TRAVELS WITH MATTIE

Whoa you guys! I just found these on my camera from December. Total jackpot!  Some fun days at the park and Discovery Museum in Reno. Saw Mom at the airport. And the cabin feels like home.  Anni with the "giraffe" she made out of foam blocks at the Discovery Museum. It was abstract.  Two goobers at the Truckee River. Mattie looks REALLY pumped about this situation, right? Right?  She looks sweet. Then she steals your money and when you ask her about it she says "I'll buy you lunch at Taco Bell." That really happens. YETI AT THE AIRPORT!  Sometimes I can't even believe that we get to live in a Laughing Place. The warm cabin. A happy puppy. A calendar with a picture of the Eastern Sierras and the Alabama Hills. A map of the San Rafael Wilderness. This place is A-OK.  Our little home in the harsh Santa Barbara winter.  Love, again, Allison & Mattie (my little heartbeat)

Hi everybody (and ESPECIALLY Uncle Kevin!) --  We hope you're having a great 2014 so far!!! Mattie and I had a good/interesting/exhausting/beautiful Christmas break up around Reno, then a week in Utah for some skiing with Danielle and Cole (and we even got to see Hayley for New Year's Eve!).  Here's kind of how it went:  Mattie and I drove up some day around 12/10 after a nice night with Yeti and Dad. We got to Greg's after a freezing drive over Donner Pass. We got settled in and it was relaxing. We did some work, ate great food, and spaced out inside during a frigid week in Reno. We spent some time with Sid and Anni, picking them up from school and hanging out while Scott was at work. They're insane and I love them. We all went to paint ceramics together and did all kinds of arts and crafts. We tried a few walks outside with Mattie, but everyone quickly agreed it was too cold.  Total aside: one of Anni's new favorite phrases is "...I would...

...but we're back!  HI EVERYBODY(especially Uncle Kevin and Great Uncle Mike)! Let me get you caught up on what's happened over the past 3 months: The end of summer in the Eastern Sierra is perfect and warm. There are no mosquitoes. You sleep without a tent in sagebrush flats that usually look something like this:  Looking south toward Crowley, September.    There are artifacts everywhere, boulders everywhere, good people everywhere. The music at the Whoa Nellie is amazing, it's cool enough to climb at the Buttermilks, you eat Mono Bars for every meal and drink beers every night. Shooting stars all over the place. Mattie and I were really, really gross after 12 weeks of tent-living.  The most perfect quartzite mano (thanks John the Geologist!). And a little tardifact sitting on top.  Sid turned 7 (holy christ) and we had a face-painting bowling insanity party with a cake and Thai food. Scott became a tiger.  Anni ...

Hi GUYS! Things are still incredible on the east side, but Mattie and I are starting to feel a little sad as summer starts to wind down. The aspens near the mouth of Lundy Canyon are already starting to change, and the recent cold storms blowing through the Mono Basin are reminding us that fall is on its way and soon we'll be heading back to the coast...and work.  But FIRST - more fun in the mountains! My most loyal followers (cough. ha.) will remember Mike from last year's backpacking adventures out of Mammoth Lakes and through McGee Creek. He's one of our beautiful/hilarious/heartwarming buddies. It was his first night back in California and the start to his 4 month road trip adventures, which kind of deserved some kind of celebration. So after a Shoot From the Hip in downtown Truckee the first night he rolled in, we hung out under the stars and listened to music in a perfect meadow off Highway 89.  Mike rolls into California (no, we didn't drink ...

Hey guys, it's been FOREVER!  We've been busy bees up here around Tahoe for the past few weeks, and I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to write about all of it. So here are a few recent pictures (not in order...at all) from epic mountain adventures, and I'll try to get back on the blogwagon.  First, this is how we're looking these days. It's getting wild. We smell bad. Clothing is getting brighter, and dirtier, at the same time. My flip flops broke in half. Mattie has the worst bed head ever, all the time. I bought those tights in the kids' section at REI (they're the official climbing tights). Gremlins. It was Anni's 4th birthday and we went to the water park with Scott and Sid. Then we came back for a little party and gifts, and Anni got her first real bike. I love this picture. This is how proud every kid should be when they get their first real bike. We climbed with the infamous and unbelievable Greg Reynolds around Tahoe an...