8050 Northstar Truckee

... we grabbed our snowboards and headed to the local ski hill, Heavenly. Its pretty early in the season for Heavenly so just a few runs were open, but it was still a blast especially for how few people were skiing. Enjoying a cold beer from one of the mountain restaurants and reclining in some lounge chairs at the end of a run, we took a break while watching skiers and snowboarders fly down the mountain. Afterwards, we hit the grocery store to prepare for todays ...

Dad invited me out to the races this year and so he, Uncle Mike, and I went on the last day. Roamed all over the air field and saw some pretty sweet rides (check out the pics). They had the Blue Angels do a show and I was surprised to see the flag from the old homestead coming down with one of the parachutists (it was the AK Air Guard). All in all a good, if short, trip.

Set the alarm for about 7am which was quickly snoozed until 8am.

After a quick book out we were on our way to purchase snow chains to get to Lake Tahoe. They had chains for $90 + tax or cables for $40. Needless to say the cables were purchased as they would be a 1 off use then a throw away item.

We set up the mountain and found a fair bit of ice on the road. Most cars didn't really care too much about that and just drove straight through. I decided I ...

... enough our hotel was adjacent to a Starbucks, and not a tiny little psuedo-starbucks stand, but a full scale one with tons of cushy seats and a huge drink bar. You'd think, or at least I did, that a normal-sized starbucks would have breakfast sandwich-making capabilities. We're both wrong on that count.
One mocha latte and no sandwich later, I climbed into the car determined to find a some sort of deli, bagel place or breakfast making-starbucks. While I ...

... bed, so we camped in America’s campground located six miles down the road, Wal-Mart. There were four other campers with the same plan, which is the real reason the parking lots are so big. Of course by the time we actually left we hit the store four more times, I wonder if Sam Walton had this use of his property in mind. If he had than he is truly a marketing genius.

... with lunch and liquor. We really enjoyed the tour (any time we can be on water is always a good thing!) and not just because of the drinks! Views of the surrounding mountains and beautiful Emerald Bay were top highlights.

One of the most scenic drives we did wasn’t along Lake Tahoe, but nearby Taylor Creek and Fallen Leaf Lake. At Taylor Creek, Kokenee Salmon were spawning and the creek was chock full of them. Fallen ...

hi all, well, woke up to a rainy cold day and it didn't get any better. cold wet and windy with a temp not above 11 degrees. sound familiar lorraine and jim? the predicted snow up in the tioga pass was a reality so off we went via sacramento. ok.....quiz for you all .we went through some towns that have a musical theme. who were the artists that folsom, jackson, eldorado and lido are linked with? no cheating ...

... the lake. Lake Tahoe is split between California and Nevada. In South Lake Tahoe there are no casinos on the Califronian side but as soon as you cross the state line into Nevada there is a casino.

Back in Reno, I went back to Fitzgeralds to try my luck again and ended up being 70 up by the end of the night. I thought that was a pretty good result and hope that I will have even more luck when I get to Vegas!

Spring conditions - Sierra Cement - is what it is affectionately called. Spring skiing in Tahoe is something that I grew to love in my youth. The snow, not quite firm, has the right consistency to keep it fast. The temperature is always pleasant. Toying between t ...

... my unskilled descent, I still loved it. When I reached the bottom, I was greeted by the guide, who unclipped me and told me to join the others in an adjoining room. They all told me to hurry and find a seat and turn my headlamp off, then to look up. There, spattered across the cave ceiling like little constellations, were our first glowworms. They're sort of little greenish-white flecks against the black. When everybody was down from the abseil, we walked down into the cave a ways ...