I’m giving away something very special this time, an autographed copy of Veronica Wolff's Lord of the Highlands. I love Veronica’s books! She’s a great writer, and she’s a heck of a nice lady, too! As always, to be eligible for the drawing, leave a comment, and you must type in your email address. I’ll also add you to my newsletter for updates on all the fun stuff and releases, too. I’ll announce the winner on my next blog in two weeks!
My brother and his wife visited from Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, and we did the most amazing trip! We took the snow train from the San Francisco Bay Area up to Reno! Okay, it’s not really called the snow train. It’s the Zephyr, and it goes all the way to Chicago. We just did the day trip to Reno, spent the night at the peppermill, then came back the next day. But the weather was absolutely perfect, giving us a taste of a snow storm the first day, then the fresh snow on the second day.
It snowed on the way up, and for the trip back, it was bright and beautiful with all that clean, white snow and sun. Here’s a photo of Donner Lake the next day. The skiing looked wonderful on the slopes.
We sat in the scenic car which gave us a panoramic view of the mountains. There are seats facing the windows which curve over you. That’s my brother and his wife in the “scenic” seats.
On the way home, we took up a couple of booths and played card games. Here’s my sister, me, Mom, and my sister’s husband. The trip was so much fun. One of the porters kindly gave me a tour of the sleeper cars. Some of the sleepers are just seats that fold out into bunk beds, but the nicer accommodations have a larger sitting area, the seats also folding down into bunk beds, and their own bathroom and shower. So I think you should be looking forward to a story with a train trip! Yes, yes, I’m planning already.Just a little promo. Stop by Romantic Crush Junkies for a chance to win the entire JB Skully Max Starr series, yes, all five books!. Yup, she’s me, or I’m her, depending on how you look at it. I'm also blogging over at Lucienne Diver's Blog today (Wed), and the prize I'm offering is a copy of Laced with Desire. So give it a shot! And Take Your Pleasure will be coming out on Loose-Id on April 13th!
11 comments:
Those pictures are gorgeous! I keep telling hubs we need to take out kids to see "real" snow. It looks like a fun time was had by all.
Donner Lake isn't named after the infamous Donner party, is it? (Not sure if it's the same part of the country)
pspinney at cox dot net
Yes, Patti, would be to show the kids real snow! Donner Lake is named after the infamous Donner party. The train trip to Reno goes from Emeryville ( on the other side of the Bay from San Francisco) through Sacramento and then up through the Sierras. Donner Lake is at the summit just before you start coming down into Truckee.
Beautiful pictures of your family, Jas! And of the snow, too ... though I live in Michigan and have just about all the snow I need for a season. [grin] I'm so glad there's an upcoming book in the works, too! You're amazing!
With all that snow you guys are getting, Rosemary, I can see why you wouldn't be quite so impressed! But thanks on the family photos. That was the other great thing about the trip, the family being together. Mom thoroughly enjoyed herself! And yes, a new book will be in the offing!
Looks like you had a great trip!
kissinoak at verizon dot net
It was, Estella! Thank you!
Great pics! Snow can be beautiful! Right now I feel like I am living on that snow train. When is it ever going to stop! I am so tired of winter and the cold. I guess a lot of us is in the same boat right now! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
lead[at]hotsheet[dot]com
Thanks for the beautiful pictures and blog post. Times sure have changed with train trips. My only long trip was back in 1972 when I was 13 years of age. My brother (17) and I travelled with my sis (23) two nights to visit my other sis (28) and her new family over 2000 miles away. My first sis went back after her two-week vacation, but my brother and I stayed over two months for our entire summer vacation. On our way back, the train stopped halfway home at 2 am. I had been sleeping but awoke when I heard my brother leaving the train. He had gone to buy a sub! Next thing I knew, the train was gathering speed and my brother had to run (complete with sub in hand) to catch the train. He did, but it was an experience I wouldn't want to duplicate.
Sorry. Forgot my email address!
seytype [at] hotmail [dot] com.
Wow that looks like it is so neat! I would love to do that.
debby236 at att dot net
Virginia, I completely understand! Too much of anything gets old really fast. It's the same with the rain for us. Luckily this week it has given us a respite. I was born in Toronto, then lived in michigan until I was 12. So I know what the snow can be like. I think that's why I only take train trips to snow country now, LOL! Although as a kid I did enjoy playing in the snow. Here's hoping it stops soon!
Oh my god, Elaine, isn't that just like teenage boys! Even at 2 am, they have to have something to eat! When I was going to college, I used to take the train all the time to get home. The one I took, however, didn't have that wonderful panaramic car!
Debby, I think the best part was enjoying it with family. My husband didn't come, though. Riding on a train for 8 hours just to have crab buffet at the Peppermill would have bored him silly! He'd rather be working on his car! So I let him take care of the dog and kitties.
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
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