Coming Soon - October 2020

Grouse Falls Overlook Trail

Tahoe National Forest

Placer County, CA

Day 75 of the COVID-19 lock downs. As the country starts to open up, we are still mostly hunkered down out of an abundance of safety for the girls, especially Kellisa since she's considered high risk. I took a few days off of work and decided I needed to take a hike. Since this was my first trail since last October, I selected a short, but challenging trail near our home to explore. Based on pictures and trip reports, I selected Grouse Falls Overlook Trail for my hike and it didn't disappoint. 

Full Circle Champagne

Kellisa's first sip of alcohol on her 21st birthday came from a bottle of champagne we bought on December 31, 1998. We made the purchase with the intention to toast the new year with sips of the bubbly, but Lisa wanted to make sure she wasn't pregnant before partaking. The story is told in greater detail here. Long story short, that's the night we found out Lisa was pregnant (with Kirsten and Kellisa), so we never opened the bottle of champagne. 

The bottle of champagne has moved with us from Bolingbrook, IL to Edgewater, FL to Jacksonville, FL to Jacksonville, FL to Jacksonville, FL and finally, Roseville, CA. The years passed and we never had a need or plan for the bottle when Lisa got the idea to save it for Kellisa's 21st birthday first drink. We kept the bottle safe and chilled it a few hours before we would share it with Kellisa.

Lisa tried to take a video of me opening the bottle, but it wouldn't open. It might be me and my lack of experience or more likely, it was the old bottle making it difficult. After several attempts, I was able to pry the top off with little fanfare. There was no 'POP' with bubbling champagne spilling out as the kids had hoped. The bottle just opened.