Lake Tahoe in January 2008

January 21, 2008 Can we say Lake Tahoe?

Frost on the jeep says there may be snow in them thar hills.

And the fog rising from the lake.

Christopher is so excited about going to the snow and skiing that he's willing to wear his hat. He put it on himself.

Houston, I think we have a problem.

All bundled up and ready to go.

We saw a peacock on the way.

Too much excitement and a very long drive make for nappy time.

The railroad bridge and still no snow.

Snow removal equipment and still no snow.

Remnants of snow, but no real snow.

A little on the trees, but nothing on the ground. How are we supposed to ski on this?

Why is everyone all jammed up? Just drive, people.

Ouch! Two Mercedes and a motorcycle atop this vehicle carrier. They were all smashed up. I guess these folks did find some actual snow.

This is looking better, but not very ski able.

Daddy is liking the 4WD. Hey, this thing really makes you feel surefooted.

... and the VIDEO

Okay, we asked for snow and now we are getting enough that the road signs look like they're sitting directly on the ground.

Look at all that traffic on the way down the mountain.

If you look close, you can see the train tunnel in the middle of this picture.

I guess that's one way of doing it. Just stop for gas and let the kids out to play on the hill.

Now even the road signs are hidden by snow.

We've exited the highway and this was the first residence we came across.

Looks like everyone is pretty well snow covered.

A lodge/hotel.

I guess they don't expect folks to get out much.

Hey dude, this is a R-O-A-D. Christopher was so excited to see the "motorcycles".

A little artsy one for Daddy.

Yes sir, please keep the roads open until after we are finished today.

I think there's a lake under all that snow. Donner Lake?

It says SPEED. Hmmm. I wonder just how fast they think we should go on this stuff?

Inside the first gondola, Christopher settles back on Daddy for some security. He didn't want to get on this thing initially, but was very excited by the time our trip was over.

Looking down from the gondola.

These little boxes are not what I would call a human friendly experience.

Okay, I'll smile, but you need to hurry up. Hold still and I'll be able to hurry.

Hey, you threw snow at me first. I don't think either of us likes it, so why don't we agree we won't throw any more?

Inside getting his first pair of ski-boots. We were thinking of snow boarding, but decided that skis might be a better first time choice.

We are SOOOOO excited. Look Daddy, I'm doing it!

You can't tell from the picture, but they reversed their lift passes so Greg's says Child. Hmmm, maybe they know something we don't.

Looking down the hill from the rental office.

A gingerbread house.

One of the lifts. This one is to become infamous.

As we were trying to get off the lift, they didn't notice that we needed to slow down and Papa had to yank Christopher off the bench. Skis one way, poles another, Christopher another. It took about 10 minutes for him to realize he was okay.

Shall we try this again? NO! You can't see him demanding that he wanted to "just go home". Eventually he tried again, but we fell several times for the next 10 to 20 yards and eventually gave up on this run.

Daddy is showing us that he can do it. I wish I'd had the camera back out when he reached for that pole. He. He.

Actually, he did amazingly well considering he'd never done this before and didn't take a lesson today.

Cut to Christopher explaining to this little girl that she isn't supposed to fall down. After this you'd have thought he was asking her out on a date. What's your name? Where do you live? You should come with me and Papa.

I got it! I got it!

Papa, I told you I need those poles. From this point on, Papa ended up carrying Christopher, Christopher's poles, Christopher's skis, and his own poles down the remainder of the hill.

He found some friends to play with and was done with skiing for a while.

No, I'm having fun, you guys go on and ski.

Up goes Daddy. And of course the thing stopped at the highest point and did not move for a long time. Oh did you know that Daddy is afraid of heights and he forgot to put the bar down on the lift to secure him in. Can you say red knuckles on the back seat rail.

We're throwing snow. It's okay for me to throw it at you, but don't throw it at me. Okay? His little buddy looks similar to Taylor.