Kirkwood

Well, we missed out on the snowstorm in Denver, but with our extra 3 days in California, we made the best of it and had some good times on our own. Thursday we both worked, so as to have to take less vacation, but working on a day you thought was going to be vacation is kind of difficult, especially when there's a big snowstorm headed for the Sierra and you're thinking about going skiing... more on that later.

So how we're spending our extra time here:

1) Enjoying at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood:

These are a couple of our favorites. Our neighborhood seems particularly festive. Or particularly Christian, not sure which. Maybe both. There was this one house that had about a batrillion lawn ornaments, lights, figures, banners, etc, but when we turned around at the end of the street to come back and photograph it, they had turned out the lights! Doh.

2) Skiing at Kirkwood:


Kate, Dustin, and I took a day trip up to Kirkwood for our first day skiing of the year. The 16" of snow the night before was a big incentive, as were my new skis. We had a great time, and the trusty Subaru got us through chain controls again without a problem. It was a perfect bluebird day, not too cold, but up at the top of chair 6 (at the ridge of the mountain) the wind was whipping over the ridge so fast and blowing snow and ice with it that it was nearly impossible to get from where the lift dumps you to the start of the slope. It was a sight to see - the picture doesn't do it justice. You could lean down the hill at about 45 deg and the wind would hold you stationary. Anyways, we wore ourselves out skiing, and then stopped for the traditional post-Kirkwood pizza in Jackson. mmmm.

3) More moving in! This will take a while, but we're slowly getting things in place and setting our house up as we like it.

We should be off for Denver tomorrow early, then to NC on the 26th, then back here on the 31st. We're sad to be missing the Greenmen NYE gathering in Amherst, but can't wait to see our families - better late than never!