Welcome to my happy place: a place high up on a mountain, nestled in next to Donner Lake, a place where I can swim, wakeboard, hike and throw the ball in the water for the dog in the summer. A place where I can snowboard and sit in complete awe of the snow in the winter. And between the two seasons of extreme sports is the fall- my favorite time when the ride up the mountain is transformed by trees on fire with yellow, orange and red leaves.
I am dreaming of my happy place-- an area that I have visited so many times in my life that I can drive the roads comfortably in the dark and in the snow. It is a place that holds memories of early ski lessons, camping trips, family Christmases, 4th of July and my engagement. In that place I have experienced snow storms and rain storms. When I am there I feel small next to enormous trees and pristine lakes.
There are many places on this great Earth that I love including Hawaii and Spain. But maybe it is the familiarity and my deep roots that always call me back to a little area in the greater Lake Tahoe area called Truckee. My heart yearns to be there.
This is the longest period in my life I have gone without visiting there. Where for years I went almost every month, it has been ten months since I visited last, when I was five months pregnant with my babies. Since then there has been no time for snowboarding or hiking. But in August we will go back again, this time with our family a little bigger. And I ache for my babies to have the same love for this place I love, this place that I plan on taking them back to, season after season.
I am thinking of the cold waters of Donner on my toes. I am imagining the scent of your trees. I am planning the hikes. Until then I am dreaming of you, Truckee.
That's how I feel about my hometown. By the lake. Man...I love it deep into my soul.
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