I just (yesterday) got back from a couple more weeks in Tahoe. We had lots of visitors and did lots of fun things. We got our kayak and used it a good bit. We went to Emerald Bay, Baldwin Beach, and Stanford Camp. I cut down a few trees. There was a fire at the end of the street. All in all, it was a good trip. Elizabeth, Sam, and Margaret are still up there. Sam had his final doctor’s appointment today (all is well).
There was a fire just down the road from us in Tahoe. It was a little close for comfort. After the Angora fire, they seemed to have jumped on this one pretty quickly and kept it small.
We just got back from spending about 2 1/2 weeks in Tahoe. We didn’t want to come home. We started out up there with my sister and her family, then the neighbors, then Elizabeth’s parents. The last week, we spent by ourselves. We did some hiking, Katy, Patty and Ceci went horseback riding, went to a laser show at Squaw, went to the beach, found a swimming hole in the river, saw fireworks (and a beaver), Sam broke his leg, went kayaking, saw New Monsoon, played tennis, the kids went to art camp, mountain biking, golf, saw The English Beat, used Bruce’s power wagon, and more. It was really great being up there for an extended period of time. Generally, when we go up, it seems like we are just there for a few days, but this time was more relaxed because we knew we would be there longer.
We had a great weekend in Tahoe for Memorial Day. We went on hikes, got a lot done around the house to prepare it for summer, bought everything that was in Reno, went to the dinosaur park, and lots of other stuff. Great weather, great weekend.
Because of Mary’s graduation, we had to leave from Oakland about 4pm on Friday. So, we decided to go an around about way. We ended up driving through the delta, along levees for a good bit of the way. It took longer, but we avoided most of the traffic. It was also a very interesting part of the state that we had never been to.
We all are able to now ski the intermediate slopes. Sam and Margaret have come a very long way this week. Today we skied from our side of the mountain. Katy is upset because her brother and sister are starting to be able to do things that only she could do in the past. Reese and Brandon came up and stayed one night with us and skied with us today. We stayed Saturday night and ended up stranded up there until Tuesday morning.
On New Year’s Day this year, my entire family skied. It was pretty much the most fun I have had on skis. We were there with the Schwartz’s and another family. We have been back and we all skied another day as well. Sam is now convinced he is ready for the rest of the mountain, but not quite yet. Margaret is still hesitant to go up the second lift on the bunny hill even though Margaret is a better skier than Sam at this point.
Again, just a few random pictures from the trip to Tahoe the week after Christmas. This is one Marcella took out of her bedroom window in the Castle. Also, there are a lot of pictures of her with her god-kids here.
For Christmas, Susan got Elizabeth a raclette machine for Tahoe. Looks like wikipedia defines the term as a type of cheese (which it is). It is also a type of cooking where you heat the cheese at your table and eat it. Similar to fondue, but with a grill and not a pot of oil (or cheese). Turns out the kids really loved it. Make them cook their own meals for a change.
This weekend we finally moved our stuff into the house in Tahoe. It is pretty much as done as it is going to get for a while. While we were up there, we hid a geocache. We walked from our house to Paige Meadows, met with a local dog named Rosie. She took her ball and hike with us. This is the same dog that took us for a walk about a year and a half ago. She stayed with us until I told her to go home, at which time she did.
I woke up early Sunday morning, looked out the window and saw a shooting star. Then i decided to go lay on the couch in the great room and watch the meteor shower. It was almost as good as being outdoors, but I was under a warm blanket on my couch.
We had landscaping done to get our final occupancy permit as well as the TRPA inspection. We took a washer and dryer up there and moved a bit more stuff in. The landscaping looks great.
UPDATE: We passed the TRPA inspection.