Our Christmas Gift

 Once again, Kevin and I gave each other a little escape to the Sunnyside Lodge at Lake Tahoe for our Christmas gift. This year the weather was overcast and rainy -- but the sun did come out for a while.

 We drove to the top of Mount Rose stopping to look at Lake Tahoe from the Northeast overlook.

 From Mount Rose you can look down into the desert below and see Reno in the distance. It was gorgeous.

 Carson City and Virginia City are visible as well.

Kevin down by the lake at sunset.  We thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast buffet -- I want to order some of that "Fireberry Sauce" they put on their egg souffle. We poked around Truckee and had lunch at the Dragon Fly restaurant -- one of our all-time favorite restaurants. We bought some really great gadgets at the kitchen supply like a cookie dough scooper, hamburger patty maker, egg slicer and water bottle. A great little retreat for us.

Sunrise over Lake Tahoe

Unbelievable beauty this morning. Brennan Manning writes that the sunrise speaks to him of the the Lord's love. This morning, he must really love us.

From the top of High Camp, Squaw Peak

We spent the day at Squaw Peak - the Home of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Took the cable car up to High Camp and enjoyed the views. At sunset, the mountains across the lake turned brilliant hot pink for just a few minutes. A wonderful close to a beautiful day.

The Beauty of Winter

As we sat watching the sun come up, four flocks of Canadian geese flew over the lake - joining into one new formation. They reminded me of a huge marching band -- I think they were flying back in forth, warming up in the early rays of the sun. And then a bald eagle flew across the lake and right by our window. Beautiful.

Lake Tahoe - Sunrise

We drove through quite a snow storm last night to get to Lake Tahoe...but this morning the clouds had moved on and the sunrise was incredible. We enjoyed a fire and a cup of coffee and watched.

Going to Lake Tahoe and the PSWC Pastor's Conference

We had lunch with Mark Ballaart on the lake and then went for a little walk. The trees are changing color and are beautiful and there's just a hint of snow in the mountains. I can't help but think about the Donner Party...it's so beautiful and peaceful here this time of year, nearly 80 degrees during the day. Kevin decided to go buy milk early one morning and was surprised to find the ice all over the windshield. There's over a 50 degree temperature differential.

I really enjoyed connecting with the other men and women who are ministering in our conference. What a great group of friends. I'd love to get the women together from northern California and just spend a weekend together.

Hiking at Tahoe

The pastor's conference was held at a conference center on the site of the 1960 Olympics at Squaw Peak. I grew up hearing about the great skiing at Squaw Peak, so it was really fun to be there and see the ski runs.

Kevin and I ran into Kevin and Linda Swanson from Sanctuary Covenant Church (Jeff Hale is the Chair of their Church Board) as we were heading off to hike up to Shirley Lake. We decided to go together. We had a great time getting to know them and Linda and I are really similar (she loves to write, she likes to paint, she wishes she could sing).
The trail started out through the pine woods and along a creek with a gentle grade. Then it started to get a lot steeper, and we were climbing over granite boulders and essentially climbing up the mountain.

After 2 hours and no lake in sight, we decided we better call it quits and head back for home. We stopped by the creek for lunch and had a really great time. We read a little about Shirley Lake and it's actually a lake that was formed when two granite plates collided. Needless to say we were looking for some caffeine before the evening meetings began.