Christmas

This year I was in charge of hosting Christmas. So the family flew out to Reno and stayed in the Peppermill casino. I was surprised how much they liked it, but at 30 bucks a night, it's hard not to appreciate. I don't have any pictures from there since casinos get a little concerned about photos. So the photos are from our trip up to Tahoe and Clair Tappan.



Here are my dad's pictures with some great ones from the casino and the lodge.

We drove up and around the north part of Lake Tahoe. It's always impressive how large and blue it is. The snow on the rocks and mountains around the lake is a nice touch. The best part was being able to brag how close it all was.




We stayed at the Clair Tappaan lodge which was created by the Sierra Club in the 1930s. It is quaint communal living with meals together and small living arrangements. It attracts all types, but it is never boring. It's also in a great place just two miles from Sugar Bowl and some of the best cross country skiing.




Blake and I spent two days skiing at Sugar Bowl. The snow from the other week made a base of 55 - 70 inches. The weather was perfect in the mid-30s with a light breeze and full sun. Best of all, the crowds weren't supposed to show up till Saturday, after we left. The skiing was great and they had a promotion of free rentals and lessons with a 66 dollar lift ticket.





At night at Clair Tappaan we would hang out in the main room and drink wine and enjoy the fire. It was a great place to people watch and make new friends. For Christmas someone brought a cow pinata filled with candy. We didn't see it broken, but the cow head candy bowl was very amusing.





We left saturday and had more fun at the casino and hanging out as a family. It was fun to have everyone in the same town for a week without many distractions.

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SNOW

After a fairly dry winter, we got hit with major snow today. It started last night about 7 and I don't think it's stopped since. There is at least 6 inches and it's supposed to continue throughout the day. Work was canceled and it's like the world stopped. I haven't had a snow day in years. I got out and took a few pictures and might try cross country skiing around town later and update with more shots.




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Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, I went up to Portland to stay with Kristina and Aaron who were also having Kyle come up. I didn't take pictures of the eating, drinking and football watching. Most of my pictures were of the dogs. Kyle brought Kobe and Kristina and Aaron had Paco and Penny. All three labs. Lets just say there was a lot of panting.



Friday after Thanksgiving, we went up for some cross country skiing. We did about 3 miles each way on the PCT. There was tons of snow and it was snowing on us while we were out there. The dogs loved it. There aren't any pictures from my numerous falls, but I think I did alright.





We also went to several dog parks. I only took pictures at one, it was hard not to.





I took the camera out one night when we went to "The World Famous Kenton Club." Apparently they were mentioned in some Roller Derby movie from the 70s. It was an empty night, but we played some darts.




As usual Portland was amazing.


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