New Years 2010

Poor Eleanor. She is so dirty. She was awesome in the slop over the Sierras. Ian drove that stretch. Chain controls had just been lifted when we got to I-80, and we ended up in a string of trucks and cars who had been waiting for that moment. We had never seen anything like it, cars and trucks in two lanes as far as the eye could see. It appeared almost computer generated.

Winter driving gets dicey when the passes are more than a mile high. After finally crossing, we were starving, but so was everyone else. All fast food eateries on the other side were packed so we just kept driving. We got gas and food after we headed south on Hwy 99. I was driving after dusk when suddenly I had out-driven the traffic and was for the first time alone. I could not see the road, at all. We pulled off at a thankfully close exit. The slurry from the snow on the pass had completely pasted onto the head lights and no light could get out. Ian had a job to slop it.
On our trip home, we drove up our preferred route, Hwy 395. It was just too icy to take on our way down. We are Best Western Motel fans, and this is the view from Lone Pine. That is Mount Whitney. We've stayed there many times and every time it takes my breath away.

We are on the eastern side of the Sierras and the left edge of the photo is the Owens Valley and Bishop - think the movie Chinatown and water loss to California agriculture. (Ian scares me that he knew Jack Nicholson was in that move - he's such a know it all. He always right - I hate that!) The Sierras are a dramatic backdrop to the valley. The camera doesn't get what the eye sees - I have tried and tried. How do you capture the dramatic change from valley floor of 4,000' against 13,000 peaks?

This is the vista point at the first of three passes we pass, all over 8,000.
I love this spot because you can see the evidence of glacial activity. To the left of the peak you can see a U-shaped valley and to the right of it, you see the hanging valley with the lateral moraine in front. I know you mid-Westerners have lots of glacial topography as well, but I never tire of how spectacular this is.
I wish I knew how to make this look as big as it is. It's so gorgeous on a nice day and so terrifying in weather. We've done both. I prefer this.
Fast forward to today. Our December guild meeting had to cancel because of snow, so this January meeting was a catch-up, ornament exchange and all. I made Christmas ham, mushroom and cheese quiche, which was promptly slurped up. Joe's plate makes me look good. He told Ian that he has a wood fire in two weeks and I will have another pie plate.

Potters don't like to make pie plates. It pays to be an obnoxious neighbor. The crust in a heavy pottery plate is different than the crust in Pyrex dish - believe it. Yeah, Leigh. It was Crisco.