Wisetrips Travel Blog

It was time for our Spring Break trip to Puerto Vallarta!  I initially considered canceling our trip because Alex and Inna had come down with the flu, but they convinced me to continue since they were feeling much better. I contacted Costco Travel to double-check the severity of my penalties. If I canceled the trip, I would lose 60% of the hotel fees and pay $375 to reschedule with Alaska Airlines.…

After a long day of snowboarding at Heavenly, we decided to try snowboarding at Kirkwood - one of our favorite Lake Tahoe resorts - especially because the US-88 road was open. To avoid parking problems, we woke up early and departed South Lake Tahoe at 7:00 am for the one-hour ride to Kirkwood . We left on time and arrived at Kirkwood at around 8:15 am. There was chain control on US-88, but being in an Audi Q5,…

While Alex and I were busy snowboarding at Heavenly and Kirkwood, Inna found time to visit the beautiful Filoli Gardens  in Woodside. Inna spent many hours walking around the beautiful gardens, photographing many tulips and other blooming flowers. She saw a few beautiful peacocks wandering on the property. With many tulips in full bloom, she took many beautiful photos. …

With another significant snowstorm approaching, Alex and I were eager to have one last go at snowboarding at Lake Tahoe's ski resorts. Checking the weather on Friday, March 16, I was concerned about the requirement for chains on Highway US-50 and US-80 and the closure of US-88 (the road to Kirkwood ). When I woke up at 4:00 am on Saturday morning, I checked the road conditions for freeways to Lake Tahoe, and …

Time to make fresh tracks! When a massive snowstorm appeared on the horizon, Alex and I began tracking it using the  OnTheSnow and OpenSnow apps on our iPhones. Hoping for some fresh, light powder at Lake Tahoe ski resorts, we eagerly anticipated its arrival. As expected, the storm deposited 30+ inches of fresh snow at Kirkwood, Heavenly, Northstar, and other nearby ski resorts during heavy periods of …