Tahoe trip recap

Just got back from another weekend of fun in the sun (and snow) at Reno and Tahoe. Here are some photos; enjoy!




Here are the boys "going up the mountain", as they put it. By the time we arrived at Soda Springs, all the little kids' skis had been rented out, but they were quite happy to ride the "magic carpet" up the little slope and walk back down.

Lake Tahoe was as beautiful as ever., but the view of the snow-capped mountains from Kings' Beach was the last thing on this little boy's mind. He was more interested in throwing pebbles into the lake.

We lucked out; our first visit to Northstar coincided with the United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA)'s 18th Annual USASA National Championships. So we were treated to some truly awesome half-pipe runs.

On our way home, we stopped by the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA. Again, we lucked out; 411 directory service reported no Jelly Belly listings for Fairfield, so we decided to wing it and follow the signs to the factory. Except there was only 1 large sign off the freeway and not much else, just a couple of tiny signs that were pointing the wrong way (Jelly Belly people, you really ought to fix that!). Armed with my eagle eye and unerring sense of direction (and bull-headed stubbornness... the D*** factory must be here somewhere!!!!), we found the place and arrived just in time for the last factory tour of the day.

The whole experience was really enjoyable. The 40-minute tour (no photos, unfortunately) was interesting to kids and adults alike. We walked right above the jellybean production line and got to see how the beans are made, sorted and packed. The tour ended (not surprisingly) right at the souvenir store where visitors could sample any flavor of jellybean and buy all kinds of Jelly Belly merchandise, including Belly Flops, the JB rejects that local farmers sometimes buy for their pigs. They're still completely edible, honest!

We went home with tons of free Jelly Bellys and even repainted our van in their honor. (Just kidding. that's one of their vans in the photo, but I'm sure the kids would trade this van with ours in a heartbeat).