Our Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

We've lost count, but we think we are on about our 7th or 8th year of going up to Graeagle to cut down our Christmas Tree. Many people ask us, "why do you go all the way to Graeagle? ...And where the heck is Graeagle?" It's about a half hour North West of Truckee out in the middle of now where. If you sneeze you will miss the entire town. We love it. We purchase a permit for $10 to cut down a tree.
We spend the night, play in the snow (if there is snow), four wheel drive in the forest and search and search for that perfect tree that never exists. We usually stay in Truckee the night before, but this year we tried a new adventure and loved it. We rented a cabin with the Sirmans right outside of Graeagle overlooking the Feather River. We left Friday afternoon (ok it was actually evening by the time we left). After getting lost for quite a while we finally arrived about 10:30. The Bair family met us the next morning to join us for the day for the Christmas Tree hunt. I think they thought we are a little nuts at first. But, we all found great trees and had a great time. We came home to a BBQ Tri Trip dinner followed by lots of laughter. The next day we all slept in and then enjoyed omelets made by Mark (although they didn't flip very well in the "no-stick" pans, they tasted delicious). We lounged around and left for home in the late afternoon. All the kids had a great time and enjoyed eachothers company, even their own siblings. I heard a lot of giggling going on late at night. Our daughters beg us to go back to Graeagle every year, so I'm sure the cabin thing will be an addition to our much loved Christmas Tree Tradition. In fact, we think we may go back in the summer to Graeagle...maybe we will mark our tree then!!