US Diary : Part II, 1st Snowfall,1st Skiing experience, At Dodge Ridge, Pine Crest, CA

It was my very first weekend here in US, And with guarantee of Coming Busy weekends , We had to plan for something. What could have been better than Skiing. Thought, it could be really adventurous. and mind you, It was much more than just adventurous. We decided to go to a Skiing resort called Dodge Ridge, at PineCrest,CA. 159 miles from Santa Clara. Considering the roads in US, it was Hardly 3 and half hour journey.

We have hired two cars here for a month, one Cheverolet Traverse SUV and one Nissan Altima. So 7 of us, left at around 5 am in the morning for Dodge Ridge. (Feb 6th' 10)

SC to Dodge ridge, 159 miles

The Cheverolet Traverse,SUV.. At 5 am just before Leaving.

It was an usual chilly Saturday morning. SunRise is a rare site in US, at least in this part of the country. Lush green lands, amazing scenery and of course Awesome roads, thats wat you'll find everywhere in US. (Sorry,for mentioning roads again and again, but I just can't stop admiring them, This admimration will continue in the next posts too :D )

chilly saturday morning

1st snow sight, on both sides of the road

We reached Pine Crest in around 2 and half hours. Its last 10-20 miles when you have to slow down a lot as the road surface becomes too slippery. Cars skidding on such roads is common. For normal cars, they provide chains which are attached to tyres to avoid skidding. We could see snow on both sides of the road.

reminded me of Jab We met (Kareena-Shahid), song

Destination in sight

every possible thing covered with snow.

White Roof tops, its the common color here for any house:)

We reached there at around 9 am. That was the first time I saw SnowFall. Man ...... it was too good. Once in a lifetime experience. Its really weird /amazing /aweeeesome /something else,( can't find a proper word ) to see snow actually falling down from the sky. Its called "SNOWING" here. I heard a cute kid talking on the phone with his dad: "Hey dad, wasssss up?, I'm Kewwwl, Its Snowing in here !!!!"

Yeah thats the way they usually talk with their parents. I wonder what will be my dad's reaction if I say something like that to him :D.
We all geared up for Skiing. Skiing boots are so heavy man.. almost 10 kgs and above. Initially I had a hard time walking with them.

all geared up

We opted for initial training because it can hurt you real bad if not done in a proper way. Lessons lasted for almost 2 hours and we had started skiing on our own. There are these amazing rides here at Dodge Ridge, which take you up the hill and then you ahve to come skiing donwards. Initially looked too scary. but I and one of my friend Ankan went for it. It was worth the effort. We fell down number of times. but I was too excited to get tired :D

Skiing down -I

was about to finish it

Yes I have done it -----yes yes yes..

Finally after 3 hours of rigourous practise , I completed one ride succesfully. Felt a sense of achievement ,Don't know why. Here americans train their kids since childhood . We could see children of all ages 1-10, skiing fluently and skillfully.

after a Successful ride

We had food at the cafe out there and left at around 5 pm. In Parking, Our car was totally covered with snow. We somehow managed to clear it up. On the way back, it started Snowing heavily, And for those 10-20 miles visibility was reduced to almost 1 metre. but we managed our way out of it successfully and were back to full speed.

me,Naresh,Ankan and Jason

New born Skier-- AK :)

Yes thats me,

Dodge Ridge I'll never forget you

Reached home at around 10 pm. Was too hungry. What could have been better than garamagram khichdi. Cooked in 10 mins, finished in 5 mins :D and went to sleep. All exciting day was over :)