Lake Tahoe

I just got back from a pretty awesome weekend in Tahoe.  There is not much that beats a good snowboarding trip, except of course a good surf trip, but I'll save that for another post...

This weekend I got a small glimpse into what Lake Tahoe has to offer. Three days wasn't nearly enough, but there is no doubt I'll be going back. We stayed in North Lake Tahoe in a town called Truckee. Truckee is about as authentic as it gets when you think of a mountain town. A perfect place to spend my first few days in Tahoe.

Early morning ~ Truckee River

Tahoe hasn't been hit hard this season with snow, but luck was on our side and we got around 6 inches of snow our first day. We only had 3 riding days, but managed to hit a new mountain each day; Squaw, Alpine Meadows & Sugar Bowl.  Alpine Meadows offered some amazingly breathtaking views of the lake, but if your talking strictly about riding, Sugar Bowl was my favorite.

Here are a few pictures from our trip. (Most were taken with my iPhone)

Snow Day!!!! On the way to the mountain...

Day 1 ~ Squaw

Kt-22

Day 2 ~ Sugar Bowl

The boys taking a quick break 

Day 3 ~ Alpine Meadows

Summit ~ Alpine Bowl

I wanted to go to Emerald Bay at least once while we were there. The boys agreed to take me, BUT only after a full day of riding. I'd say we hit it at the perfect time. The snow had just stopped, but the storm clouds remained giving the bay an even more majestic feel. What a beautiful place...

Waves for Water

In keeping with my love for the ocean, the surfing community and my passion for helping others I thought it would be nice to take a moment to talk about an organization that does some pretty amazing things. 

The organization: Waves for water

Their mission: It is simple. To get clean water to every single person who needs it.  

Their current project hits close to home for me. As most of you know Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast late October of last year, leaving many surf-based communities in New Jersey and New York completely devastated. Waves for water normally focuses on clean water, but this project focuses on initial survival needs, from first responder assistance to rubble removal and rebuilding efforts. They will be focusing primarily on the surf-based coastal communities in Jersey and New York to start. The hope is that the Waves for Water effort will be a vessel for the global surf community to directly help fellow surfers in need of help along the east coast.

To donate to this project: http://www.wavesforwater.org/project/hurricane-sandy-relief-initiative 

Don't want to donate? No worries. Check them out anyway: 
http://www.wavesforwater.org/about

No blog post would be complete without some pictures.

Here are a few pics I took during tonight's sunset session in La Jolla.

Mammoth

I just got back from an amazing weekend in Mammoth Lakes, CA. This weekend was one of the coldest of the season, with temperatures dropping below 0 at night and averaging somewhere in the mid 20's during the day. Despite the cold weather, this weekend provided us with some pretty epic conditions. Lucky to get some fresh snow on the first night we enjoyed near perfect conditions throughout the weekend. Mammoth currently has the most snow in North America, with an approximate 192" base and deep powder is plentiful throughout the mountain. 

A few things you may or may not know about Mammoth...

Mammoth mountain is located along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest. Mammoth mountain was formed by a series of volcanic eruptions that began approximately 200,000 years ago. The mountain is still considered an active volcano, with the most recent activity taking place 700 years ago. Mammoth releases high levels of carbon dioxide, which prohibit plant and tree growth in much of the southern section of the mountain. 

Mammoth produces an unusually large amount of snowfall each year when compared to other Eastern Sierra peaks. This is due to its location in a low gap in the Sierra crest. On average Mammoth produces around 400" of snow annually. The base of Mammoth is 7,953 feet and the summit reaches 11,053 feet. There are 150 trails and over 3,500 acres of skiable area.

Mammoth is known for it's wind. Sometimes this produces awesome wind blown snow that is referred to as "the buff". The buff is fine snow with a buttery texture that can make for some amazing conditions. If the direction is right sometimes it's possible to get fresh tracks on every run, if not it can lead to hard packed conditions or ice.

Here are a few photos from this weekend. All photos were taken and edited with my iPhone.

blue bird day 

Andrea, Kristina & I at the summit ~

 11, 053 feet

love riding with this girl 

Andrea dropping in on the half pipe 

Hanging with the boys on day 3 (Andrew, Ian & Steve)

~ backside of the mountain

cruising along the 395 ~ such a beautiful drive!

Habitat for Humanity

This morning 15 of my amazing co-workers, all ICU nurses from UCSD, met in Imperial Beach to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. "San Diego Habitat for Humanity, a faith-based organization, works in partnership with families to strengthen communities and transform lives by building new homes, rehabilitating existing homes, and making affordable homeownership a reality for people in need in our community." 
(taken from http://www.sdhfh.org/AboutUs/OurMission.aspx) 

San Diego Habitat for Humanity is currently working on a project located on Florida St. in Imperial Beach. This project includes 4 single family homes that are due to be completed by June of 2013. 

As ICU nurses we are familiar with the feeling of exhaustion. We work long hours and our job can be really stressful, but today I think we all gained an amazing appreciation for the art of HARD labor. Habitat for Humanity has a name for this hard labor. They call it "sweat equity." In fact, in order to be selected for home ownership each family must volunteer a minimum of 250-500 hours of "sweat equity". Most of this "sweat equity" is earned working on the very home that will some day be theirs. Other criteria is based on the families need for improved housing. This need for housing is determined by many factors including lack of space, overcrowded housing, unsafe living conditions and a dangerous environment.

Not only did we get to help with this amazing project, we also raised $1500 for the organization and got to be on the channel 6 news!! Oh and we all learned some amazing new skills in case we ever want to quit nursing! :)

live on the air with Ruben Galvan

Lisa and I shoveling for the camera

06:20 start time...looking good ladies :)

one of the homes 

drywalling is fun :)

Lisa and I taping and mudding drywall

Molly, Rachel & Halsey painting baseboards

tool shed

Brenna and Michelle mudding corners

Trish and Cassia grouting tile

Cassia cutting tile with a wet saw

Kristina painting ceilings

more mudding...

having fun with the camera crew!

end of the day....exhausted!!

Big Rock ~ Weekend Swell

Big waves were seen at most spots throughout San Diego this weekend. Breaks were a bit crowded, but as predicted the swell held strong throughout the weekend. I managed to capture a few shots on Saturday while sitting on the sidelines at Big Rock in La Jolla. 

Big Rock is a left that breaks over shallow reef. It is usually a crowded wave and Saturday was no exception. I counted 34 guys at the peak!! Big Rock works best on a mid-high tide and likes a west, northwest and/or southwest swell direction.  It has a pretty heavy local vibe and definitely not a spot for the novice surfer.  The takeoff zone is small and from what I've heard the crowd can be pretty aggressive.  

Here are a few pics from Saturday...

Life is better when you surf.