The Poetry of Lake Tahoe

Maggie wrote this poem during our trip to Lake Tahoe.

Snow

Snow is fun; it melts in the sun.
In it you play any winter day.
Soft and white, penguin's delight.
Opposite of grass.
Shiny as glass.
Hard to drive in
Unless it is thin.
Build a snow fort
That will support
All those who love
The snow from above.

Lake Tahoe--Days 2, 3, & 4

We got a slow start to our first morning (but second day) in Lake Tahoe. It was nice to have a relaxing weekday morning compared to our usual frenzied efforts to get out of the door by 7:50. We had pancakes and continued to check out all the local snow play offerings before finally deciding to go cross-country skiing.

We found an excellent place to try it. It was run out of a yurt with no phone service (and probably no electricity for that matter).  Adah, Maggie, and I rented skis while Damon intended to just sled nearby with Gunnar and Holly. Since none of us had really done cross-country skiing (I used to downhill a couple times a winter) we figured--on the advice of a skiing friend in Washington--that trying to help the three oldest kids learn and tow Holly in a special sled would be too much for the parents.

It was such a great venue for our family because it was small enough that the car was close enough to go back and forth for food and gear changes. There was a large meadow just outside the yurt for practicing on the skis & where Holly and Gunnar could play in the snow when they tired of sledding. And, it turns out that our leisurely morning meant that by the time we were ready to rent skis we got the half-day rate!

Ready to give it a go!

Maggie wasn't so sure at first. I think she expected easy gliding, not the awkward movement and imbalance she initially experienced.

Gunnar was not so keen on the sledding at first. I never got the full story on his dissatisfaction, but I think it was related to having to carry his own sled.

They had to create their own path, but at least it wasn't as rough and bumpy as the day before!

Maggie eventually got the hang of skiing, declaring, "This is fun!" We mostly just went up a wide track and then came back down it, where we could get up a little more speed, which was my favorite part. I think I prefer the thrill of downhill skiing, but cross-country was still a lot of fun.

Adah did quite well and kept at it with almost no breaks, as far as I can remember. I'm sure she stopped for some food. She did try out poles, which the yurt employee discouraged for young beginners, and discovered that they just got in the way and she preferred being hands-free. Here's what she had to say about the day: "My lips got all sunburned and then we had Chinese for dinner and it made my lips hurt." Still, I think it was a good day in her book.

Another thing that made it such a great day was the perfect weather we enjoyed. It was sunny and quite warm--you know, for there being snow on the ground. Once we got moving we all shed our coats, as you can see.

When I was ready to take a break and eat, I encouraged Damon to go ahead and rent some skis and give it a try. I rested and then skied through the meadow where it was easy to still keep an eye on Gunnar and Holly and their snowman.  We never did pull out the camera again to get a photo of Damon on the skis. He did well and had fun going up and down the same track that the girls were going on. I eventually cut across the meadow and ventured into some fresher snow in some trees, but that was sure hard work!  The skiing was my favorite activity on our trip, and I hope to try it again--maybe with some real instruction.

We weren't so good with the camera on the rest of our trip. Damon on skis wasn't the only thing that didn't get photographed, although we got some great video footage of Gunnar slipping on the ice. Don't worry; he was fine. It's true America's Funniest Home Videos material. He actually loved it and said walking around on the ice was his favorite part of the trip.

On day 3 we set out to go sledding again at an actual sledding venue with some groomed hills. There are several in the area, and some can be pretty expensive with their per-sledder tube rentals; we found one that just had a parking fee. Everyone else must have thought it was a good idea, too, since the parking lot was full when we arrived and we were turned away. High in the mountains, we were surrounded by snow-covered hills. Unfortunately, most of them were also covered with trees. Eventually we found a parking spot in a turn-out with half a dozen other cars. We trudged through knee-deep snow (much deeper for Holly, making her not a fan of this sledding expedition) and cut our own sledding hill, which was lots of fun, but also required careful steering and braking.

Day 4 was Sunday and we packed up the house and went to church. Damon was eager to go since he served 4 months of his mission in Lake Tahoe. It turned out to be a regional broadcast for all the congregations in Nevada (and, obviously a little overlap into CA), but Damon still saw someone he recognized!

