Skiing at Heavenly Valley

Rv'ing in the winter time can be challenging in snow country.  We had to set in Sacramento an extra day to time our travel over the mountain pass into South Lake Tahoe between storms and when the roads where dry.  But we finally arrived

It was a bit more challenging than usual to get the motorcycles unloaded.

But we soon got all set up and ready to ski. The recent snow storms had made the mountain amazing.

We had many sunny days of skiing.  And some not so sunny days.

But always the view are spectacular.

Barbara took a lesson, here we are having Ski Apres with her instructor.

We also decided that beers at lunch may not be a good idea, at least she was feeling no pain.

But we did manage to have some really good happy hours on the mountain.

Of course I may have gotten a little carried away.

Each day brought new views

Another snow storm, Barbara decided to help out with the chores, her first time ever shoveling snow.

Mocha is always a big help when it comes time to work on the computer.

Barbara really had a good time, her skiing improved 10 fold, so she can now just relax, ski, and enjoy.

Some of the more difficult runs come with interesting warnings, this one just makes you want to go look....

We did a lot of skiing together, and some apart, but here is a good together shot.

It was not all skiing, we did some shows at the casino's and took a day off to explore snow shoeing.

And we drove over the hill and explored some wineries with cheese and good happy hours.

Occasionally you run across a posture just too awesome to ignore.

Barbara is always meeting new friends. Or maybe she is just pre-planning getting acquainted with the snow rescue dog.

Spring and warmer weather arrive all too soon.  So we start Spring Skiing.

And then it's not long after that the snow is mostly gone and it is time for us to move on.

Joshua Tree National Park

Our next stop was Joshua Tree National Park.

While hiking through the desert I was completely surprised when a Joshua Tree leaped out onto the trail.

Fortunately I can run faster than a tree so I escaped without harm.

It is difficult to comprehend this amazing land.  Here is an arid environment, and yet you find  many species of plants thriving.

As we travel around I am continuously amazed at the ingenuity of man and efforts that have been put forth to thrive in a harsh area.  Because of the lack of water some cowboys built a dam in a small canyon and created their own lake.  Due to the drought that is besieging the area the lake is way below normal levels, but still there. Take notice of the water lines in this small lake.

And every where in this region is evidence of those who went before.  What motivated these people to leave there mark upon the land, yet wherever we go, we find similar pictographs.

And how in the world did Mother Nature get these rocks stacked like this?

Cochise Stronghold, Benson, AZ

Our time at McKinney Falls State Park came to an end.  after nearly 3 months in one area we were quite anxious to move along.  So we made 3 500 mile days leaving TX and finally stopped in Benson, AZ for a little climbing and exploration.

In the Dragoon Mountains, part of the Coronado National Forest, we came across an area called the Cochise Stronghold.  Lots of options for exploring this historical area, but lacking a lot of time we chose to try our hand at rock climbing.

I recall stopping on the road to the climbing area, I was only going about 15 mph.  Thinking to myself that I was not aggravated at the slow pace.  While stuck in traffic in Austin I would feel tense, here, I was completely relaxed, even though the rate of travel was about the same.

New area so it took us a little while to explore out the climbing routes. Here is Barbara letting me know that I should bring the lunch up.

Of course once we got the climb underway she was pretty excited about the whole thing.  Here she is "feeling alive".

Her feelings where a little short lived, her rope snagged on her final rappel.  She got stuck about half way down.  We had to safe her in on a climbing bolt while I rigged a rappel from the top and cleared the rope.  All done in a safe manner.   Just a little unnerving when you are hanging on the side of a cliff and you can't go down and you can't go up.

Christmas with the Grand-kids

Grandkids are so much fun around Christmas time.    We managed to coordinate them all at the Bass Pro Shop for Santa Claus pictures.  What a zoo. But we did manage to get a good picture before Cooper had a anti-Santa meltdown.

Xander had no problem with Santa. Mommy was right there were he could see her so it's cool. 

Of course Miss Photogenic Madison was up for the shoot.

Two separate houses so different Christmas styles.  We think we might have overwhelmed Xander a bit with the size of the prize.

Madison got a new bicycle

Hey wait a minute....

That's more like it.  You gotta keep a watch on Mom, she likes bicycling too.


Cooper got a new crane

Uh, dad could I play with my new toy please!

A super good time for us. We have always enjoyed bringing Christmas home to the kids, not we get to watch them bring Christmas home to there children.

Grand-kids

While we were the campground host at McKinney Falls State Park we had several opportunities to visit with the grand kids.

Madison came up for a couple of days and played ranger with me.

I think she went bug-eyed over her new hat.

Cooper spent some time with us also.  He liked walking Bandit.

On the car ride up he used some coloring sticks.  Thank goodness for diapers or this might have been a little uncomfortable.

Xander is still just a bit too young to camping with Grandma and Grandpa, maybe next year.

Of course we had to take them hiking.

And to the arcade...

And Madison got to go to 6 Flags

All this activity kind of made everyone a little tired.