To celebrate we took a road-trip up to central California and had a lovely time the whole way. Our first stop was to visit our aunt in Fresno. We had a great time just talking, eating Chick Fil-A and painting a plate together at Color Me Mine.
Our next leg of the trip was up to Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful drive it was! After living in such a highly congested area for so long we were refreshed to see so much open space. It started snowing as we got farther up the mountain. The highway department had a blockade where they were stopping them and requiring snow chains for any two-wheel drive vehicles. Brian and I pulled off and had another first in our marriage... putting on snow chains! What was most funny about this experience was that once we got the chains on and continued down the highway there wasn't too much snow. They plows had already cleared most of it. Oh well, we had an adventure anyway!
In Tahoe we stayed on the 9th floor of a hotel with a view of Lake Tahoe. It was amazing! We sat for a while just taking in the view of the snow falling over the lake. Because the roads were bad, we stayed within walking distance of the hotel. We managed to eat dinner at a casino buffet and watch "Frost/Nixon." This was the very last film that Annie worked on as an extra. You can see her if you know where to look... and if you look quick! The movie was great, and we highly recommend it.
Our main reason for going to Lake Tahoe was for the skiing! A friend recommended a great ski area, and we had perfect conditions. The snow from the night before left a nice layer of powder, and since we were skiing on a Monday, there weren't too many people on the slopes. I hadn't really ever been skiing before, so she attended "ski school." After the morning class I was able to join Brian on the big hills! Well, we skied a green course and a little of a blue course. I didn't like going too fast, and I REALLY didn't like the ski lift. In the end, it was a lot of fun. Brian got to share one of his favorite activities with me. Neither of us was injured, quite sore, but not injured.
We stopped over in Sacramento on our way back to SoCal. We took a free tour of the capital building that was quite interesting and fun. Our tour guide was a real kick. She made a point of taking us by the sign outside the governor's office that shows the growing state defecit because of the overdue budget.
On our trip we spent some of our time in the truck listening to our Chinese lessons. There are times when we really like the language and other times when we wanted to take out the CD, launch it across the highway and drive over it a few times. We know that with Father's help we can do anything, but this is a challenge!
It's so great to have a husband when you need to put on snow chains!
The guys in yellow were charging people $30 just to put the chains on for you!
Ahhhh.... snow.
Our room with a view.
We just love this pose!
This was at the top of the mountain. It looked like we were going to ski into the lake!
Annie is trying not to look scared on the chair lift.
This was a huge lake!
At the California State Capitol.
I loved this picture from the lobby area.
Below is the sign outside the governor's office showing the defecit.
