One way in which Cathy planned to commemorate this milestone was to have a few of us dine with them at Tahoe's finest.

This was our first time eating in the restaurant and it was exceptional.

Steve and I had the Lentil & Asparagus Ragout- a delicious pairing of braised chard, steamed brown rice and porcini vinaigrette. Unique!

Recently, I was asked to share my favorite wintertime occurrence. When I awoke to the first snow, in a very long time, I had to share.

Last night, while rocking on the Dixie, we received a text from our realtor that there was a house fire on the next street over.

This was the view from our back deck at 10:30 PM, 3 1/2 hours after the fire had started.  The Lake Tahoe News did a report, quoting me, if you would like to read more.

And this is the house this morning.  We received our first snow of the year, blanketing everything in a glorious whiteness, even masking the devastation to this home. I received this update from the City's News Flash mailing, "This morning, South Lake Tahoe Police Detectives are engaged in a criminal investigation and will be examining the scene with the assistance of arson investigators from all local fire departments."

For a second time, we were thoroughly impressed with Pints & Paddles, Ike and Martin's incredible performance aboard the MS Dixie.

This was an ideal way to spend a rainy night in Tahoe.

It's so fun to see the same faces rocking out to this talented duo. Wednesdays have never been so awesome.

Once a month, students meet to learn about the world, do activities, and write letters to their pen pals.  After learning about my trip to Tecate, Mexico in December, Lynne, the coordinator, asked me to be the guest speaker.

Thoughtful questions followed and I believe they all have a new found appreciation for the history of Tecate and a knowledge of its people.  It was a great introduction to a new place and I was happy to be the one to share it.

We could not pass up an event with this description:  Enjoy a complimentary breakfast and take part in an informative and interactive white water round table session. Learn what Tahoe Chamber has in store for 2014 and provide input on what you would like to see for our community's future.

For only $6.5 million you can have a piece of Henry J. Kaiser's little place on the Lake. Kaiser loved Lake Tahoe and his boats. In 1938, Kaiser had a crew of 300 men build this famous estate, on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. The property originally consisted of 17 homes, five of which were owned by the men who had worked together to build the Hoover Dam.  The estate was completed in 30 days in order to be the party venue for the grand opening of the Dam.

From the early 1960s, the home was used for a variety of things.

While most people know this estate because of the scenery it provided for the "Godfather II" movie, in 1964 it was known as Fleur du Lac Academy whose motto was "Live and learn to live."

One student summed it up, "It makes the learning worthwhile to know that you can play just as hard when you are through!"  I can't even imagine having gone to school there.  Wow.

South Lake Tahoe has talent as I discovered at today's phenomenal production of 'Young Frankenstein'.

This play made me realize, even more so, all there is to enjoy in Tahoe.

We began at Spooner Summit (7100'), a stop I have been meaning to make.

We stopped because there were two letterboxes here, but we promised we would return to this historically significant area for summertime explores.

Once in Carson City, we searched for its numerous letterboxes to be discovered.

This letterbox path was pretty much 'out of this world', leading to the Jack C. Davis Observatory.  One of the clues dealt with finding Mickey's friend (Pluto).  We will definitely return here.  One of the great benefits of letterboxing is often the 'treasures' are hidden in places that are new to us. This was a true find.

Our reason for coming to Carson was to see Bob's pear cider win in the 3rd Annual Homebrewers Competition at High Sierra Brewing Company.

Bob took top honors for his cider.  He now has the hat and glass to prove it.

Since we got a dusting of new snow and the boys have passes, off they went on a Heavenly Day.

Two Thursdays in a row found us at a fundraiser at Riva Grill.

This incredible event was for Elevate Your View Lake Tahoe Leadership Conference.  This first annual, one-day conference is meant to raise awareness and empower our community to improve the future of Lake Tahoe. Definitely a worthy cause.

The evening was composed of all the fun ingredients including a silent auction.

Numerous wineries were in attendance.  Seth, from Tahoe Moonshine, was informing and delighting the crowd.

♪♫ These are a few of my favorite things... ♫♪ Emerald Bay, Bob & Jenny, Letterboxing and a spectacular sun-soaked day.

Bob totally got into the finding, stamping and re-hiding of the letterboxes.  It was fun to have his enthusiasm with us.

This is one of the amazing stamps we found today.  Carved by 'Art Trekker', and representing two of the 72 exquisite dragons that adorn Vikingsholm Castle, this was a fabulous reward for our searching.

The Bay could not have been more peaceful.  This is my favorite photo of Fannette Island.  We all hope today is the calm before the storm that everyone is wishing for.  We embraced the warmth and loved being out and about, exploring in such an intoxicating setting.