Recent Vacations

Lake Tahoe - February 2000

Our group of retirees from Ford Aerospace journeyed to the north shore of Lake Tahoe for a week of skiing the last week of February, 2000.  There were eleven of us staying in a rented house just south of Tahoe City.  Our group included Terry and Nancy Teigen, Hank and Mary Alice Michelsen, Don and Jimi Hubeli, Frank and Madeline Skvarca, Tom Smith, Paul Mar (for three days), and myself.  We were there for a total of six days of skiing.  We had storms on two of the days.  Our skiing days are described in the following table:
 
Day Ski Resort Description of Activities
Sunday Homewood A snowy day so we skied close to home.  A small resort with some challenging runs.  Ongoing snowfall drove us off the mountain in the early afternoon. 
Monday Alpine Meadows A good day.  Alpine Meadows has great runs and a large layout.  Big moguls on the backside made for less enjoyment.
Tuesday Northstar A great resort.  The very long backside chair has seven or eight runs that are spectacular.  Good steady slope and advanced steepness allowing turn after turn after turn.
Wednesday Homewood Another snowy day, so we again skied close to home.  Conditions very similar to Sunday's.
Thursday Northstar Another spectacular day.  Again enjoyed the backside chair.
Friday Sugar Bowl First time at Sugar Bowl for us.  We were all impressed with this very fine resort.  Very interesting ski terrain and many good intermediate and advanced ski runs.  Had beautiful weather here.

 

Lake Powell - October 2000

Our group of retirees from Ford Aerospace once again traveled to Lake Powell for a week of houseboating onboard Going My Way, Terry and Nancy Teigen's timeshare houseboat.  This was the sixth consecutive trip for me to Lake Powell.  Our group included Terry and Nancy Teigen, Hank and Mary Alice Michelsen, Don and Jimi Hubeli, Frank and Madeline Skvarca, Bill Robertson,  and myself.  This is a spot that one never tires of, with the spectacular red cliff and canyon scenery, the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and the star-filled night skies.  We had a great time motoring the lake, exploring the side canyons on Desperado, hiking, water skiing (for some), enjoying great food, and of course our afternoon happy hour activites.
 

Aspen, Colorado - January 2001

Our group of retirees from Ford Aerospace journeyed to Aspen, Colorado for a week of skiing the last week of January, 2001.  We arrived on Super Bowl Sunday early enough to catch the game the Red Onion Bar and Grill.  There were nine of us staying at the Alpenblick condos just a short walk from Aspen Mountain.  Our group included Hank and Mary Alice Michelsen, Don and Jimi Hubeli, Frank and Madeline Skvarca, Tom Smith, Bill Robertson, and myself.  We were joined on this trip by my niece and her husband, Michele and Wayne Evans, and their friend Debbie Bowman.  They are from Nashville, Tennessee.  We joined our two groups and had a great time throughout the entire week.  Seymore Beek from Balboa Island also joined us for three days of skiing as part of his extended ski trip.  Our trip was somewhat marred by Frank and Madeline having an accident just outside of Aspen on Sunday, our arrival day.  They hit ice and rolled their Ford Explorer.  They were shook up with some cuts and bruises, but no serious injuries. We were all thankful for that.  Besides the skiing, we enjoyed happy hours at Bentley's, dining at some great restaurants, walking the town, and even attending a lecture on the origin and evolution of the galaxies at the historic Wheeler Opera House. We were there for a total of six days of skiing.  Our skiing days are described in the following table:
 
Day Ski Resort Description of Activities
Monday Aspen Mountain We started off close to home.  Had a snow storm this day.  Aspen Mountain is not a very "friendly" ski mountain in my opinion.  We didn't go back.
Tuesday Snowmass A great place to ski.  Very nice intermediate and advanced runs.  Beautiful surroundings.  My favorite place at Aspen.  Many great runs at Elk Camp, Big Burn, and Sam's Knob.
Wednesday Aspen Highlands A great resort.  Lots of good runs.  Cloud Nine chair was especially enjoyable.  Also the lift to the top. 
Thursday Snowmass Had another great day here.  I like the layout of the runs, with small groves of trees left here and there and many ups and downs and around the corners.
Friday Snowmass Another great day.
Saturday Aspen Highlands Had snow this day.  Didn't ski as many runs as we did on Wednesday.  Quit in the early afternoon.

 

Mammoth Lakes, California - September 2001

With my friends Nancy and Terry Teigen, I visited Mammoth Lakes, California on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for five days of hiking.  We left on Monday, September 17 (the week after the terrorist attacks) and returned on Friday.  The shock of the terrorist attacks was very much on our minds, and we spent a lot of time "problem solving" what our country should do in response.
 
Day Hike Description of Activities
Monday None We drove from Orange County to Mammoth, arriving in the afternoon.  We had a condo reserved at the Sunrise Condo Resort, a one bedroom with a loft.  Had a great dinner at the Old Mammoth Grill & Bar. 
Tuesday Little Lakes Valley  We drove down to the Rock Creek area to begin this hike.  We  first hiked the Little Lakes Valley trail as far as Morgan Pass, passing by many alpine lakes.  We then returned and took the trail fork toward Mono Pass.  Great views of the Little Lakes Valley along this trail.  The jacuzzi felt great upon our return.  Enjoyed the happy hour specials at the Mammoth Brewing Company.
Wednesday Shadow Lake and beyond. We drove to Agnew Meadow (past the main ski lodge) to begin this hike.  This is the third time I have been on this trail.  Shadow Lake is my favorite lake in the Sierras.  On this hike we proceeded past Shadow Lake to Ediza Lake, lying directly below the impressive Banner and Ritter Peaks, and then on to Iceberg Lake, high above the tree line and lying below the rugged Minaret peaks.  A beautiful day.  This was our longest hike of the trip.  We went to Giovanni's for dinner that evening.
Thursday Duck Pass We drove past Lake Mary to the Coldwater Campground to begin this hike.  Hiked by Arrowhead, Heart, Skelton, and Barney Lakes on the way to the switchbacks up Duck Pass to Duck Lake.  Tried to find the cross-country trail to Deer Lakes but were unsuccessful.  Saw a lot of "unexplored " backcountry in the process.  We listened to President Bush's address to the joint session of congress before returning once again to the Mammoth Brewing company.
Friday Rainbow Falls and Devil's Postpile Another beautiful day.  We drove past Agnew Meadows to get to the Rainbow Falls trailhead and then took the relatively flat trail to Rainbow Falls.  Quite a bit of water was going over the falls, which is about 100 feet high.  We then drove to the Devil's Postpile trailhead and Terry and I walked to this spectacular geologic formation of basalt columns.  We also hiked to the top of the formation to view the exposed surfaces of the columns.

Lake Powell - October 2001

Our group of retirees from Ford Aerospace once again traveled to Lake Powell for a week of houseboating onboard Going My Way.  This was the seventh consecutive trip for me to Lake Powell.  Our group included Terry and Nancy Teigen, Frank and Madeline Skvarca, Ron and Betty Rude, Bill Robertson,  Don Irvine, and myself.  Some of us arrived on Wednesday, others on Thursday, and we left the marina early Friday morning.  We were on the lake until the following Saturday.

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