Our first snow of the year. 2013

November 5th of 2013 is the date of our first snow. Donna and I have lived in Floriston, Truckee and Reno in years past so snow is not at all unfamiliar to us.

As luck would have it, my fed-ex package with Donna's

willow tree (she wanted a willow on the property) came a day or two before the first snow. I planted it in the same hole of a pine I took out last week...we have plenty of pines elsewhere.

The morning before our snow we had rain and Donna wanted me to take a close up of this patio bush or tree.

I awoke at 7 am and this is the scene from our bedroom slider. It is pretty easy to tell when snow has falling at night because the silence is so deafening, not that we have much sound anyway.

This is the first time in about a week I noticed merriam's turkeys in the yard, they must feel safe since hunting them won't start for another week or so. I found out that northeastern Washington (where we are) has more turkeys than the rest of the state combined. Some folks think they cause a mess, I consider it "free fertilizer".  

Donna got up early (8:00 is early for my lovely wife of 35 years) to partake in festivities held in Colville...ours is the first town the convoy will visit on the road to Washington D.C., 5000 miles away where it will be set up on the capital lawn.

The dogs are like "WTH"? "You get us up and out of our heated California king bed so you can go see a tree. REALLY, we pee on trees"?

I have often thought that I would be a good fit as a "long haul" truck driver because of my love of road. Had I seen this hot truck 35 years ago I would not have gotten into the casino business.

This cool driver even had his "Mack Truck" bulldog mascot dressed for the holidays...ha ha! The mascot has been in existence since 1917 when the British solders coined the term because of the toughness of the truck.

There were fewer people to greet the tree in Colville but I suspect the weather and the fact that the tree is completely covered may of had some effect. One small area on the back of the trailer was Plexiglas but you had to hold it open while taking a photo...not easy.

While driving across the valley to our home in the hills you can see why our area has it's own "micro-climate". Even though we are only about 500 feet higher than the town of Colville, we were in the clouds most of the day and 4 degrees cooler.

Even with having the wood stove burning all day, here it is late afternoon and there is still 1 inch of snow on the roof...apparently the house is well insulated.