. The snow became wetter and lumps of snow began to form. My inside foot was sometimes trapped by the lumps of snow during turns and made me fell down several times. Conscious of the wet, lumpy snow, I tired lifting my inside leg higher to avoid the lumps. While this helped enforced better carving, but also made each run more tiring.

I broke for lunch at about noon and had a pull pork sandwich with slaw. There was a band playing in the Kirkwood Mountain Village square, so I had live music to enjoy with food. Hit the slope again at 1pm and continued skiing on the 2 blue slopes. Due to the wet snow condition, I was unable to work on my stance as much as I prefer, but was feeling very comfortable going down both blue slopes. H jokingly commented I had graduated from the green slopes.

We had planned to stop skiing at 3pm, but H caught a second wind and we did not stop until 4pm when the lift closed.

We checked into City Center Motel in Carson City. After a quick shower, we took a stroll inside the Carson Nugget casino. Compare to Vegas, casino in Carson city are tiny. Since neither H nor I gamble, and I was bothered by the smoking, we left the premise after a quick look around.

Dinner was at D'vine wine bar and bistro. This is a fairly new establishment and I was unable to find any review about it on the web. But we were glad we came.

The exterior of the wine bar looked a little run down and cold, but the interior was new and warm. There was also live music. We ordered the roasted salmon and the raspberry pistachios salad. Shared a lovely flight of 5 wines. Finished the evening with a mixed berry cobbler with ice cream. For more on D'vine Wine Bar, please read my review on Yelp!

H and I had a wonderful evening and would come back to D'vine wine bar on future ski trips.

Holi

I went to Holi at Stanford with A.

Holi is the Indian festival of colors. I had heard my Indian co-workers described it and also saw a scene in "Out Sourced" that depicted the celebration. A is from India, but growing up, he did not celebrate Holi...at least not this way, so he was very much looking forward to this event.

The day was unusually cold. As advised by A, I wore a white T-shirt and shorts, but had to wear a light jacket to keep warm. We arrived at Sandhill field at about 1pm, but was too cold and hungry to participant in any celebration. Instead, we hit the food stands:)

We caught a lucky break after lunch. The sun shined a little and warmed up the field. In India, people celebrated Holi by splashing permanent colored water on each other. At Stanford, water soluble colored powder was used instead. There were water hose was available and some festival goers had brought along water pistol just to get people wet. Given the weather, I was glad I managed to stay dry.

I was mildly colored when I left.

Some others at the festival were not as lucky.

We were there for a total of 2 hours. It was interesting finally seeing Holi in person.