Art Paws in Reno

On July 9th, the Nevada Humane Society's Pawspective Art Show join in the celebration of works from local artists spanning different artistic styles and types of media. Featured artists present their vision of wildlife pets and nature. Attendees enjoy live music and light refreshments. If you are an art or animal lover this exhibit is sure to be a treat for the eyes as well as the soul. A portion of the proceeds from art sales directly benefit the homeless pets at Nevada Humane Society.

On July 17th, the Art Paws 11th annual event will be brought to you by PetFolio Magazine. From paw painting to wine/beer tasting to music to art browsing there is plenty to see sniff and do. Pet related products and services various types of art and artists fantastic auction and raffle items dog show live music with the Witney Meyers Band and even a pet psychic. Pets bring your people.

PetFolio sponsored charity event and is roughly a 45 minute drive from Lake Tahoe. Art Paws donates all of the proceeds from the event to 3 non-profit animal organizations as chosen by PetFolio Magazine's, Reader's Choice Contest.

This, free admission, event is a walk through vendor event, held at McKinley Arts and Cultural Center at 925 Riverside Dr., Reno. It is the ONLY canine friendly event during Artown. Vendors consist of pet products and services, artists and artisans, non-profit animal organizations and various other consumer vendors.

If you are looking for a great bargain on some of the best items, services and products that are available in the Reno area, you will want to check out the Art Paws silent auction. Last year we had more that 75 fantastic items to offer to our attendees. In addition, don't forget to purchase several raffle tickets. Many of our vendors provide us with super raffle prizes as well.

Paw painting has long been one of our best loved attractions, bring out the Picasso in your pet, and take home a masterpiece. If your dog has a unique talent, is super cute or has a fantastic costume or trick, you'll want to sign them up for our "Canine Contests". Fabulous prizes for the winners.

Live music will be provided again this year by the Witney Myers Band from 2-5pm and an additional gallery showing from special artists will be held from 3:30-5pm.

Additionally, from 12pm-4pm, several wineries and brewery's will be offering tasting. Wine tasting tickets are $25.00 which includes an Art Paws wine glass with unlimited tasting. Beer tasting tickets are 3 for $5.00.

More Art Paws information, dog friendly rentals, and other Reno Artown events. Dogs stay for free at all of Agate Bay Realty's dog friendly vacation rentals and free wi-fi for their owners. While guests are staying at the lake, guests will be close to Patton Beach and other pet friendly areas.

Tough Mudder Event at Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley will be hosting the Tough Mudder event from September 17 and 18.

Tough Mudder is not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing ‘endurance’ road race. It’s Ironman meets Burning Man, and it is coming to a location near you. Our 10-12 mile obstacle courses are designed by British Special Forces to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Forget finish times. Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor. Tough Mudder has raised over one million dollars for the Wounded Warrior Project.

WARNING: Tough Mudder is 3-4 times longer and MUCH TOUGHER than a typical mud run such as Warrior Dash. On average, only 78% of participants finish a Tough Mudder event. Only those in strong physical condition should enter.

Post Party

After you finish the course, grab a beer and hang out with your fellow mudders. There’ll be a band and lots of food for sale.

Tough Mudder will also be offering tattoos of our bad-ass logo to all finishers who truly want to commemorate their epic achievement. They are on a first come, first serve basis and everyone who gets a tattoo will be given free entry into the Tough Mudder event of their choice. Be sure to customize it by having the event date and location put on–keep adding as you go to record all your epic Mudder adventures.

No, there are no showers. Yes, there will be firemen with a hose.

Awards

Tough Mudder Respect Awards

For participants who have overcome illness, injury or misfortune. For further details see here.

Costume Awards

Best costume — Most Bad-Ass
Worst costume — Most Dumb-Ass
Least Clothing — Most Ass
Most Likely To Have Been In The Village People

Each event’s costume contest winner will get a free season pass–which gets you into the rest of the 2011 events, including ones that are sold out.

Toughest Mullet & Toughest Mohawk

Free Head-Shaves To be Provided – Award Best Mullet & Best Mohawk – Prize TBD

Free Tattoos

A voucher for a tattoo of our logo will be available on event day to anyone tough enough to want one. The voucher will be redeemable at a local tattoo parlor and all proceeds will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. Remember, they are on a first come, first serve basis, so be sure to get there early.

