Recently my flight attendant daughter based in San Francisco sent me a text, “Hey Dad I’ve got tickets for a Giants game tomorrow, can you make it? ” I was pretty excited, since it had been a few years since I’d made it to AT&T Park to see my favorite team. And given my standby privileges on her airline I could catch the 9:30 flight and arrive at SFO in plenty of time to make it to first pitch.
The next morning I got up early, drove to Reno and arrived early at the gate, excited about my flight. Then I heard the announcement that the flight was delayed, with a new departure time of 12:15. This would bring me to the park, if I was lucky, in about the 6th inning. That wasn’t going to work. So I walked back out of the airport, tail firmly planted between my legs and drove the hour back home to Tahoe.
I arrived home just in time to watch the game on TV, but that meant watching crowds of smiling fans enjoying a beautiful sunny day at the ballpark and wondering where my daughter was seated. Well that wasn’t going to work, so I skipped the game and went for Plan B: A walk along the Truckee River and through Tahoe City.
About a half hour into my walk I rediscovered something: If you find yourself at Lake Tahoe on a breathtaking sunny afternoon, it’s all good. The lake was calm and blue, with pods of happy paddlers digging through the water. A few remaining patches of snow hung high on the mountains and chamber of commerce puffy clouds perched just above the highest peaks. There was a competition going on for who could look the most relaxed between the parents strolling their kids through town and the Truckee River rafters doing the gentle float down the river. There is no doubt about it, Lake Tahoe is a magnificent place to spend an hour, an afternoon or a lifetime. While it didn’t quite remove 100% of the sting of missing the game or the chance to spend a fun day with my daughter, I couldn’t think of a better Plan B.