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Pam & Roberto Crawford with co-host Jafar Sepahpour enjoy a little Porsche camaraderie time before the Cioppino Feed. (Photo C Kugler)A mild and beautiful mid-winter weekend visited northern Nevada just in time for President’s Day, Valentine’s Day and most importantly SNR’s Cioppino Feed. This years version, the 6th annual, was held again at the Coney Island Restaurant and Bar, a local’s favorite. While the warm temperatures enticed us to pull our little blue two seater out of its winter cocoon, we made our journey in our trusty SUV which allowed us to bring a guest, Kathy Peltier. Kathy is a northern Nevada native, who couldn’t turn down May Lou’s invite to the Coney Island.

Sue Kemper and Cam Warren join Jackie & Dan Aynesworth for a pre-dinner beverage at the Coney Island. (Photo C Kugler)As always we arrived early to make sure we could maximize our pre-dinner social time. We were greeted enthusiastically by event hosts Jafar and Sheri Sepahpour. Sheri looked like she was walking a little gingerly and she told us she had just had arthroscopic knee surgery earlier in the week. For a just a few days post op she was doing great!

Dave & Linda Delbridge celebrate in their colorful Christmas sweaters. (Photo by A Strom)With a “Ho, Ho, Ho” the Sierra Nevada Region kicked off its annual Christmas Party in one of the beautiful, multi-level suites on the 17th floor of the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino. The December 5th event hosted by Debbie Dell was the grand finale for Sierra Nevada Region’s 2009 event season.

Kelly & Bob Jordan enjoy the festivities and smile for the camera at the Christmas Party. (Photo by C Kugler)The 56 attendees who took part in the festivities came from far and near to enjoy an hour of social time in a beautiful setting with night time city views of the Truckee Meadows. Afterwards a wonderful meal of roast prime rib, stuffed chicken breast or the vegetarian selection with all the trimmings was served, followed by the obligatory desert. Yum! Festive holiday and contemporary music was provided during the evening by Mark Luperini and Chris Hanson which had numerous couples out of their chairs and on the dance floor.

Fred Schatz enjoys the wines at Convergence Vineyards with Nancy Giannini and wife Marilyn Schatz. (Photo by C Kugler) 6This year’s version of the wine tour occurred on the weekend of Sept. 19 and 20. The weather was ideal as sixteen Porsches left Carson City and headed over the Sierras via Hwy 88. We detoured onto Shake Ridge Road, a wonderful back country Porsche road that winds through wine famous Fiddletown (big Zin anyone?), and into the heart of the Amador County wine region. Our first stop of the day was at Convergence Vineyards, an award winning winery owned by Steve and Jaime Concannon. Steve is part of the Concannon family, longtime wine producers in the Livermore Valley, and an experienced winemaker in his own right. Jaime was having a book signing for her new cookbook and we enjoyed their insights on food and wine pairings. Next we motored to Bella Piazza, sister winery to Villa Toscano, for tasting and a picnic lunch. This winery has wonderful wines and the setting is so fantastic you would think you are in Tuscany.

A few of the 20 Porsches on the prowl around Lake Tahoe. (Photo M Kugler)It was a typical summer weekend at Lake Tahoe with thousands of visitors enjoying the great weather and activities as the Sierra Nevada Region gathered for a drive and dine around her shoreline. It was Saturday, August 22nd and over 20 magnificent machines, their drivers & guests departed the Montbleu Casino Resort & Spa and drove counter clockwise around the lake. Before departing we observed a moment of silence and dedicated the drive to Roy Bennett, a new member that accompanied us on the Tour of Nevada and the Mammoth Weekend, who had passed away the week before.

I finally had a chance to add this video of the Mammoth Tour to our web site. It was taken by Steve Speidel, a friend of Mark Coronado. Click here to see a second video taken from the inside of Mark's Cayman S. I also posted photos of the Tour taken by Steve Speidel, Craig Kugler and Richard Chew at http://picasaweb.google.com/snrpca/2009MammothTour#.

Mary Lou & Craig Kugler, co-host Mark Coronado and Curtis Fong pose after the gondola ride. (Photo by Alice Strom)Sometimes it just all comes together. The weather is beautiful, the car looks great and the roads are clear. The food and accommodations are ready on time. All the planning pays off and everyone has a blast!

We were delighted to be a part of one of the best events of the year – the Mammoth Tour Weekend! Hats off to Craig and Mary Lou Kugler, our hosts, for organizing and running a fabulous Porsche experience!

A few of the 17 Porsches on the tour wind through the high country near Mammoth. (Photo by Alice Strom)Sixteen of the prettiest Porsches all gathered together at the Starbucks in Carson City. Familiar faces and new faces, young (Madeleine and Gabrielle Earl) and old (many of us!), even guests from Diablo Region (Anthony and Maiko Mendoza) took off after our leader for a scenic run down US 395 to Mono Lake. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center to learn more about the lake’s early history. Native people harvested fly larvae from the lake for food. (didn’t know that!) LA took the water going into the lake for years, but no longer can so it’s coming back up. Brine shrimp love the salt water and flourish here (they’re harvested for fish food). Tufa rocks made of Calcium Carbonate make up the weird looking white formations we see from the road. Very interesting!