I was stoked! There was finally enough snow to go skiing, and I actually had time off to go when there was good snow. The frosting on the cake was that my older daughter was going to be taking driver’s education during the Thanksgiving vacation, my younger daughter had soccer, and my wife was not able to ski because of her knee. I had to go it alone!

That meant that there would be no excess baggage handling, no rearranging the furniture in the hotel room, no schlepping additional ski equipment for them all, no requirement to slow down and take the easy runs, and no waiting on the mountain. I could handle a lonely night or two. All in all, it sounded like the first real ski experience that I’d be having in years!

I made a fabulous turkey combining two of my previous favorite recipes: the espresso-Kahlúa marinade and the spicy black bean sauce combined beautifully into the spicy Kahlúa glazed turkey. My mom and dad loved it, and so did everyone else.

After we got it all cleaned up, I got on the web and booked a room at the Hyatt-Incline for Friday night. I packed all my stuff ... it seemed so simple with just me ... and prepared for an early start.

I awoke at 5 a.m., like a regular workday, and piled into my car for the boring drive. Since I was traveling alone, I kept my CDs at the ready and had rolled a few (actually more than a few) numbers to keep me focused on the drive.

When I was ready to leave, I said my goodbyes to all the girls and hit the road. I had GD Aoxomoxoa on first, and progressed to Rolling Stones, then to Hot Tuna. By the time I got to the chain control area, I was onto the Jorma Kaukonen solo album and sailed right through the chain requirement (whips optional) on my M+S tires.

I decided to ski at Squaw even though I was staying at the Hyatt because I was unencumbered and could ski on KT-22 and Headwall to my heart’s content and for as long as my body held up. I pulled into the lot at about 8:15 to glorious sunshine. I got out, did quite a lot of stretching, then suited up and off I went.

I had an absolutely glorious day skiing, just went like hell, flat out, all day. I quit about 3:30 so I wouldn’t injure myself and made my way around to Incline.

I checked into my room at the Hyatt, and it wasn’t as cheap-looking as the price would’ve suggested. I took a shower and put on some fresh clothes.

Toward the early part of the week, when it looked like I’d be able to get there, I had e-mailed a virtual friend of mine, Cindy, that I would be coming to town. I’d met Cindy online through an old mutual friend who thought we’d have a lot to talk about. As it turns out, he was correct.

I called Cindy, she was only about 15 minutes from the Hyatt. She asked me to come for dinner, and I countered saying I’d like to take her to dinner.

She insisted, and I asked if I could bring anything. She said no, but I said that I’d think of something. I stopped at the market and picked up some Chardonnay, a small bottle of Absolut Citron, and some flowers. Surely there would be something there she could enjoy!

I arrived at Cindy’s about 10 minutes after I left the market and trudged through the snow to the front door. I knocked, and a couple of seconds later, Cindy opened the door. We had been corresponding for a few months, and I had seen one picture, but nothing could have prepared me for what I beheld.

Now I’m easily rendered speechless by beautiful women, and especially by blondes. I couldn’t even say hello! Standing before me was a vision of healthy beauty, lovely proportions, and sparkling eyes. Completing the picture was an outfit that was both incredibly sexy yet romantically alluring. A little cap-sleeved black shirt, low-cut enough to show a hint of cleavage, tight enough to get my imagination going, and showing just enough abdomen for a bellybutton view if the position was just right. The shirt topped off a Guatemalan print skirt, tailored to cling tightly but with a slit way up the side.

I really wanted to know where that slit ended, but didn’t want to be caught staring at the most incredible pair of muscled, shapely legs that I’d seen in recent memory...

Cindy greeted me with a big smile and hug and invited me in. I finally managed to get a hello out and presented my offerings. As I kind of expected, she was most taken with the flowers but was happy to get the Chardonnay, and I knew that I would be able to make use of it, if all else failed.

She gestured me to sit down on the couch, and I did. She turned toward the kitchen, and I couldn’t help but stare at what was a very shapely behind. I said, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

She answered, “No, I think I have everything under control.”

“I insist!” I insisted. I knew that busying myself with some routine kitchen chores would help me get over being awestruck by Cindy’s beauty.

I thought Cindy was just gorgeous. She wasn’t a “rip the staples out of playboy” kind of beauty; I don’t like those that much anyway. Cindy has more of a healthy mountain girl kind of beauty, the kind of woman that looks just as beautiful stepping from a tent door as from a mansion door. Her skin color was amazing ... most fair-haired women can’t get a tan; they only burn, but Cindy’s skin was a golden brown. I was mesmerized...

So it was a good thing that Cindy wanted me to open the wine, pour her a glass, make myself a drink, put the flowers in a vase, etc. I began to feel a little more at ease, and brought the hummus and pita bread appetizer back to the living room, and we sat down to talk.

We had talked about quite a few subjects online, and I knew Cindy liked herbs. I lit a number, and it was a real thrill for me to sit and get high with a striking woman like Cindy. We ate our snacks, drank our drinks, and soon were chatting up a storm like old friends.

