Back from a gorgeous, perfect weekend in my hometown. Packed a TON into a few days. Feeling really blessed right now to have such good friends and family, and to hail from such a beautiful place!

We started the weekend off with a drive out Italian Bar Road to take in the sights and spend some time with our good friend J.

Look at this gorgessity:















I-Bar is well known for its active and abandoned mining claims; on our hike we came across a few abandoned and waterlogged shafts:



















We were heartened to see that the PG&E ditches and the Stan were full and free-flowing. Our hike meandered along a tributary of the Stan and ended at one of many spectacular waterfalls:



















And then this being I-Bar and all, J ended up being a good samaritan and putting his tow strap to good use:



















That night we went to the casino with J and his mom to watch a comedy show (more tragic than comedic, but hey free Cokes) and then I won $20 in the nickel slots! Righteous.

On Friday, Trevor and I skied the best snow of our lives at Dodge Ridge:















17 degrees at 9 am! The wind was like ice, but the snow was all icing sugar.

Friday night I cooked dinner for my mom and my man. Afterward, we went to grab a beer with J at our favorite hometown haunt, and found there was, of all things, a rave going on:















Luckily we were able to cheese in just for a drink w/o the cover. Normally we go here to see hillbilly punk shows, and consequently know everyone in the bar; this time we knew not one soul. We just kept thinking: this is Tuompton -- where do these people come from?

Saturday saw us heading home into a traffic backup on 108 that extended for miles. After an hour of waiting where we moved a quarter of a mile, we called CHP and they told us there was a massive accident at LaGrange turnoff. At least a 2 hour wait. Never before have I been so grateful to be a local (and have an iPhone) -- we u-turned and went the back way through the Red Hills. I'd never really driven the backwoods of Chinese Camp before, but I knew we could get past LaGrange turnoff from there somehow. Not only did we discover a new place to hike, but a 20 minute detour popped us right back out onto the highway not but a 100 yards ahead of the accident, and on our way home.

Sunday we went to see Watchmen. I was very impressed. Perfectly cast, and well-edited from the comic. Alan Moore should be proud.

If only all weekends could be so magnificent. Makes Monday bearable!