back in a winter climate

Ahhh, winter. It's been a long 6 years that I've lived without it and only gone to "visit the snow". So, with one housemate away (leaving behind Q, the dog), one exam and one final report left for the semester - a plan of "exhaust the dog so that majorly productive studying happens" was concocted.

A snowy night hike followed by a sunny x country ski the next day occurred and all participants had a great time, however the dog exhaustion only seemed to last the one evening/night. As I type this post (not studying) she is whimpering for "more skiing! more snowshoeing! more! yay!" which is just not going to happen today.

mountains in my backyard

behaving herself to pose for a photo... moments before tearing off after a deer or something

the snow here is ridiculously deep and dry powder, I hardly know what to do with it... but I am pretty sure that my snowshoes will be of inadequate size to contend, and I will sink like a stone when I use them...

"yay! I'm a dog! I'm bounding through snow nearly as deep as I am tall! wheeee!"

...And then, a couple of days later, we tried a real challenge: 4 dogs, 3 girls, 2 skis (each), and 1 Honda Element. We skied into Idaho- it was fantastic!

"treats!"