Cindy had made a delicious grilled salmon, and I loved it. I was having too much fun to eat much, and I quickly cleaned up and made sure the food was put away. We continued with our drinks, and Cindy lit another number.

I was feeling pretty relaxed. Just sitting around, talking, smoking, drinking, wasn’t something I was ever able to do at home, always too many demands for my time. I was starting to feel really warm and cozy.

Right about then, Cindy walked back to the kitchen and returned with some fortified carob brownies. We each ate one and continued talking about everything from music to sex to computers to children (mine were at home, hers were at a sleepover).

By this time, it was about 7 p.m. or so. We had both had enough to drink for the time being. Cindy said, “I’ve got the tub heated up, want to take a soak?”

I knew that she had a tub and had brought along my suit just in case. “Sure, that would be great for my thrashed muscles, let me go change.”

“Sure, I’ll go get my suit on and meet you out on the back deck.”

Cindy handed me a towel, and I went into the bathroom to change. I brought another number and a lighter for the tub. I wrapped the towel around my waist and tried to nonchalantly walk out to the tub, all the while feeling like a combination of a 12-year-old boy at a junior high dance and a bull moose in mating season. I couldn’t really understand why, as Cindy and I were e-mail pen pals. I didn’t try to understand it just then. Some things are better not to know.

I got out to the tub, and quickly immersed myself ... it felt great. The air was cold and the tub was just the right temperature, about 99 degrees.

Cindy came out a minute later, wrapped in a towel as well. It was pretty dark, but not so dark that I couldn’t see. I watched carefully as she undid her towel and put her beautiful hair into a ponytail. Her body was, dare I say, mouthwateringly beautiful. She was wearing a skimpy silvery bikini that fit very tastefully, tight enough to be sexy, but not garishly so. She had a kind of healthy, athletic natural beauty that I find incredibly alluring. The overall effect was absolutely enchanting.

Cindy got into the tub across from me and I lit the number. The tub was a little large for easy passing, so I scooted around next to her, being careful to leave some space between us. I draped my arms around the lip of the tub to keep my hands dry so as not to soak the J in chlorinated water.

It was a beautiful moonlit night, and I was feeling very relaxed. The warm water, the J’s, my tired muscles, and the drinks all added up to a real “feeling no pain” experience. When combined with the brownie now becoming activated and my normal reaction to high altitude (starts at about 7,500 feet for me), I was really feeling “altered.”

We had finished smoking, and I had put my hands back into the tub to warm them and then back up on the edge of the tub so that I didn’t get too hot. I realized that, in effect, I had my arm around Cindy, although I wasn’t really touching her, except for her ponytail. Suddenly, having this realization, I noticed that I was becoming very aroused. I wanted to be a gentlemanly guest and not be perceived as some kind of hot tub molester.

I looked over at Cindy to see if she had noticed that my breathing had quickened and that I was squirming in my seat. She looked peaceful. She smiled at me and slid down a bit in the tub and flipped her ponytail over my arm so that the back of her neck rested on my arm like a pillow. We sat silently soaking for what seemed like a long time.

Just then, an owl whoed. Cindy scooted closer and snuggled into me. I was really aroused now. I looked over, and her eyes were closed. I leaned over and kissed her delicately on the lips.

Her eyes opened, and our eyes locked together like magnets. I kissed her again, this time putting both arms around her and pulling her close to me. Cindy responded by kissing me back, and I could feel her tongue on my lips. I opened my lips, and our tongues danced a wild ballet. I put my hands around her thin waist and pulled her closer. By this time, I was very aroused, and I could feel my hard-on straining against my baggy board shorts ... I was really glad they were baggy!

Cindy’s hands were all over my back and neck, and I could tell by the way she was kissing me that she was enjoying my attentions.

Her bikini was a string type, and I pushed the covering of her delicious-looking and perfectly sized breast aside on its string. I delicately circled the nipple with my fingers until it became hardened and stuck out like a miniature fingertip. My nipples were always in an aroused state, and that fact wasn’t lost on Cindy. She had taken one of my nipples between her thumb and forefinger and was pinching and twisting it. I turned up the heat by first putting my whole hand over her wonderful breast and then withdrawing it and replacing it with my mouth. When I took her nipple in my lips, Cindy let out a little moan, and I took it as my signal to proceed.

By this time, I was facing Cindy, and she was sitting on the tub bench. I was bending over, standing on the bottom of the tub. Cindy had arched her back so I could reach her breasts without being under water. I moved the other side of her bikini top aside and began to work on the other breast.

At the same time, I dropped one of my hands from the side of the tub down into the water to lightly stroke Cindy’s smooth and muscular thigh. “Ooh, that feels so nice,” she said. I had a mouthful of nipple and could only answer “Hmmmm.”

I kept up with my nipple action all the while, stroking further and further up on her thigh. When I reached her mound, I put my hand over it and pressed firmly but gently. She spread her legs a little further apart so I could gain greater access, and I carefully exerted more pressure where I expected her clitoris to be.