A little bit of exploration...

Day 32, Mar 6th

We think we finally have the bus system sussed, so we decided that after breakfast we would do some exploring of the other 2 main base stations, California Lodge Base and the Boulder Lodge and Stagecoach Lodge Bases on the Nevada side.

Breakfast was the usual 2 eggs over medium and sausages for all of us. Diane opted out of the bus run so Clive, Lorraine and I headed to the transit station at the Gondola Base where we jumped aboard the 'orange route' bus which took us to the California Base. At the base were a few shops and a nice big cafeteria where we had coffee and a look around. We hopped on the next bus back to the transit station where we changed and waited for the 'blue route' bus to take us to the Nevada base stations.

The blue route bus arrived and off we went. This was a much prettier and interesting ride as the bus climbs high into the mountains via the 'Kingsbury Grade' before coming to the Boulder Lodge base area. This was not a huge base, but had a very slow moving chair which serviced a beginners area which came back down to the base area underneath the chair. The non beginner accesses another lift when they alight the slow lift at the top, taking you further up the mountain to more advanced terrain. The bus continues from Boulder Lodge to Stagecoach Lodge base, further up the mountain again. This is a large area surrounded by condos and impressive looking apartment blocks set high in the mountains at about 7,500'. There appeared to be a few shops, but nothing worth actually getting out for, so we stayed on the bus for the return journey to the transit station at the Gondola Base. Reasonably solid snow falling also made our decision to stay on the bus a relatively easy one.

Once we got back to the village, we decided to got to the movies, again. Third day straight for Clive and Lorraine. We went and saw 'Just Go for It' with Adam Sandler, Jennifer Anniston and Nicole Kidman. It was a very enjoyable, lightweight comedy and we all thought it was a good movie. After the movie we wandered back to the hotel and it was about 4:30pm. We had a few hours in the room before heading off for dinner at Harrah's.

Once at Harrah's we decided to make tomorrow, our last night together and for Diane and I, our last night of the trip a special one, so we went to the 18th floor and booked a table for tomorrow night at Friday's Station Steak and Seafood Grill, an upmarket restaurant at Harrah's on the 18th floor with a lake view. We went back downstairs and headed for the 'American River Cafe' for dinner. It is a burger, soup and sandwich type place at Harrah's. We each had $5 off vouchers which they let us use, so after that we had a smallish balance left over which we paid using our Reward Points. We headed back to Harvey's where I drew stumps early at about 10pm with Diane, Clive and Lorraine heading to bed not long after.

Just a few quick pics...

Last nights sunset with the sun straining thru thick cloud...

This morning with clouds covering all the peaks on the horizon...

Some pretty pics of the village and nearby holiday units covered from a light dusting overnight...

The natural 'median strip' formed by the snow building in the centre after being pushed aside by traffic...

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring ski wise. I tried my boots on but it was too uncomfortable and I've totally lost the passion to get out there, so I'm unlikely to get up the hill, not to ski anyway. Lorraine is going to try her boots again and hopefully will get out for a few hours with Clive. Providing it is not clouded in, I will be going up the gondola as a foot passenger, hopefully with Diane, to take some pictures of the magical view and also a video.

Until then, later...