Love.

Love. We went to the mountain for some outdoors, snow-filled love today. In case you haven't figured it out yet, the title of this blog is "For the Love of Snow." In the tagline, I state that I love skiing more than almost anything else. Except for my wife and family.

I expect the statement above to be vigorously argued by Diane. So I'll make a preemptive strike. I submit Exhibit A for the record:

This week we got the first substantial snow we've had for the past five weeks. Dylan and I headed for the woods to sniff out the fresh pow (my first punishable mistake). Note the barely buried orange depth stick in between the sign posts.

We found it. Or at least a little. A few inches on top of an icy crust.

Dylan found love in the trees!

After a while, I thought it was time to hunt down my sweetheart and take some runs with her. I switched into the tele gear and found her.

I was informed that I was a "butthead" for my morning antics.

Guilty as charged.

I was eventually forgiven for my sins of the morning.

On an historical note, today was Oregon's sesquicentennial. The state was officially admitted to the Union on February 14th, 1859. Happy Birthday Oregon!

We left early and went to celebrate with pizza in Oakridge where Dylan snapped this work of art that I titled "Brown and Yellow."

Feel free to submit alternative titles. The winner gets a cup of brown and yellow at Timber Jim's Pizza Parlor. Note that root beer and Mountain Dew usually mix.

We attempted to figure out Keno while dining and picked numbers on a card to see who got the most matches. I won. A dollar. Pay up Dylan.

Dylan got the lumberjack vibe from Timber Jim's.

I love you Diane. Thanks for letting me ski.

Happy Valentine's Day.