Tahoe ski trip

So it's been to long since I've posted, just hasn't been on the top of my list I guess. The last trip I was on was about a month ago on a ski trip to Tahoe. Back in October when hanging out at Kristina and Aaron's with Kyle, he said we should do a ski trip to Tahoe. 3 months later, we were renting a pimp house on Kings Beach, skiing during the day and partying at night. It was great.




On my way up Thursday I stopped for a few runs at Mt. Rose. I got a season pass there because it's only 25 minutes from my house. The runs aren't that long, but there are great views of Reno. And on Thursday afternoon, it was wide open.




We had 10 to 11 people staying at the house. We all brought tons of food. I think there were five types of coffee and plenty of drink.




Friday we went skiing at Tahoe. A good choice because the hills were open and the skies were clear. We all tried to ski together which was quite a feat. Cell phones can make it much easier to find people. Eventually we all split off different ways.





Saturday a group of us went a cross country trip. Todd, Jen, Amanda and me on snowshoes, Aaron, Kristina and Nicole on skis. We hiked up to a fire lookout that had great views of the lake.






Dinner was always entertaining sitting down at table with everyone. It was always a lively time.




After dinner, we all learned to play Skip-bo and snacked on fondou and chocolate covered bacon. It was a constant feast. By the end of the night it had become quite entertaining.






Sunday Todd, Jen and I went to Northstar. It was much simpler to keep up with only a couple people. Kyle gave us the heads up on where the empty slopes were and it involved riding a puma lift. Good old days.

In the afternoon the snow came in and it was a little intense.






The house had a great view of the lake and a hot tub on the deck. All were used to the fullest extent. Night time was always a stretching party. Kyle brought a "foam roller" and by the end we were all convinced we needed one. It's basically just a piece of hard foam, but squeezed the lactic acid out of your legs.




We all had a great time and hope we can do it again next year.

New Years and Movie Marathon

For New Years Eve, I made a trip back to Austin. Jennifer was throwing an epic party and it was Alex's 6th Annual Movie Marathon. It was better then I could have anticipated and I'm glad I went, just sorry I had to leave so fast.



I got in on Wednesday and stayed up late with Alex discussing road trip plans, there's just so much to do. For New Years eve we went downtown to 1st Night celebration they have every year. It's a family oriented affair, with neat art and fun people. Two amazing things: 1. Swings with LEDs that were awesome under trees, and the fire tornado. The swings are like the light up frisbees you can buy now and they would change color. I think I've seen the fire tornado featured at Burning Man before. They would change the gas mixture to change the flame color and was pretty spectacular.





From there we went and got dressed for Jennifer's party, "Ready to Offend." It was awesome. I saw so many friends and actually got to hang out and talk with them. Inside the party was really crowded, so we mostly had our "kitchen" outside. More and more people showed up, along with some crashers who kept setting off fireworks. Beer ran out but the party kept on.





Promptly at 8am, Alex comes in singing "Good Morning, Good Morning." And the movies began at 9. I'll quote Alex's invite for the description.

The 6th Annual Marathon will be a celebration of both Hollywood cinema and German culture. The "Wurst Movie of the Year" will involve all movies that have won the prestigious Academy Award undeservedly.

The lineup is as follows:

1. Shakespeare in Love (won 7 Oscars including Best Picture, 1999)

2. Harry and the Hendersons (Best Makeup, 1988)

3. Titanic (won 11 Oscars including Best Picture, 1998)
Disc 1 and Disc 2

4. Speed (Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing, 1995)

5. Bram Stoker's Dracula (Best Makeup, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, 1993)

6. Beetlejuice (Best Makeup, 1989)

(unphotographed)7. Gladiator (won 5 Oscars including Best Picture, 2001)

8. U-571 (Best Sound Editing, 2001)

There is a lot of gold to be had this year and I for one am looking forward to showing Russell where its at.

In all it was about 17 hours of movies, combined with a lot of eating drinking and laziness. There's no better way to ring in a new year.

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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