Freedom

This weekend was all about freedom!  Freedom to do whatever we want for 4 days straight!  Such an amazing feeling and we certainly don't take it for granted.  Last year Mike would have been at work at the dealership and I would have been at home by myself.  This year, we planned a weekend FULL of adventure... which is easy to do here.

After work on Thursday, my long weekend began with YOGA!  Here's the thing about yoga: it looks so relaxing but in reality... it hurts!  Yoga is really tough!  After that challenge, I headed home just in time to take in the beautiful sunset.

Friday morning we slept in... lazily ate our breakfast... and when we were ready, we got dressed and headed down the street to Heavenly.  There is still snow in the highest elevations.  I have new skis and Mike has new ski boots and we were DETERMINED to use them this year!  So we strapped them to our packs and hiked up.  

One of the ski trails... LOTS of big tree stumps!  

Time to stop for lunch! 

See that patch of white snow in the distance?  That's where we are headed!  

My tracks... hard to see in the soft snow.  

So Mike regularly follows a website called TetonGravity.com .  As he was scrolling through the page, he noticed that someone in the Tahoe area had taken a picture of the "fresh tracks" on Milky Way bowl.  Sure enough, they were our HARD earned tracks!

(http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/251493-Tahoe-Weather-Conditions-Stoke-and-What-s-Up-Thread/page154)  

Mike's tracks are the pretty ones from the top... mine come in about half way down and are MUCH much wider.  Whatever... I'm still learning and he's a pro.  

Not many people will hike that far up a mountain just to get one good ski run.  Hiking in that area is beautiful... carrying the heavy packs is a good workout... and getting to ski on Memorial Day weekend is just a bonus! 

Friday night was low-key.  Mostly resting and relaxing after a strenuous day of activity.  Saturday we headed to Donner Lake for the 1st of 3 stand up paddle board races that make up the Tahoe Cup.  We didn't race... just spectated (is that a word?).  It was hosted by O'Neill and there were some big names in the SUP world present.  

Beautiful day... a little windy but better than the SNOW they've had the last 2 years!

 We missed the start of the race because we stopped for breakfast at an adorable but slooooow cafe in North Lake.  We each had egg and cheese croissant breakfast sandwiches which were DELICIOUS but took a little longer for them to prepare than we expected.

But... we made it eventually and we were able to see all the paddlers crossing the finish line!  Rob Rojas came in 1st.  This guy is an O'Neill team rider and he is a regular feature in the SUP magazines.  It was a 5 mile race around the lake and I think he finished in under 50 minutes???  Crazy.

As the racers jumped off their boards and sprinted to the finish line, the volunteers in the water would shuttle the boards down in an assembly line method... lining them up along the beach.

 

After the race there was a chance to demo some of the boards... 

Mike chatting with Ronnie Ayers - a TAHOE SUP team rider.  

Mike on a demo paddle. 

Even Truckee Police have Tahoe SUPs

 Afterwards we drove to Squaw Valley for lunch before heading to our campsite for the night. 

It was windy and a little chilly, but we had a campsite right along the Truckee river so we stuck it out.  

We set up our site and started our dinner: turkey burgers and corn on the cob on the charcoal grill.  

Despite it being a little cooler than we would have liked, we had a really good time.  We were surrounded by nature (and a highway... oh well).  

A family of geese floating downstream.  They made it look pretty fun! 

We woke up to birds chirping.  

Sunrise on the river. 

After a mug of hot coffee and a steaming bowl of steel cut oatmeal around a morning campfire, we packed up our campsite and headed home.  We cleaned and put away our gear, showered, and headed down to Heavenly village for an impromptu date night.  We rode the gondola and had dinner at a local pizza place.  It has been an awesome weekend here in Tahoe and it's not even over yet.  Thankfully, I still have tomorrow off from work.  There's a good chance of rain, so instead of sitting on the beach like everyone back in NC, we'll probably have a lazy day inside.  

Looking toward North Lake from the gondola.  

This memorial day, we are so very grateful to our friends and family who have served our country.  Without your unbelievable bravery we wouldn't be free to explore this amazing country!  It is because of veterans and those currently serving our country that we can live the life that we want!  We are doing our very best to live every single day to the fullest in appreciation of all that has been done to EARN us this freedom!  

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!!!!