Here's the only photo we got of the great house that we rented:

These "animals in the zoo" were really playing in the spot beneath the sloped A-frame roof and a couch in the upstairs family room.

As long as we're living in a non-snow climate, we think that just maybe we'll make this trip to Tahoe an annual event. We'll try to rent the same house and return during next year's February school vacation. As much as I love to travel and experience new places, I've kind of always wanted to have one of those family vacation spots where you return every year. Maybe this can be it for us.

Lake Tahoe: Day 1

The girls got a whole week off school in February and since we missed the snow, we decided to take a vacation to Lake Tahoe.  We found a great house to rent in South Lake Tahoe that had two bedrooms, a large loft family room (where the girls slept), two bathrooms, a well-outfitted kitchen, and a living room with a cozy gas stove. It was a perfect home base for meals, board games, warming up (and drying off) by the fire, and relaxing with movies.

It also had a large backyard--shared in common with several other houses--and we immediately went outside to play when we arrived in the early afternoon. The snow was a bit old (no soft powder) and not great for packing into snowmen, but we made snow angels and found a tiny mound that--with a big push from Mom--was good for a little ride in a sled.

One. . .

. . . two . . .

. . . three!

 

Also good for a penguin-style belly slide:

 

Maggie burrowed her legs underneath.

Adah preferred digging. I think she was trying to create a fort, although it wasn't really deep enough to make much of one. Two days later we went sledding higher up in the mountains in very deep snow and she again spent most of the time digging out a big hole for herself.

 

After "warming up" to the snow in the backyard, we headed out to a real sledding hill. Sadly, though, the one that was listed online was not all it boasted to be and we had to settle for another one that some others had carved out of a hillside.  You probably can't tell in these photos--too many shadows--but the hill was a pretty bumpy collection of jumps and what otherwise might be called moguls. It made for some rough rides that hurt my back, but the kids seemed to like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We concluded our sledding venture with a coyote sighting. Maggie saw it first and we watched it come across the road and crest the hill from another direction and then cross behind us and away. It looked pretty harmless--not likely to attack a pack of people--but I still gathered the children close to me until it was well out of sight.  And then, as the sun was beginning to set, we called it a day for our snow play and headed back to the house.

Final (?) Snow Days

We had a mild, wet snowstorm on Leap Day. While Adah and Maggie were at school, Gunnar, Holly, and I played in the front yard. You can see how little snow there was from the trail we created in the grass when rolling up our snowman. There wasn't a ton, but it was wet and great for packing.

 

Here's our guy. Like his mustache? That was my favorite part.

 

Yummy snow!

 

See my snow, Mama?

 

Three weeks later, on March 21, we had another snow storm, what I hope will really be our last. Maggie built an adorable little snowman, complete with necktie.

 

Neither of these two storms brought much snow. We had fun while it lasted--and were happy it didn't last long. Snow, we hope we don't see you again until, oh, say . . . November or December.

Snow, Ice, No School, and No Power: Just Another Day in Paradise

If you haven't already heard about the major snow and ice storms that hit the Northwest the third week of January, let me tell you all about it.  Warning: This post is long. It was quite an event and ordeal.

The week started fine enough with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 17. The kids had the day off school. It had snowed a bit during the day, but not enough to cause alarm.

Tuesday we woke up to a couple inches of snow. The children were elated. The girls' school was canceled, which we thought might have been a bit premature since by noon the snow was turning to rain and not really sticking to the roads. However, our district does span quite a rise in elevation, so there are times when we're getting rain in town and further up (on Snowden Road, appropriately enough) they have 3 inches of snow. Gunnar attends a preschool in Hood River, which is in another district (heck, it's another state), and they held school with a late start.  So, my kiddos all went out and played in the snow for a little while in the morning and then we all loaded up and took Gunnar to school for a shortened day of just two hours (usually it's 3). I was able to stock up on groceries for my barren fridge, which turned out to be a very good thing for what was coming for the rest of the week.

This photo is of the kiddos playing in the snow on Tuesday morning.  You can see the accumulation on top of the fence--just 2-3 inches.  Notice how deep it is as the kids are sitting in it.

