Part 2

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I woke up with the sheets bunched up near my feet, and my little sisters little body curled up on the other side of the uncomfortably warm bed. The night was mostly spent with me tossing and turning in bed, trying to find a comfortable position without adding on even more heat emanating from the heater that was linked to the other rooms.My skin felt unnaturally feverish due to all the high temperature from the room and bed. Which didn’t really give me the sense to have a good mood that morning.

I slowly got out of the bed, checking the time on my phone, before lazily making my merry way downstairs, also tempted to ask my mom why the second floor felt like an industrial microwave that wanted to turned me into burnt curry before even brushing my teeth.  Course that was an unlikely output of the situation, but my groggy, sleepy state, would’ve said otherwise. My mom was already busy in the kitchen, as anyone would’ve expected, after I brushed my teeth, I had was having awful cramps(ladies you probably know why)so I had no intention in moving from the spot where I was being devoured by the couch and body pillows. And even if I did move, I probably would’ve been suffocated from the dense factor of that couch.

Surya and my dad had just left to buy donuts for everyone, probably from a nearby shop, my brother and my little cousin went on to take beanbags and start throwing them up and down the stairs, letting them scatter everyone too, which led me to being the one to make sure that nothing that wrecked while they played. Which also resulted with me becoming a target for them to throw bean bags at me as well. Which wasn’t that bad until I got poked in the eye. I blinked my eyes rapidly while they watered profusely and went back upstairs with my crippling pain(haha no I’m just a wimp) and hung out with Himani for a bit, just talking and laughing until our stomachs hurt.

It was nice spending so much time with Himani, we don’t get to see each other as often as we would’ve liked because she and her family live and hour or two away, and both of us and our families can be really busy throughout the year with our own things. So the fact that we could spend time with each other was really a precious thing.

And sure, the time gap between the last time we saw each other, and the present is there, but that doesn’t make us any less entitled to be just as comfortable with each other as we usually would be. No matter how much we grow up. Sure, we don’t necessarily have an obsession with Rapunzel and The Little Mermaid, but we still seek out what interests the other, what’s quintessential for us individually, and honour it, without any interference; without shaming it. Like a silent oath of respect or something. Kinda like those things guys have, like a “bro code”, but deeper I guess. So call us cousins, but I like the term surrogate sisters better.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)

By nine or ten in the morning, everyone was just chilling out, and the house looked nicer with the natural sunlight filtering through the windows and the glass sliding door that led out to the small deck in the back.while watching my mom scramble around the place like a cat. Opening bags, taking pans, filling plates; she’s probably one of the only people that I know who can successfully multitask and actually get things done.

And she went all out with the packing too. Like she brought bits of almost everything we have in the kitchen, including ingredients for pancakes, to make from scratch, dosa batter, and every kitchen utensil you could possibly need to make any meal. And sure, I think my mom was just a tad bit extra, but that tad bit of extra can go a long way in this case. My mom had even made tomato chutney and was making dosas on the heavy pan she had brought along, while fixing up different breakfasts for each person who had a preference. And at that moment, I knew she was basically the head of cooking for everyone that moment on, and to the day we leave.

For that day however, we were planning on driving around Lake Tahoe(literally and figuratively)and maybe hitting some spots at on the way, like the beaches or the viewing points around the lake. Himani and I talked about it on the deck in the back, before our dads, and Babu peryiappa joined us out back as well and launched a conversation with the two of us. Babu peryiappa was giving me ideas on how to escalate from beyond writing my blog, and introducing new ways to do that. And I wanted to follow up on some of his ideas too, they were intriguing and I couldn’t deny that.

My mom was bringing hot plates of food out, and it was so nice, to be eating homemade food in a place that technically isn’t home. We sat around eating and talking, my dad deliberately taunting and messing with Babu peryiappa(they’re brothers what do you expect)while I laughed at them.

That sounded way better in my head.

Sorry peryiappa. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

By the time everyone had eaten, showered, and were ready to go, it was probably 12ish in the afternoon.

And just getting all fourteen people in three separate cars?

