Spring Break, Skiing at Lake Tahoe

March 15th, we rented a house at Tahoe Donner, and Melissa, Keith, Kellen, Cairn, and Lain joined us for six days of skiing.  We also celebrated Cairn's 5th birthday on March 16th at the "Burger Me" restaurant in Truckee. 

After a warm up day at Tahoe Donner ski area, we spent the next four days at Northstar and Squaw Valley.  Cairn, who was transitioning to being 5, kept saying that we were skiing at "Squid Valley". 

Below are pictures of all of us during the week:

Kellen & Cairn at Tahoe Donner

Melissa & Kellen at Tahoe Donner

Cairn's Birthday Dinner at "Burger Me"

Georgia, Melissa, Kellen, & Keith at Northstar

Cairn at Squaw Valley

Hugh & Kellen at Squaw Valley

Hugh & Kellen

"Is it really spring at Squaw Valley"

Group Photo on the Deck

Lain relaxing in the tub at Tahoe Donner

March Sonoma County Barrel Tasting,

On March 1-3, 2013 we joined some friends from Santa Fe, up state New York, and the Bay Area to barrel taste some of the 2012 harvest wines from the Sonoma area.  In total our tasting group numbered 18. 

We enjoyed numerous Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Zinfandels, and Cabernets from both the Russian River and Dry Creek Valleys.  On Saturday night ten of us had a wonderful dinner at the Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, California with some of the finest wines we provided from our cellars.

Georgia and Bonnie Spear at Hook & Ladder Winery

 

Mike & Bonnie Spear at Hook and Ladder Winery

 

(Mike is a classmate of Hugh's from the US Naval Academy and was raised in Sebastopol, California. He is a wine aficionado, and is known by the group as the "Chief Grape".)

 

A picture of the 2013 barrel tasting group at Hook & Ladder

 

 

 Tasting Pinot Noir at Siduri Winery in Santa Rosa.  The winery had about 20 different pinots available for tasting from the barrel.