For hi-res photos of our environment, updated very frequently click here (USE HIGH SPEED CONNECTION).
December 21 to 31, 2007: Based on a generous
company holiday regulation with a few vacation days Diether got
an extended time in Reno to celebrate 
the Christmas
holiday and the yearend. We had a Christmas Day hike, a lunch
picnic in the desert, and a dinner with local friends. We helped
with some charity event. We had many drives and walks in the
desert to explore a few new spots with thge help of a GPS system,
a Christmas gift from our parents. On New Year's eve we had an
outstanding Thai dinner with neighbors. We did not stay up until
midnight.
December 15 & 16, 2007: On Sunday, we helped with a farewell party for the pastor of our church in Reno.
December 8 & 9, 2007: The second major
snowfall of the season had the Reno area and the surrounding
mountains decorated in white. On Saturday 
Diether
and Jutta visited the newly opened Cabela store in Reno in the
morning. In the afternoon, they prepared for a dinner with a
friend. On Sunday after morning church service and lunch, we
hiked in the mountains north of interstate 80 between Sparks and
Fernley.
December 1 & 2, 2007: We supported the Kiwani's, carrying their banner in the annual Christmas time parade in Sparks on Saturday. On Sunday, we walked in the desert in Lyon County between Silver Springs and Yerington.
November 17 to 25, 2007: Diether took a few vacation days to have a full week in Reno for the Thanksgiving week. On the weekend before Thanksgiving Ruth and Ben visited, and we went to Lake Tahoe for a lunch, and we showed them a few of our favorite nature places close to Reno. Later in the week, we explored some areas east and west of Carson City, including a lake, Diether had found on the map and seen from an airplane. We had an early Thanksgiving dinner with local friends.
November 10&11, 2007: Jutta and Diether spent the weekend in Reno. On Sunday, we watched the Veteran's Day parade in downtown.
November 3 & 4, 2007: Diether drove to Reno on Saturday to check on the house, while Jutta was travelling. He enjoyed the afternoon walking to town. On Sunday he went to church in the morning, and drove back to San Jose in the afternoon. As he had time, he drove quite slowly, and achieved a mileage of 36.9 mpg with his Buick.
October 30, 2007: Diether had just returned to the appartment from work and a pizza dinner, when the building started to shake strongly at 8:04pm from an about 30s long, magnitude 5.6 earthquake with an epicenter less than 10 miles away on the Calaveras fault. After the shaking had stopped, he got the information about the quake from the radio, and then walked outside to see, if there was any damage. He also talked to some other residents of the complex, who had gone outside.
Weekend of October 27 & 28, 2007: This
was a California weekend. On Saturday we ate lunch in Capitola
and walked the beach; on Sunday we attended mass in San Jose, ate
lunch in the appartment, and went to a party at a friend's house
in the afternoon and evening.
Weekend of October 20 & 21, 2007: Diether arrived in Reno late on Friday because of a flight delay. On Saturday they drove to Incline Village on Lake Tahoe, and had lunch at the Hyatt with lake view. After lunch they hiked at the Sand Dollar beach, taking pictures of the lake and of the colorful vegetation. In the evening, they had dinner at Roxy's in the Eldorado, before enjoying the show "Dancing Queen". On Sunday they had a quiet morning at home, followed by a walk to town in the afternoon, and mass in the evening.
Weekend of October 13 & 14, 2007: Diether came to Reno as usual for the weekend. We enjoyed hiking in good weather, and on Sunday we harvested the apples in our yard.
October 8 through 12, 2007: On Monday Diether and Jutta flew to Newark for some business for Diether in New Jersey, and a business event in New York, including a formal dinner and a broadway show. On Friday they flew back to Reno. They had booked a flight through Denver, but this flight was delayed, therefore they returned on a non-stop to San Francisco, and connected to Reno from there.
Weekend of October 6 & 7, 2007: On Saturday at noon, we had to attend a meeting in the Rye Patch area, and then return to Reno for a dinner withy some friends. On Sunday, we hiked to town to see the displays of the Reno Italian festival.