(¬‿¬) hahaha no. *cries*

The three younger boys wanted to sit together, Thulasi had her own toddler preferences;plus her car seat was something to think about. The three broskateers(that’s gonna be the code name from my two uncles and my dad, you know, like the three musketeers, but bros)were the ones driving, so they don’t have a mandatory preference, my mom would go wherever my sister went, and I had a strange suspicion that Sanjay and Surya would go wherever the little kids weren’t.

And it’s not like I could blame them, I mean usually, driving with children can end up with constant retching(that from gastrointestinal sensitivity, or the fact that the dang kid just wants to get on your nerves)it can be loud, there will be lots of conspicuous giggling(that hopefully isn’t about you). Silence is almost nonexistent, and talking seems to be a constant must on the “How to get on people’s nerves list.” Constant babbling will come from the baby, and mimics of the babbling from said baby, are usually done by the younger boys; who think it’s absolutely hilarious that a human being with a brain could talk such gibberish. And there are also many moments where you wish that the song “Baby Shark” didn’t exist.

Lake Ta-hoe do do do do do do

Lots of dri-ving do do do do do do

So much fun do do do do do do

LAKE TA-HOE  *jazz hands*

Anyway, Himani an I were cool with going in any car, just as long as we could still sit together. Seemingly unlike the rest of our profoundly standing group. The two of us were basically like a pair of extremely well trained cats, that you could place anywhere and they won’t complain unless properly fed.

See, we’re angel children, we’ll do anything you bid us to do.

*cough* yeah right *cough* 

Long story short, everyone was finally seated somewhere inside one of the three cars, but the time it took us to do that had already docked us some time for our sightseeing extravaganza.  I was in a car with my mom, my sister, brother, two little cousin Saran and Vaikunth, Sanjay(with much complaint once he saw the bunch seated inside)and Himani; with her dad driving. Himani, my mom, and I were watching the windows, and pointing things out to each other.

“Wow, look at that house!”

“Ooh the colour on that one is so pretty!”

“The windows are so big in that one!”

“Hey check out the little garden in that house!”

“Look it’s a Hobbit house!”

Guess who said the last one.

Seeing everything in the daylight was so much more overwhelming, because I could finally see how much stuff is in Lake Tahoe. I mean way more than I expected. I just assumed it would like Yosemite, where the nearest store is a couple miles off,  probably one you’ve never heard of in your life. But Lake Tahoe is basically the polar opposite when it comes down to common urban circumstances.

At least from my personal experience, everyone nature reserved area doesn’t have many stores or other extra amenities like that. But I guess since Lake Tahoe is such a popular tourist destination internationally, it’s opened up to having more than one or two stores here and there. And a portion of the money earned most likely goes to the organization(s)that make sure Lake Tahoe is kept thriving.

Here are some facts(that aren’t mine)that I found on rvlove.com.

” The amount of water in Lake Tahoe (39 trillion gallons) is enough to supply each person in the U.S. with 50 gallons of water per day for 5 years.

The amount of water that evaporates from the Lake each day (330 million gallons) could supply a city the size of Los Angeles for 5 years.

The water is 99.994% pure, making it one of the purest large lakes in the world. For comparison, commercially distilled water is 99.998% pure. Lake Tahoe is over 2 million years old. Tahoe is considered an ancient lake and is counted among the 20 oldest lakes in the world.

Year-round resident population is 53,000. Total population can reach 300,000 on peak days. About three million people visit Lake Tahoe each year. This is comparable to the numbers of visitors to Grand Canyon National Park (3.2 million) and Yellowstone National Park (2.7 million). “

We were driving for quite a bit of time before we had stopped at a lookout spot where it was facing the southern part of Lake Tahoe, which meant we could also see the itty bitty little island with itty bitty little boats. Okay, it wasn’t that small, but compared to the rest of the lake, it was puny.

We all stepped out of the car(we were parked right next to a portable lavatory, which was unfortunate)Babu peryiappa had parked somewhere nearby, but my dad was going around in circles trying(and failing)to find a parking spot. And we watched and waited, up until we saw him just take a u-turn and go back onto the road and up, where he seemed to be trying to find a parking spot there. Before leaving, he dropped off the group that was driving with him to the side of the road we were standing on and skedaddled outta there so he could park somewhere else. So there was a cluster of us walking towards the look out area, where we could see the itsy bitsy teeny weeny island.

