Christmas Tree Hunt

Our normal tradition is to go out the day after Thanksgiving armed with turkey sandwiches and thermos' of hot chocolate and apple cider and find the perfect Christmas tree. This year was different because I had to work the holiday (and the 2 days after) and my family all gathered at the family ranch in San Diego county.

Taking a break

Cross this? No problem

So on Wednesday, Pat and I loaded up the girls and headed to Tahoe City to get a permit to get a tree in the Tahoe basin. The girls have been fighting colds all week and the pressure change going over Donner summit really was tough on Sara's ears. Normally we head out to Plumas National Forest near Gold Lakes to get our tree but we decided to do something different this year.

We paid our $10, got our permit and instructions and drove a short distance down the road where it's legal to cut trees. Turns out it was near the start of the Lake of the Sky 50K from October. We walked up a road about 1/4-1/2 mile and set off on a little cross-country. Caitlyn did a great job of hiking for 3 1/2 years old. What a trooper.

Found it!

We found the perfect tree and set about cutting it down. Pat had Sara on his back so I got the honors of cutting the tree down and carrying it back to the truck. The last few years we've gotten really tall trees but this year we decided to limit it to about an 8 footer. Turns out we got a beautiful tree.

Lake Tahoe in the background

It was a tough drive home with Sara crying most of the trip (I think because of her ears). Once we had been home for awhile I think her ears "popped" and all of a sudden she was a happy little girl again. She's also got 3 molars coming in which certainly doesn't help her disposition.

Carrying the tree back to the truck

It was a wonderful family day with perfect weather. Weird to not have any snow yet but I'm sure it's coming.