Saturday, November 03, 2001
Here I am in Arnold, California.... 4000 feet elevation. I work in Bear Valley at 8000 feet elevation as a snow maker, and this is one of the most gorgeous regions on the planet. You all have to come out here - I am inviting you all! And if you chance to arrive at the same moment, all the merrier.
I guess you know by now that I'm heading to Warsaw, Poland, soon. Just today my baby, my Polish Queen, Gosia, said she will marry me. Let me tell you our tale:
Lake Tahoe was a last minute decision for me. I had planned to ride right by it, from Carson City, Nevada onward to the Sonora Pass over the Central Sierra.... but it nagged at me, you know? I hadn't visited Tahoe in over five years and if I had neglected to visit while on this personally historic trek, I would have kicked myself for the rest of my life.
So I went. And I added two grueling mountian passes in the process. The plan was to camp on the top of Spooner Pass on Thursday night (Sep 6), ride around a bit on the south end of the Lake, and camp on the top of Kingsbury Grade the following night. And what a ride.... I was already exhausted but I accepted the challenge of the passes. I reckon they were at least 12 percent grades.
That night as I climbed the bike began to wobble.... slightly at first and then kinda bad as I went down the pass a bit until I found a suitable camping spot. Thanks to the highway gods for the Nevada road crews, they dug out a locale for me with a stunning view of the Lake. Anyway, I thought that I had fixed the problem that night and on Friday morning I set off down the hill. Guess what? The problem wasn't fixed. My bike shook, rattled, and rolled like Elvis riding a coaster down to the the Ninth Concentric Circle. Thank the Lord I was able to stop, flag down a ride, and find a welder in South Lake Tahoe who was able to repair my alloy bike. If I hadn't gone to Tahoe my bike definitely would have broken down - but in the Nevada dessert or going over the Sonora Pass. With a few SMALL towns with no specialized welders. My ride would have been over.
But there I was, there I was, there I was. I found the welder, he got to my bike late that afternoon, I was forced to stay in Tahoe another night, a local church had put me up in a hotel a few blocks from the casinos, and I decided to catch a buffet and hit the sack. Now usually I have no great love with the money-grubbing earth-bound gods in their white suits and fedora hats who run these fabled joints of glitz and gaud - but what the heck you know? After all, this ride was about modifying my perspective on everything. Everything had its value now, even these self-styled funlands with their legions of depressed, obsessed hordes.
And there she was. My jaw dropped when I saw her serving the customers at Harvey's Casino. I asked the host if he would seat me in her section. He said "no problem" and I thought I'd just chat her up a bit, share a few laughs, and go back to bed. Uh-uh. 'Cause guess what? We hit it off immediately and I stayed in Tahoe the entire weekend. We stayed in touch the entire next month (ouch! did I have a huge cell phone bill!). And then we met again in SAN frANCisco and spent another two weeks getting to know each other.
She came to Tahoe with her twin sister, Ania, and two other wonderful Polish girls, Ania and Magda. They are all wonderful people. They have all gone home, Gosia to finish her master's thesis in Business Ethics (not available in the States - don't tell me any of you are surprised?!?). And me - me, I'm now making snow in Bear Valley. A "Employee Liason" in the Employee Housing ( a very nice moutainesque kind of place complete with wood stove and and lots of square footage) here in Arnold, and thus living rent free with my own private room. And of all the fellow snowmakers and resort personnel I've met, only one is from another country. And that's Lucas - from Poland.
Wow. He's helping me woo her from afar. Next stop for me - Warsaw. And the altar. Nothing is the same, and no one like Gosia has ever come into my life before. I'd be a royal ass if I let this one slip me by.
Well, that's all for now. See ya later.... and stay strong America.
-Mark
posted by mark 2:59 AM
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