I found out later on, that it’s called Fannette Island, and it’s said to be haunted. *gasp* More details on that later, but anyway, a light wind was blowing and there were quite a few people looking out at the lake and taking pictures. Now that we had a clear view of the lake, I could finally see its unique blue colour, and how big it actually is. And now that we were closer we could see that there was this small stone castle thing. My mom pointed it out and I was completely convinced that the woodland creatures had built it on their own. But, I did my research after the trip, and it was actually a tea house that a wealthy women had used many many decades before.

My dad finally stalked his way towards wear we were standing, my mom and I were trying to tame the kids, who seemed to have found there way onto a large flat surface rock, and started messing around. We stayed for a little longer, took a couple pictures, before deciding to leave. I say deciding, because we all only shuffled along a few steps before my little cousins skidded and skinned his knees on the rough ground. Blood glistened on the scrapes and threaten to drip down, but Sekar peryiappa was quick to ask for bandages and Neosporin, which my mom whipped out from her backpack.

The three adults fussed over him, while he chided them all with “I’m fines” and “It’s okays” But the serious scrapes on his knees said otherwise. Himani let herself have her own share of scolding her little brother as we started back to the cars. And we all hoped the hasty bandaging would be enough to last through most of the day. And he didn’t seem faltered by that either, and I kind of wanted to pat him on the back and give him chocolate or something because he was pretty chill considering what had just ensued.

Other than that, we were all pretty much happy campers, my sister was giggling most of the time with the boys, Himani and I messed with the filter apps that were on our phones and made funny pictures of each other for a little bit. We were driving for quite some time however, so everyone was getting a little jittery, and the thought of food made me hungrier by the minute. I guess the three brosketeers were feeling it too(or they just had spidey-senses)because, soon we all had pulled up into the parking lot of a Safeway, which looked like a regular old Safeway you would see in city or town, and not some knockoff with off brand items that basically taste worse than the amount you paid for them.

I knew we would have to make exceptions when it came to food, since there were so many of us traveling together. But I found it hilarious that we ended up having to go to a Safeway, in Lake Tahoe. I’m so used to having to rely on whatever my mom brought when we go on road-trips, since there usually aren’t any nearby stores in establishments like natural parks. So I didn’t expect to end up going to a Safeway, with everyone to boot. And I found it utterly hilarious that we had to go to Safeway in order to survive for half the day without passing out from undernourishment. Everyone decided it would be a great idea for all of us to go into the store together and grab food and snacks.

That was horrid idea.

Himani and I maneuvered around, and whisper-hissed-screamed at our brothers to stop going to different aisles without us. But their our brothers, and who in their right mind would decide to listen to their older sisters, even if whatever they’re telling us most likely just them making sure we’re safe. Pfft, why even? I salute all of you out there who listen to their older siblings; and if you don’t. Well, I don’t think ya’ll want a lecture right now, because little siblings seem to underestimate the power of a hard lecture from their older sibling.

The majority of the time, it was me and Himani chasing after our brothers, and then our mothers calling out to us to chase after our brothers; it was just an endless cycle of:

“Can these perfectly capable girls manage to track down their brothers in a store that has more than a dozen aisles in one place?”

Himani and I finally got our brothers and handed them of to the adults, who were still looking for food items that were anything besides chips and cookies. Himani and I decided to do our part and wandered along to the yogurt section, I grabbed the first thing that I saw that looked familiarly edible, which was orange creamsicle flavoured Yoplait. I grabbed four or five and we wandered back to the cash register, where everyone else was crowded. Our purchases we really hasty;

• A mixed box of bagged chips

• Yogurt(Provided by Himani and Yours truly)

• Cookies

• Pizza flavoured Pringles(that I wasn’t gonna touch)

• Ice cream(that melted a couple moments later, woops)

• Baby Carrots

• Oranges

• Macaroni Salad

• Bananas

Not the heartiest things you could eat, but we managed.

We walked back to the parking lot, where everyone hung out and opened the food we bought. I grabbed the yogurt and gave one to my dad, who supposedly decided to pat me on the back for deciding to get something other than chips and cookies. But there weren’t any spoons so we had to compromise with forks.

Eating yogurt with forks, on a sunny day in Lake Tahoe.

Yippee.