Now, look at Gunnar sitting in the snow the next morning. It's up past Adah's knees! You can be sure that school was canceled that day. I think our neighbor boy measured 14 inches on their trampoline.

I think that in this shot Holly may have still been standing on the deck, or at least on snow that had been packed down a bit. Believe me, it was practically up to her armpits. On Tuesday she loved playing in the snow with her siblings. She stayed out with them for at least an hour, coming to the door for help each time her mitten would fall off. But on Wednesday, she could hardly move in the snow. I think it was pretty overwhelming to her and she was not such a big fan. She's grinning in this photo, but it's only because she'd just gone outside.

Adah tried to throw a snowball at me from the depths of the front yard:

Maggie made herself a little chair:

Snow angel! Careful, Adah, we don't want to lose you!

After photographing everybody I came out to play.  Damon was shoveling our berm and also did the neighbor's, including a path from her car to her door. (She's about 70.) While he was working on that, I got a head start with the kids and we went to the school playground. We were the first to get there and break ground, as it were. I pulled Holly and Gunnar on the sled most of the way there. We saw people cross country skiing on the roads. It was actually pretty tough work hauling the sled and then carrying Holly through the huge snow drifts to get to the playground. I rushed up and went down one of the slides, clearing it of snow, and landing in a soft pile of powder. We all had fun doing that. The tunnel slide was super fast, but eventually not such a soft landing. We had to add more snow to cushion it. Adah was pretty disappointed because the hills on the playground where we had sledded last winter, were no good this time. The snow was just too deep and the sleds merely sank.  With the snow continuing to come down and fatigue setting in, we trudged back home to dry off and warm up.  At that point, I think Damon went into work.

Thursday morning we awoke to freezing rain and NO SCHOOL. Damon went into work and managed to get there using chains for the last little way. His office is kind of in the country and he has to go down a gravel driveway for the final stretch. That evening he had to abandon the truck at work and get a ride home from a co-worker who had a bigger "manlier" truck. Fortunately, that co-worker had actually left for home and realized how bad the roads were, so he returned to warn and help the ones who hadn't left yet.  This storm brought out lots of kindly acts as everyone looked out for each other.

On Thursday evening we had just finished reading scriptures with our kids and had a family prayer when the power went out! We knew this was a possibility since some of our friends living further out of town had already had outages. We got flashlights and tucked the kids into bed with extra blankets and just prayed the power would come back on soon.  Remember, we don't have a wood heat alternative.  Fortunately, the power came back on at about 1:00 a.m..  No biggie.
Friday morning we awoke to more of the same outlook: piles of ice-topped snow in our yard and no school. The kids actually had fun playing in this new version of a winter wonderland. They loved jumping up and stomping holes through the top layer of ice and into the snow beneath. Damon stayed home from work and shoveled out another old lady. I made some homemade bean, bacon, and vegetable soup and baked biscuits and cookies for lunch while everyone was out in the snow. I loved looking out the window to see all my kiddos playing happily together and sliding down the small slope created by our flower bed and then onto the lawn area. They were having a great time and I felt so snug and warm inside our house. I felt very lucky to all be home and safe, and that on our 5th day of no school everyone was still being so pleasant.

That afternoon we got visitors. Ryan and Andrea V. came over with their two kids. They'd been without power since the day before, and while they had wood heat to keep them warm, they longed to be out of the house and to have a hot meal. The pizza place in Bingen was open, so they ate there, got groceries, and then came to our house to indulge in some conversation, Phineas & Ferb, video games, and overhead lighting. It had taken them over an hour to drive into town from their house (usually 15 minutes) because Ryan had to keep getting out of the car with his chainsaw and cutting fallen limbs and trees and then dragging them off their private road.

