There's something to be said for being rich, but in my opinion there's even more to be said for living richly.  That is why I choose to live in the Truckee/Lake Tahoe region.  For anyone who loves to be outdoors, there's no better place to be. 

In this space, over the coming weeks, months, and years, I will be highlighting some of my favorite activities which I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy on a regular basis.  My hope is to share some experiences, highlight some of the great businesses and locations in this area, and also give visitors and/or new residents ideas of how to really take advantage of Truckee/Tahoe.

The first story is about one of the great ways to take advantage of spring time in Tahoe.  Early spring might be my favorite time of year up here.  The skiing is at its finest as the snowpack seems nearly bottomless, but the weather is warm enough to also do summer type activities.  If you plan right, you can do both . . .

8:30am:  AT THE OFFICE

You wouldn't think a great day would start at the office, but that's the beauty of living in Truckee.  If you know me, you've undoubtedly heard me say, "5 minutes after I leave the office, I'm doing the same things everyone else does when they're on vacation!"  This day, like most, I did have a meeting with a client.  There were a couple houses for sale near Donner Lake which a buyer wanted to see.  We met at the office, drove the 3 minutes over to the lake and let them see what these homes had to offer.  The highlight was the beauty of the lake.  On this morning the sky was blue, the water was perfectly smooth, and there was a perfect mirror image of Schallenberger Ridge reflecting off the surface of the water.  I may have been working, but this was something to enjoy!

11:30am:  SQUAW VALLEY - KT 22

Luckily today (Sunday, April 18) I only had the one appointment, so there was plenty of time to enjoy the perfect weather.  I pulled into the parking lot at Squaw at 11:30, threw my boots and ski clothes on, and headed for KT, where my friends had been skiing all morning.  The spring "corn" snow was absolutely perfect!  We knocked out 4 laps on KT, 4 more on Headwall, then a lap each on Siberia, Emmigrant, Granite Chief.  By this time we were starving, so it was time to head for lunch.  We took Shirley Lake up and then made our way down the ridge to . . .

2pm:  SQUAW VALLEY - HIGH CAMP

Like many spring days here, the day starts cold and ski conditions are perfect, but the afternoons are quite warm.  On this day the weather man was calling for 60 degree temperatures at lake level.  At over 8,000 feet they claimed the temperatures would be cooler, but at high camp it felt like it was 80 degrees!!  We grabbed a table, stripped off our ski gear (all of us had shorts and Tshirts on underneath), and ordered some burgers and a round of beers.  We basked in the sun.  Each time I closed my eyes I could have swarn I was in a tropical paradise, but then I would open them and look across the pool which is perfectly framed by people skiing down The Palisades.

After we polished off our meal, we relaxed for a bit longer.  Then it was time to hit the pool (or "The Lagoon" as they like to call it) and then the hot tub.  I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that we were at an elevation of 8,000 feet and in the middle of a world class ski area!

High Camp closes down at 4:00, so we got out of the water, dried off in the sun, put our ski gear back on and skied back down to our cars to end a glorious day. 

If you're lucky enough to live in the mountains . . . you're lucky enough!