Weekend of September 29 & 30, 2007: Diether flew in a little earlier on Friday evening, and withJutta experienced the first snow storm of the season. Petra had returned to Europe during the week, therefore we did less sightseeing, and enjoyed some hikes in the deserts.
Weekend of September 22 & 23, 2007: Diether flew to Reno for this weekend, and with Petra we watched the participants of the Street Vibrations. This time it was overcast with an occasional drizzle, and it looked like there were fewer bikers.
September 12 to 17, 2007: Diether took a
vacation to join Jutta and a relative from Europe, Petra, for a
vacation trip in Reno. The destination was the Great Basin
Natioanl Park in eastern Nevada. On
the first day of
the trip, they left Reno in mid-morning, and stopped for
lunch at Middlegate on Intersate 50. The next stops were Eureka,
and a lake between Eureka and Ely. In the early evening, they
reached Ely, where they had booked one room in a hotel with
jacuzzi and swimming pool. On the next morning after breakfast,
they drove to the trailhead in the Great Basin Natioanl Park at
an elevation of about 10,000 ft. They hiked to two small lakes
followed by a small picnic. They took a detour back to Ely to
take Petra through a few miles of Utah. Before checking into two
rooms of another hotel, they stopped at the Cave Lake to see, if
it was interesting enough to spend some of the next day
there. On the next day, we hiked in the area of the charcoal
kilns, and stopped at a bison ranch, where Jutta bought some old
books. Then we drove back to the Cave Lake for a picnic, a swim
in ice-cold water, and a hike on the mountains next to the lake.
Before dinner they drove to town to look at a local art store,
chatting with the owner, and enjoying some drinks at one of the
bars, most paid by participants of a weekend car race in exchange
for accepting and wearing free T-shirts.On Saturday morning, we
looked at some of the race cars, and then we started the drive
back home via Eureka, stopping at the museum,, where a scientific
conference on geology with international participants was in
progress, continuing to Carlin, where we had lunch, stopping once
more at Rye Patch, and arriving in Reno in the evening. For the
rest of the vacation we enjoyed our residence, Reno, and lake
Tahoe.
September 11: Diether's work group had a morning hike in the Hidden Valley area of Los Altos, followed by a lunch.
September 1 to September 9: We enjoyed the late summer weekends, walking to town to have late lunch at the Wild Grille in Reno, next to the Truckee river, and driving to the lakes around Reno to enjoy swimming in the lakes, while it was still warm enough.
July 24 to August 26: During the weekend of
August 11, we stayed in the San Jose area, because Diether had to
leave on a business trip to t
he East Coast early on Sunday morning.
On Saturday Diether and Jutta drove to Monterey for a good lunch
and some walking on the coast. On all the other weekends, we were
in Reno, enjoying close-by lakes, the desert, and the city
with the Truckee river. On one weekend, we hiked to a small lake
below Mt Rose, followed by a drive to Lake Tahoe. On August 26,
we watched the Reno duck races.
July 21 to 23, 2007: We
spent the weekend in Reno again, driving to the Rye Patch area on
Saturday, staying in Reno on Sunday -watching people and ducks in
the Truckee river-, swimming in a local lake on Monday
morning, followed by some personal business in Reno, and
Diether's return to San Jose on Monday evening to be at an early
work meeting on Tuesday morning.
July 14 to 17, 2007: Diether returned from another business trip to the East Coast late on Saturday night. Therefore Jutta came to San Jose during the day on Saturday, and joined Ben and Ruth's party on Saturday night. Diether and Jutta had Ruth and Ben over for dinner at the apartment, before Jutta returned to Reno on the next morning.
June 30 to July 8, 2007: We extended the weekend to July 4 by taking a few vacation days. On Saturday night, we stayed in a motel in Austin on interstate 50 to explore the northern part of the Toiyabe mountains. We returned via Middlegate, where we stayed in a motel on Sunday night, and returned to Reno on Monday morning. We spend the evening of Independence Day with friends from Reno, and watched the fireworks from our yard. Early on Thursday morning Diether had to fly to the East Coast for a business meeting. He returned to Reno on Friday night to spend the weekend at home.