Friday night after the kids were snug in bed and Damon had removed fresh cinnamon rolls from the oven, we were just settling in to watch Napoleon Dynamite when the power went off again! Flashlights and extra blankets for everyone! This time, however, we didn't wake up to find the heater blowing on our faces. In the morning there was still no power and the temperature had dropped into the high 50s.  We knew that everywhere there were tree limbs snapping and falling due to ice.
However, the sun was shining! Damon insisted that we all go outside into the sparkling world of ice. It was pretty amazing. We carefully made our way a few blocks away to a friend's house where we hoped to let the kids play and soak up some of their gas heat. We slipped along like penguins on the ice-covered snow in a vacant lot. We trudged through slush on the street. We meticulously avoided walking under trees since limbs could fall at any time. And we saw a rainbow.
Sadly, our friends weren't there. Well, she was, but her husband had taken all the kids to see a movie in The Dalles, so there wasn't much use in taking our kids inside. After a short visit we headed back up the hill to our house. We changed into dry clothes and got in the car to head to The Dalles ourselves. We had heard that Hood River was without power also. On our drive, we listened to the radio and heard that our entire county--12,000 PUD customers--plus parts of a few others up and down the Gorge were without power. It was a huge mess. I'm so grateful to the crews who worked 16-hour shifts (36 in some cases) in the awful weather to get everyone back their electricity.

We really had no idea when our power would return and spent time in The Dalles at the McDonald's playground, doing a little shopping, and letting the kids look at the animals at Petco. Finally, in the late afternoon we decided to head back towards home. We weren't sure what we would do for the night. We had an invitation at the home of friends with a wood stove, but they have six children and had no running water (electricity-dependent well), so we weren't sure if that would work well. Then, as we were coming west on the freeway, I got a text message from a friend in White Salmon, "Power just came back on!" I nearly cried in relief.  I don't like to be cold and was very anxious about what our little family would do.

We arrived home about 15 minutes later to the furnace blasting.  The temperature in the house was 52 degrees. We were able to cook some dinner and have comfortable warm beds (and to finish Napoleon Dynamite).  I was really so grateful, especially as the power outage continued for some of our friends for another 24 hours, and poor Ryan and Andrea until the following Thursday! They were without power for a full week.
On Sunday our ward just met for sacrament meeting. Very few members were able to make it. Some people's roads were still impassable since even though we'd had a lot of melting during Saturday's sunshine, it had sleeted/snowed more overnight. After church a couple friends came and showered at our house since they didn't have running water. We were happy to be in a position to help after feeling so vulnerable the day before.

You can see remnants of the storm everywhere you drive. Some people lost entire trees. Most places there are just several limbs or even small branches strewn about. We were lucky to really just have sticks and twigs litter the yard. One day I came home and huge chunks of ice had slid off our roof and were standing straight up in front of the deck. It looked like giant teeth trying to chomp the house.

On Monday, January 24 the girls finally returned to school two hours late, despite many of the students in the district still being without power. The schools had power and the buses had chains. After four snow days (two more than originally allotted in the school calendar--the end of school has been pushed back), everyone was keen to get back in the classroom. More snow on Tuesday panicked the school and caused them to send everyone home two hours early. Wednesday, January 19 was the first full day of school since January 7. Life was finally returning to normal. I don't think anyone wants to push the last day of school back any further. Today the power went out about an hour after school started, and stayed off for four hours. The schools served cold sandwiches instead of pizza and kept everyone in class for the full day.  Way to go! We're survivors now.

Snow Day!

We got our first snowfall in late November, resulting in TWO snow days off school. That's all our school calendar allows, so we're in trouble. Anymore cancellations and the kids will be going extra days in June. Fortunately, one of the best snow days was on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which was also Damon's birthday. After a quick breakfast we got all bundled up,

and then we headed down the street.

There had really been no plowing to speak of, so a stroller for Holly was out of the question. This backpack was great because I was able to put her down and still have her up off the snowy ground. She handled it for awhile, but Damon and I also took turns holding her.
The six of us descended upon the snowy school playground,

for sliding . . .

. . . of one kind . . .

. . . and another.

Everyone had a turn going down the little hill, even Holly. She rode a couple times with Mom and Dad.

. . . and even once by herself! (Don't worry, we didn't start her from the top.) She didn't seem to think much of sledding, one way or another. She mostly just had a puzzled look on her face, like, "What are you guys doing to me now?"

We all had a great time being the first to make footprints in the soft snow, sledding and rolling down the hills, swinging, and sliding (that tunnel slide was sure quick!). The kiddos loved it--and even loved each other!