We spent part of Halloween going to three different properties to wrap up the shrubs for winter.

We had to wait for the snow to melt from the snowfall from a week ago, because trying to wrap up bushes that are buried in snow is not much fun.

We’re getting fairly warm temps in the afternoon and not that cold at night, so the snow around the house is pretty much gone.

We've been helping Fish & Game with their bear trap the last two days, setting it up near some dumpsters.

No bear in the trap yet, but I did tree a raccoon.

Nancy braved the snowy trail to ride to work. She rode the whole trail except for one short, slick uphill.

I’m starting to split wood for winter. I have enough rounds, just need to split and stack it, preferably when it’s not snowing.

The kids across the street were a little bored.

Notice, if you will, the quality of the Sierra snow. Dry? Powdery? Light as feathers?

NO.

We got a few more inches of snow through yesterday evening and last night. I had to shovel about 3-5” off the deck and driveway.

They started making snow last night at Northstar. The Nov. 16 opening day is looking a lot more realistic.

We got a couple inches of snow this morning, the first snow this year. It’s sprinkling snow throughout the day, but not really accumulating.

We’re looking at a few days of snow showers with the ridges getting over a foot of snow.

It’s very slow at work, since it’s the height of shoulder season and there’s no one around.

I’m doing a house patrol on foot to get some exercise, taking a shortcut through the woods. Cold, windy morning—the weather is changing.

Nancy getting home from swing shift.

The nights are getting cold and the leaves are turning in our back yard.

Ryder gets his toenails trimmed. He manages to put up with it—barely.

We got a two-hour cruise on the Tahoe Gal, courtesy of Northstar for its employees to celebrate the end of summer.

The boat operates out of Tahoe City doing tours of Lake Tahoe.

They served some nice appetizers—asparagus with wasabi sauce and spicy cajun shrimp.

Amazing weather, not a breath of wind. However, we may be getting snow next week.

I took Ryder down to Martis Creek to try out my Canon 40D. I’m learning how to work with RAW photos in Adobe Lightroom—here’s a first effort.

We hiked a four-mile loop through the Mariposa Grove to see the giant sequoias.

The view from the top of Half Dome, our little hike for today.