June 2007: In the early part of the months, we spent a weekend in San Jose to celebrate Diether's birthday with friends at the outdoor facilities of a restaurant, close to his appartment. For the other weekends, we returned to Reno. Towards the end of the months two groups of friends from California visited us.
May 2007: We used a few weekends to start exploring the Sierra Nevada counties Plumas and Lassen. We do this early in the season, because later mosquitos can be a nuisance. Jutta visited her parents for about a week. Later in the months it is warm enough to resume our swimming tradition in lakes close to Reno.
May 4 to 6, 2007: A late winter storm brought snow to the area, and we saw our new environment in white for the first time. The snow had melted after a few hours by the returning sunshine.
April 2007: The move into a new home in Reno in the middle of the month took a lot of our time. It is amazing, how quickly things accumulate. Despite the move and the work on house and garden, we found time to enjoy the city and it's surroundings.
March 31 &April 01, 2007: Diether had
been on a business trip during the week. Therefore we relaxed,
and picnicked on a lake and in the desert (the 
water was still very cold). A storm
front without rain gave both of us some headache, which stopped
as soon as the front had passed in the late afternoon. On Sunday
we hiked in the Peavine Mountain area above the Rancho Rafael
Park.
March 24&25, 2007: We picnicked in the desert close to Wabuska, and then on one of the lakes. We entered the water to knee-level. It was too cold to stay in for more than a few seconds. We also walked in the Rancho Rafael Park in Reno and took some pictures.
March 10&11, 2007: We drove to the Rye Patch area again, performed some work installing plastic tiles on the floor of a shed. On the way we saw a plume of smoke emanating from an area east of the Humboldt sink, close to Lovelock.
End of February to early March: Diether had to attend a meeting in Southern Germany, and Jutta left earlier, and met him at their parents. They traveled to the meeting together, and enjoyed Southern German hospitality close to Oberammergau and Munich despite a lot of rain. They returned to the Bay Area together .
February 17&18, 2007: After looking at exhibits in the Reno Convention Center, we explored a creek along a railroad in the desert area close to Wabuska.
February 10&11, 2007: We continued the exploration of desert areas, started a week earlier.
February 3&4, 2007: Diether and Jutta explored new desert areas close to Fernley and Wabuska. On one day they hiked on the Peavine Mountain in Reno.
January 22 & 28, 2007: In the week, there was a tradeshow in the SF Bay Area, which Jutta had to attend with a co-worker from Europe. The weekend was spent in Reno and we showed the desert north of Reno, Pyramid Lake, Lake Tahoe, and Virginia City.
January 20 & 21, 2007: Diether
and Jutta drove to Rye Patch with a lunch stop in Lovelock. They
noticed, that the reservoir surface was frozen, and found, that
the ice was thick enough to walk on it. The next day, they
checked the other lakes near Reno. Pyramid Lake had no ice, but
another lake further south was partially frozen close to the
river inlet. Interesting ice structures had formed from water
flowing out of the reservoir. Washoe Lake had a very solid ice
layer, and people were ice skating and even picnicking on the
lake.
January 12 to 15, 2007: Diether arrived in San Jose on Friday afternoon from the East Coast. From there Jutta and he drive to Pismo Beach for a weekend with Ruth and Ben to continue the family tradition to celebrate Ben's birthday there. Early on Monday morning, Diether and Jutta return to San Jose.
January 6 & 7, 2007: A weekend in Reno for Diether, followed by a week of business travel to the East Coast.
January 1 & 2, 2007: Jutta and Diether spent had a quiet New Years Day. After a lunch in Fernley, they explored the Carson River area close to Fort Churchill. On the morning of the 2nd Diether participated in a long business phone conference. He returned to San Jose from his long year end break in the afternoon.
(For the other parts of the family news click: (2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, July-Dec 2002, Jan-Jun2002, Jul-Dec2001,Jan-Jun2001,Oct-Dec2000, Jul-Sep 2000, Jan-Jun 2000, 1999, 1998)