There are no monetary prizes at Tough Mudder. However, the top 5% of all finishers will qualify for World’s Toughest Mudder to be held in 2011.

Lodging

Agate Bay Realty will be offering discount vacation rentals and dog friendly rentals during this weekend event. Guests can book on-line or call us at 1-800-550-6740.

Say "No" to Biomass in Lake Tahoe

Please help us say "no" to a Biomass Plant in Lake Tahoe.

Children at Risk: Placer County and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) are planning to build in the Tahoe Basin (North Shore - Kings Beach) such a facility, just off Highway 267, less than a mile from the water, within 1000 feet of an elementary school, in a high density population area. If approved, it will operate 24/7, 365 days a year and burn all the forest waste in a radius of at least 30 miles that is currently trucked out of the Basin to Loyalton, just north of Truckee, for burning in a biomass plant located there.

Environmental Degradation: It will pollute not only from Incline Village to Tahoe City but, due to the nature of the air inversion ecology of Tahoe's Basin, it will cast a haze that will drift and drift over the entire lake and degrade air and water quality everywhere.

Biomass Burning in a Basin is Not Green: While we do not oppose biomass power plants conceptually, they should be banned from the Lake Tahoe Basin. WE SUPPORT THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BIOMASS BURNING POWER PLANT AT PLACER COUNTY'S INDUSTRIAL/UTILITY CENTER AT CABIN CREEK, JUST SOUTH OF TRUCKEE (OUT OF THE BASIN), WHERE ALL FOREST WASTE IS TAKEN FOR PROCESSING INTO BIOMASS FUEL.

Please be reminded, however, no biomass power plant will reduce open burning or increase the removal of forest fuels thereby reducing wildfires! These are separate issues!

AN ECONOMIC MISTAKE: Start up funding coming from earmarks not unlike those that funded the famous "bridge to nowhere," a Kings Beach power plant will cost millions to build, is totally unnecessary, and will require subsidies of precious tax dollars. It needs to be stopped.

CLASSIC BUREAUCRACIES AT WORK: Charging forward with a well intended idea but implemented in the wrong place ecologically (a basin subject to air inversions), a biomass burning power plant located in Kings Beach will endanger a precious congressionally declared outstanding national resource: Lake Tahoe! It is both sad and frightening. It should be located at Cabin Creek, out of the Basin.

DISINFORMATION OR BUREAUCRATIC CONFUSION?: Running what many consider to be an overly ambitious campaign replete with questionable claims, both Placer County and TRPA have stated in official governmental documents to have supporters and partnerships regarding the project proposed for Kings Beach, from the Environmental Protection Agency to the University of California, that don't exist. Challenged as to the veracity of such claims, they have now recanted, citing "inadvertent" language errors in such documents

Ignorance is NOT Bliss: Exploiting fears of wildfires and ignorance of current practices regarding open burning and the removal of forest wastes for disposal outside the Basin, they suggest connections to wildfire and pollution reductions that don't exist and won't occur. And, we anticipate that the current environmental study of the proposal, awarded without competitive bidding, will be seriously flawed.

Donate, Read More, and Take Action! Browse the website to learn more and become a Friend of Lake Tahoe. Please help us fight this because together we can stop this foolish project! Become a fan of No Biomass in Lake Tahoe and Sign the Petition!

Wanderlust at Squaw Valley

Wanderlust is a one-of-a-kind festival bringing together the world's best yoga and wellness teachers and top musical acts and DJs, all in a setting of breathtaking natural beauty.

We’re talking about fun in the sun and dancing under the stars. Getting’ your down dog on at the top of the mountain and sipping poolside cocktails with your crew. Early morning meditations and all-night chakra spinning musical performances. The epic Lake Tahoe Valley in all of its picturesque glory. A place to root down and rise up, to get centered on your yoga mat and get funky on the dancefloor – lux rooms, fresh healthy food, and good people. Yoga, music, nature, and a whole lot more. This is Wanderlust California.

Yoga Classes

We have gathered the nation’s top yoga teachers and experts to teach a full schedule of exciting classes and creative workshops around the clock at a choice selection of beautiful on-site venues. From classic presenters like John Friend, Seane Corn, and Shiva Rea, to exciting new faces like Maty Ezraty and Noah Maze – we left no mat unturned to bring you the best that yoga has to offer. Full yoga lineup.

