Mammoth Vacation

The trip was quite an adventure!

When we arrived Thursday night, they were just getting ready to close highway 203. We had to put on chains and we were in one of the last groups escorted up the mountain. We didn't arrive in Mammoth until 11pm, and by then the snow was falling so thick it was very hard to see. It took us another half an hour to find the condo where we were staying. Here is a photo of the trek from the parking lot to the condo... not easy finding it in the dark and falling snow.



Friday we skied. We went to the smaller of the lodges, Canyon lodge. Since the kids were just beginners, we didn't want to have to fight the crowds at the Main lodge. As we were in line to rent our skis, we heard that the road to the Main lodge was closed. Everyone was heading either to Eagle lodge or Canyon lodge. Since it was Friday, the crowds weren't that bad. The kids were dead tired with only half a day skiing. It was windy and cold on the mountain. That really took it out of them too. They slept really good that night.






Saturday, we headed to the snow mobile area, the weather was beautiful! BUT another storm was supposed to hit about noon. Chris rode with Jim and Cheryl rode with me. We all took turns driving. In the second picture, you can see the storm starting to come in.





It snowed all afternoon, and it snowed all evening. We went out for ice cream... why? Well, because we had a coupon! Ben and Jerry's two sundaes for the price on one! LOL!





It snowed all night and all Sunday morning... and here is what we woke up to. That picture of my daughter was taken in the same place as the photo of the way to the condo that I posted above.







The pass was closed and was not expected to open again until 7pm Sunday night. My hubby had to go to work on Monday or he wouldn't get paid for the vacation day that he took Friday, and the kids had the first day of the new semester. We tried leaving at 10am, and again at noon. When we tried again at 1:30pm, we saw that they were escorting groups through, so we jumped in line. It rained most of the way home. We got home about 8:30pm.



So that's our Mammoth adventure. It was cold and windy and a lot of FUN!!!

I've Been Tagged!

Thanks Kim for tagging me!

1. My 2 favorite scrapbook topics are: my family and nature
2. The 2 best places I've been to are: New Zealand and Jamaica
3. 2 things I do everyday are: Have a cup of coffe (or 2 or 3) and check my email
4. The 2 things everyone knows about me are: I'm a runner and I do not wear dresses
5. The 2 places I wish to visit are: Greece and Italy
6. 2 things you may not know about me are: I do not like bananas or pancakes
7. My two favorite foods are: salted nuts and beef jerkey
8. My two favorite musical artists are: Lionel Ritchie and Aaron Lines
9. What is the last two shows you watched on television: Star Trek Voyager and that new Star Trek show with the first Enterprise (both with my hubby. He's a Star Trek fan.)

I tag Mary and Beth.

The Shape of 49

This is my birthday layout for this year... yes, it's a lot early, but it was the perfect idea for a challenge I entered over at TallyScrapper. Oh, and I am not naked in this photo. My husband thinks it's important for me to point that out.



Journaling reads:
Life is good - enjoy the journey
People tend to fear the BIG-O birthdays. For me the BIG-FIVE-O is just around the corner. Sitting here at 49, I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm happy, I'm healthy, I feel great, and I love my life.
I DO NOT FEAR 50!

I printed my photo and masked title on a transparency. I did my journaling directly on the background paper. After attaching the transparency to the background, I added rub-ons and die-cuts to the transparency to jazz it up.

Progress Map

I'm still in California... 1928.7 miles to go!

Varsity Lacrosse

We have a Lacrosse player in the family!!! Yep, she made the High School Varsity Lacrosse team. Isn't she beautiful? LOL!
(NOTE: This photo was taken under my daughter's protest!)

Book Reviews

It's been a long, long time since I posted any book reviews. It's not that I've been a lazy reader... just a lazy blogger. LOL! Here is a catch-up on the books I've read the last few months.

"Cobra King of Kathmandu" is the third book in the Children of the Lamp series. It has taken me forever to finish this book! I think it was because I really didn't care for book two, "The Blue Djinn." However, once I got into this book, I really enjoyed it. It was much better than "The Blue Djinn." John and Philippa, the twin djinn, help their friend Dybbuk solve a mystery that led to the murder for Dybbuk's friend. I already have the 4th book in this series on order.


