Heroes and Friends Part 3

So in my final installment of Heroes and Friends I am going to get to the friend part.  The whole reason this weekend even happened was because an old friend from way back, Jonathan Parker, invited me to stay at his house.  I decided to buy us tickets to the Reno Air Races because I had planned to go anyway and he lives only about 45 minutes from the airport.

On my final day before going home on Monday Jon and his wife took me on a tour of the Tahoe area.  First Jon took me up to Donner Pass and showed me a famous climbing area called Road Cut and then we went up to Donner Summit.  If you have never been to the Tahoe area you should go and be prepared to want to buy a house and live there haha.  It is that beautiful.

He also took me down old highway 40 which runs through some of the most beautiful and picturesque areas of the Tahoe region.  After doing some research I actually learned this highway stretches from New Jersey to California.  I really would love to drive the whole thing someday.  Along the highway we stopped to see a really interesting old railroad tunnel that runs through the mountains and is now used for bicycling.  I can’t wait to go back and explore more in my wheelchair.  We also stopped at Rainbow Lodge and Tavern which wasn’t open.  That gave us the opportunity to check out a beautiful area right next to the lodge with a cool seating area right by the water.

After we got done exploring on our own we went up to Squaw Valley Ski Resort which I didn’t realize was home to the 1960 winter olympics.  Jon’s wife Laura met us there and we rode the tram up to the top of the mountain to hang out and explore. This is another thing you should do if you are ever in the area.  There is no other view like it I can assure you.

This was definitely the best weekend I have had in California and not just because I met amazing people but because I got to spend it with someone I hadn’t seen in over twenty years and it was like we hadn’t been apart.  It was fun exchanging stories of stupidity and wondering how we are still alive haha.  This is definitely a trip I will never forget.