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Snow Day!!!

We finally got enough snow to be able to try a little back country riding. Chloe hadn't used the split board before, and I was dying to have her experience the joy of "earning her turns". We left by eight in the morning and were in the parking lot of Negro Canyon at around 10:30 or so. After gearing up and explaining to Chloe how to put the skins on the skis and setup the bindings we were off.

We only have one split board, so I was on the excellent MSR snowshoes that I got for xmas. Those things are so light that I forgot I was wearing them a few times. I wish I could say the same about the kite and snowboard strapped to my back.

We trudged up the hill (by the topo, it looks like we went around 1 mile and 800 ft in elevation), pausing for lunch and to let the exhaust spewing snowmobiles to go by.




The snow was incredibly sticky, and since we were staying away from the steep terrain to avoid any avalanches, it was really hard to get going.

I tried out the kite in the swirling winds until the lines got hopelessly twisted, and then we boarded back down the hill.



Chloe did great but got a little frustrated at getting mired in the ultra sticky snow every thirty feet or so. We tried to get her a decent run a few times but gave up when we realized that it wasn't really steep enough to get going. Instead, I did a few somersaults into the snow

dodged more snowmobilers, and descended the narrow track that led back to the lot.

we had originally intended to stay at the cabin, but seeing all the snow



we decided to just drive back to berkeley that night and stop at In-n-out on the way back. I had read about a "secret menu" and tried the "animal style" double double, which tasted pretty good after slogging through all that snow.

aagh

I just got four more of my improperly made French fillings (okay done by a Finnish dentist, to be fair) replaced. Lots of novacaine, drooling on myself and a sore jaw as usual. Hopefully these will last more than a few years; apparently there were big cavities and bits of my silver amalgam fillings that were left under the fillings. At least I can look forward to a weekend up in the mountains finally!

Napa

We went up to Napa with my parents to check out the amazing studio and house that our friends the Shepps have built -- very cool. From there, we went to Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen which was really excellent. I'm updating this a week later, so I can't remember what we ate exactly, but everything was excellent and the dining rooms are bright and sunny... perfect.

Heres kenji in the restaurant

Burning

Yesterday we burned most of the maples that we had cut down this spring

and used the burn barrel and coals to cook potatoes and steak



We drove back to the bay area this morning, just in time to see the Queen Mary 2 steam under the bridge