Visiting YaYa: Part One

During our February break from school Mr. TOF and I hopped on an airport shuttle and a couple of airplanes to visit YaYa. Mr. TOF loved traveling with his analog parent. Ha! We brought along the flip phone and a lot of paper printed boarding passes and travel confirmation papers!

During our layover in Denver we were hungry and after walking a really long time to look at countless eating options, we decided to eat at Chick-fil-A. He ordered a spicy chicken sandwich. I ordered a NOT spicy chicken sandwich with lettuce and no pickles. I got a spicy chicken sandwich with no pickles. He also got a spicy chicken sandwich. I cannot eat spicy chicken sandwiches. I felt a bit of despair creeping in, but in the end I just gave him my spicy chicken, and he convinced me to reorder my own chicken sandwich again. He had no trouble consuming double chicken sandwiches, and I am pretty sure he didn’t want to have to walk around looking at all the eating options again. Interestingly the SAME sandwich problem happened last year in the Minneapolis airport when The Banana, Mr. TOF and I flew to visit YaYa. I think they just get it mixed up as soon as anyone says spicy chicken sandwich. They assume all the sandwiches are supposed to be spicy, even though I was very specific!

We landed in the airport in Bishop California, and that experience deserves its own special post! YaYa picked us up and drove us up the mountains to where she is working, and we stayed with her and her roommates for a few days.

Two of the days were ski days, and Mr. TOF was so excited! I went along on the first day, which was the perfect temperature, with clear skies and hardly any wind! We took a bus to the base of the mountain, and then we all rode the gondola to the summit. They skied for the rest of the day, and I rode the gondola a few times up and down before taking a bus back and spending the afternoon reading my book.

The gondola was magnificent. These mountains were so picturesque! There is no way for a photograph to even come close to capturing their size and magnificence. At the top there was a tiny little interpretive center, and in honor of Dr. Peds, I read almost all the signs and learned many interesting things about the history of the area, the mountain, the geology of the area, and about plants that grow in the different climates. (There is a fast difference in climate zones between the desert in the valley, and the different levels of elevation and the different sides of the mountain).

She did not go down the double black run, probably because I was watching! (It was straight down!) My Mama heart would not have been able to handle it.

They had a great day of skiing. Mr. TOF loved it so much. Originally they planned to go skiing again in two days, but because of the impending gigantic snow storm and the fact that the mountain was going to close, they ended up being able to switch lift their tickets for the next day. I didn’t go along that day because we thought the gondola would close early or all day. Instead I went for an awesome walk near YaYa’s apartment before it started snowing and spent the day cozy inside with a book.

Side note: the snowstorm dropped nearly five feet of snow on the mountain before we left! It was crazy! Luckily there was a break in the snow long enough to allow the road to open and for us to get back to the airport in the valley below. They were supposed to get another foot and a half the night after we left!