Lake Tahoe, Day 2, 12 May 2006

With our stay at the hotel/casino, we got daily coupons for free Biltmore Breakfast in one of the place's restaurants. So in the morning, we found our way through the casino to the restaurant. We each claimed our complimentary breakfast of three eggs (any style), choice of pork, hash browns and toast. Jennifer and I each added-on a bottomless cup of coffee, bringing our tab for the four of us to the whopping sum of $2 and change.

The Traveling Roths hopped in Laura and Graham's rental minivan, and headed over to Virginia City, Nevada, site of the famous Comstock Load.

The town was pretty cool, though I couldn't imagine living there. We took the tour, ate at one of the restaurants, and got some ice cream.

We headed back to Jonas's, where Jennifer's older younger brother, Jordan had arrived. He had travelled with their grandmother, Nonna, from Pennyslvania, and they had missed a connecting flight the day before, and had to spend a day in Ohio. This time, in addition to the bounce house, Jonas and Tristan and Zoe were playing with Jonas's 'Sand Buggy' which is a modified '83 Subaru hatchback, sans doors, and roof. They took turns making sandy laps around the back yard.

For the first time in three years (since Jared's wedding in May, 2003, in Albuquerque), Jennifer and her brothers were in the same place at the same time. This would be the first of quite a few Jennifer-mandated family portraits.


Jonas brought us some pizza from somewhere, and then we headed to Incline Beach, a private beach for land owners, a mile or so from Jonas's house. We were not land owners, but since this was pre-season, no one seemed to care. It was a tiny bit chilly, but the kids were too busy filling their pockets with cool-looking (to them) rocks.

Tristan probably had five pounds of pebbles in his pockets, and had to continually pull his pants up. The pebbles spent the rest of the trip on the top of the toilet tank back at the hotel, until the last day when we made them throw out all but the best couple.