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Meditation & Lectures

Looking to find your center at the top of the mountain? You’ve come to the right place. For those interested in mental exploration, we’ve got a whole crew of the best wellness experts from around the globe poised to offer workshops, lectures, and demonstrations all weekend long, to our yoga + music ticketholders. Check out the online scheduler to sign up.

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Music

Globetrotter Stage

Set against an epic Squaw Valley backdrop, our main stage will feature stunning views of Squaw Vallley’s KT-22 and Granite Chief peaks. As the centerpiece of the Wanderlust music experience, the globetrotter stage will host the positive vibrations of Michael Franti and Spearhead, the electronic danceparty mashups of Girl Talk, the ecstatic chants of Jai Uttal, and much, much more. There will also be plenty of food and beverage vendors, art instillations, ambient performances, and chill out lounges. Full music lineup.

Casbah Stage

Rock the Casbah! Located in our Kula Village, the Casbah Stage will feature up and coming talent and special performances around the clock all weekend long.

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Nature

Squaw Valley, California provides the perfect natural setting to dive deep into your practice, boogie down to some great tunes, or to just kick back with your crew. Or of course, all three – there is something for everyone here. Trade your car in for our mountain top gondola and aimlessly stroll though miles of mountain top meadows and beautiful green valley ways. Discover streams, climb rocks, and enjoy yourself. You deserve this.

Lifts

All Sage, Seeker and Pilgrim ticketholders have access to the cable car, gondola or other lifts on the mountain. Many yoga classes are held up-mountain, and you can also eat, swim or hike in the High Camp facility, which features floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows and expansive views of the Sierra Nevadas and Lake Tahoe. There are many other Wanderlust activities over the weekend.

Agate Bay Realty has many vacation rentals that are close to the festival while also being close to lake when you aren't at the festival.

2 Weeks Until the Amgen Tour of California in Tahoe

The official Overall Start to the Amgen Tour of Calfiornia is two weeks away starting on Sunday, May 15 the race begins at South Lake Tahoe at 6,300 feet, the highest start elevation in the six-year history of the competition. Stage 1 wraps up in North Lake Tahoe at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort, with the Stage 2 Start taking place nearby at Squaw Valley USA on Monday, May 16.

Stage 1: Cyclists will begin at MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa on the California/Nevada border in South Lake Tahoe. The peloton will loop past Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course around Heavenly Village, past the starting line again and onto Lake Tahoe Boulevard (Highway 50) through the casino corridor then clockwise around the 72-mile perimeter of Lake Tahoe. After going a lap and a half around the lake, the riders head up Brockway Summit (Highway 267) at North Lake Tahoe to 7,000 feet and one last chance for the climbers to dictate the race outcome with the third and final King of the Mountain finish. After cresting the summit, the lead group plunges down a rapid descent into a hard left turn onto Northstar Drive, where both sprinters and climbers will set-up for a high-speed blast to the finish line at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort.

The spectator-packed finish line is also home to the Amgen Tour of California Lifestyle Festival, which features a health and fitness expo, cancer awareness education, cycling gear, family activities, bike safety, food and entertainment.

Stage 2: The action starts directly under the historic Olympic rings at the center of the Village at Squaw Valley with riders peddling the cobbled corridors before turning onto Squaw Valley Road and then descending to the Olympic Flame entrance and a left-hand turn onto Highway 89. The peloton will follow the picturesque Truckee River corridor as they make their way on Highway 89 toward Truckee and through the two roundabouts near the Interstate 80 overpass. Riders will then turn left onto historic Donner Pass Road before riding the ramp over Interstate 80 and past Donner Memorial State Park, home to the infamous Donner Party.

The pack will continue along the northern shoreline of Donner Lake as they make their approach to the steeps of Old Highway 40 on their way to Donner Summit and the day's first King of the Mountain finish. From there, athletes speed pass Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, Donner Ranch Ski Resort and Soda Springs Ski Resort and descend into California's Gold Country via Highway 20 and the finish line for Stage 2 at the Sacramento State Capitol.

In previous years, the race has drawn some of the world's most recognizable and respected riders, such as top Tour de France competitors, world champions and Olympic medalists including Lance Armstrong, Tom Boonen, Oscar Freire, Paolo Bettini, Fabian Cancellara, Carlos Sastre, Ivan Basso, George Hincapie, Mark Cavendish and Andy Schleck.