July 6th we headed out for a couple of days to one of our favorite camping spots, Fallen Leaf Lake. In the background of this picture of Fallen Leaf Lake is 9,735 foot Mount Tallac with a beautiful waning moon setting behind it.
Fallen Leaf Lake is a great place for doing some kayaking.
This last winter we had record snowfall in the Sierras and so the snow filled "cross" on Mount Tallac was still present even this late in the year.
There's nothing like the solitude and beauty of a high mountain lake in the Sierras.
Caleb and Bob went for a lovely paddle around the lake and even saw a bald eagle perched in ones of the pine trees.
It was a magical time on a beautiful lake with an amazing backdrop, a bald eagle looking over it all while they paddled through a feeding gaggle of Canadian geese.
Bob enjoying some paddling time.
Early morning coffee in camp.
Bob and Caleb were glad to have the opportunity to mountain bike together on some of the many awesome trails around Fallen Leaf Lake Campground.
It's great to be out on the trail again!
View of Fallen Leaf Lake through the trees with lupine blooming in the foreground.
At the June Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) board meeting Bob had the honor of recognizing Mike Kazmierski the former Executive Director of EDAWN, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada for all he has done in support of Nevada's Economy. Bob and Mike have done many projects together and with their teams have transformed the region's economy. This picture was taken after the meeting in the Guinn Room of the state capital building.
The other person Bob had the honor of recognizing at the same meeting was Tom Harris, Professor Emeritus at UNR, for all his contributions to the state's economy. Tom is an Agricultural Economist, so the shared Ag background that he and Bob have has added to their enduring friendship.
Bob is also on the Advisory Board for the Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation. Their meetings are held on a quarterly basis and the June 29th meeting was held at the beautiful and historic Thunderbird Lodge on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
This picture of the board was taken just outside the lodge and includes Lieutenant Governor Stavros Anthony (center) and a number of cabinet level directors.
A view of the amazing blue waters of Lake Tahoe from Thunderbird Lodge.
June 15th, Legacy Christian Academy, where Lisa works, had their inaugural Kindergarten Graduation ceremony.
Here, Sara Choat, Head of School, speaks to the first graduates of the school.
Legacy Christian Academy Kindergarten Graduation day.
For graduation this year, Bob bought Hannah a Sig Sauer "Rose" P365 .380 pistol as part of Sig Sauer's all women's "Rose" pistol program.
For her first outing Bob and Hannah went out to the desert to enjoy a little shooting with her new pistol.
The following day Hannah and Caleb joined Dad for an afternoon at the shooting range.
Hannah loving hanging out in the new porch swing Bob installed. The puppy is loving it too.
Bob and Chester checking out the new swing.
On June 17th, Caleb participated for the second time in the Rock Tahoe Half Marathon.
This photo was taken just before the start of the race at Spooner Lake summit. 1 minute 45 seconds to be exact. :)
The half marathon had a total of 1,500 runners and walkers participating. As the runners start, you can see Caleb in the center of the photo wearing a white baseball cap with a blue tree on it.
The half marathon race follows the scenic 13.1 miles shoreline road from Spooner Summit around Lake Tahoe to the town of South Lake Tahoe.
Caleb keeping up the pace.
A proud father with his very tired son. Caleb placed 108th in the total of 1,500 runners. We are so proud of him.
Caleb loves to run and it was great to meet him at the finish line.
On June 16th, Bob set up a tour for Lieutenant Governor, Stavros Anthony and his staff to the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center to visit a number of key companies Bob has worked with including Tesla, Redwood Materials, and Google. It was such an honor to showcase some of the big economic achievements Bob and the GOED team have got to be part of.
What Bob would claim as probably his greatest achievement while working at GOED is to help Redwood Materials significantly expand their battery and other technology recycling capacity. Because of what Redwood does with recycling and producing components for reintegration back into battery manufacturing, Nevada now stands as the only place outside of China that does everything from extractive mining of critical minerals to battery component manufacturing, to battery production for storage and mobility with the Tesla Semi truck, to end of life recycling to loop back into the beginning of the supply chain. It has really been a remarkable career and experience for Bob.
This is a picture of Bob with Carli Smith (GOED), Don Tatro (Redwood), Michael Dayton (Senior Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor) and Lieutenant Governor, Stavros Anthony on the Redwood Materials site. Go to their link HERE to see how much progress has been made. It's amazing...
Bob and the Lieutenant Governor at Redwood Materials.
The last stop on the June 16th Tahoe Reno Industrial Center tour was to visit the visit Storey County Google Data Center. Because of the high security around data centers, there's not a lot we can add here other than to say Google's investment into this facility is over $600,000,000 so, as you might imagine, they're doing quite a bit. :)
A significant event this year was Hannah's college graduation with a B.S. in Geography and a Minor in Writing from the College of Science in The Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering.
Since she also graduated with honors, there was a special separate ceremony for the honors graduates from the Honors College. Do you think Dad and Mom were proud???
All the graduating members of the Honors College.
A screen shot of Hannah's slide at the honors graduation outlining her major and details about her thesis.
A special part of the Honors Graduation was time spent with UNR President, Brian Sandoval who is the also the former governor of Nevada and Bob's former boss. Although the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other, in Nevada we think it is closer to two and never more than three.
The proud graduates - Hannah with one of her best friends, Taylor.
Graduation Day at the Quad at UNR.
Hannah and her college friends who were also graduating.
Hannah standing in line to receive her diploma - her look says, "What a happy day! Part of me can't believe this is really happening...I made it!"
Hannah walks across the stage to receive her diploma from President Sandoval.
Check out the screen behind them, it's a picture of a picture with a very special look on Hannah's face.
Hannah receives a hug from President Sandoval, instead of just a handshake. This is a rare occurrence and is because we know him personally because of Bob's work with the Governor's Office.
WHOO HOO!
In the center of the photo you can see Lisa (in the straw hat), Caleb, Alex Heindl and Hannah's girlfriend Lydia.
Hannah with her two best girlfriends, Taylor and Melissa. These three have remained tried and true friends since their days at Sierra Lutheran High School.
Hannah, Lisa and Hannah's long time girlfriend, Lydia, share a celebratory moment.
Click Here to see a picture of Hannah with Lydia in 2012.
Hannah with her mentor, Professor Ken Nussear.
The top of Hannah's graduation hat with a wood burned quote from The Hobbit and scenes from the natural world that she loves so much.
Hannah with her fellow graduates from the Geography Department at UNR.
Hannah with a couple of special college friends.
Hannah and her girlfriend, Lydia, who flew in from Las Vegas for the graduation. They refer to each other as "Best Friends from Birth" because they have known each other since they were babies.
Hannah and her adopted "grandpa", Alex Heindl, a fellow adventurer and long time family friend.
It was such a delight to have our long time friend and fellow adventurer, Alex Heindl, join us for Hannah's graduation. Alex and Hannah have a special bond and he often refers to her as his "adopted granddaughter".
For her graduation Bob got Hannah a very special gift, a Sig Sauer "Rose" P365 .380 pistol which is part of Sig Sauer's all women's "Rose" pistol program. Hannah has always wanted a pistol and was so pleased to get this special edition!