I've been hearing about this book for a while, but it was a long time before I finally picked it up. I enjoyed "Twilight" very much! In fact I loved it. Vampire boyfriends in a sappy teenage love story? You bet! LOL! My daughter (who is not a reader) finished this book in two days... she loved it. What extremes will Bella go to to stay with her vampire boyfriend, Edward? What extremes will Edward go to in order to keep Bella safe? What will Bella's "human" boyfriend, Jacob, do to keep Bella alive? You will have to read it to find out. I must admit that "New Moon" irritated me! I found Bella very irritating in that she was so helpless and whiny... but then she is a teenager... LOL!


The Dark is Rising series was written back in the 1970's. It has taken me until now to pick it up. The writing style is very dated. The story seemed to talk down to the reader. It's hard to explain. Imagine the Boxcar Children hunting for the holy grail, and you have "Over Sea, Under Stone." "Dark is Rising" was a lot more interesting and engaging. I may read the other books in this series, just not right away.

"Dragon Slippers" was a fun book! Dragons unlike popular opinion do not hoard treasure. They are collectors... this particular dragon happens to collect ladies footwear. LOL! So ensues a fight between dragons and humans that has a happy ending.





"Wicked Lovely" is a dark fairie book. The evil winter fairies and the good summer fairies are in conflict. The Summer King must find his mortal queen to gain full use of his powers before winter takes over the world. Unfortunately for him, his chosen mortal (a Goth girl) doesn't want to be a fairie queen. This book was just okay. I'd only recommend it to someone who could not get enough of fairies.

I checked this book out of the library because there was a story in it by Stephanie Meyers (the author of Twilight). It looks like the title is "Hello", but it is "Prom Nights from Hell"! This is a collection of bizarre and sometimes disturbing short stories. Definitely give this one a miss.




I picked this up because of the great reviews it got on Amazon. "Magic Lands and the Journey Beyond" has an intriguing title. However the "magic lands" is modern civilization. This is the journey of a young man's trip from his small village into the Beyond as a rite of passage to manhood. There he meets a girl and they run away together. I read this one aloud to the hubby and kids... we all breathed a sigh of relief when I was through. The writing style is very poetic. It's very hard to read and hard to listen to... akin to reading a Shakespearen play. Maybe we're not sophisticated enough to appreciate the story, but my whole family disliked this book. Sorry to end on such a sour note...

Progress Map

Kind of wimpy progress this week due to injury, but my leg is much better and I'll get back to making some miles next week. My current mileage puts me just past Hemet, CA.

He's Baaaack!!!

Hoover's Back!!! I used to think he was adorable... until he started eating all the bird seed, scaring the birds away, and he dug up and ate all my tulip bulbs! What a pest!

Scrapping the Music - It's Good to be Us

I went through tons of old photos and came up with four photos of my hubby and I having fun together. It was hard! There were lots of choose from... I guess that means we have lots of fun. LOL! Patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Recess line.

Journaling from the song lyrics:
It's better than best. Yeah we got it made in the shade, in the sun, in love this way. We got lucky baby. We've been blessed. Couldn't ask for more, wouldn't settle for less. It's good to be us, yeah, it's good to be us. It's good to be breathing day after night after day. This feeling feels the way it should...

Iliotibial Band Syndrome

I had aches in my knee after running. But it's not the knee, it's the ligament that runs down the outside of the thigh from the hip to the shin. When the band comes near the knee, it becomes narrow, and rubbing can occur between the band and the bone. This causes inflammation and pain. ITB syndrome can result from any activity that causes the leg to turn inward repeatedly. This can include wearing worn-out shoes, running downhill or on banked surfaces, running too many track workouts in the same direction, or simply running too many miles. Unlike many overuse injuries, however, ITB pain afflicts seasoned runners almost as much as beginners.

So, the treatment is ice, a patella strap,... and NO RUNNING!
What a bummer!

January 12th - Progress Map

I'm bummed. I really am! I expected to be past Palm Springs this week. I still have a way to go yet.