Directions:
Cabin at 5255 W. Lake Blvd. is first residence on right past the ski hill.
See Homewood Directions.

Opening

• Turn thermostat in kitchen bookshelf to 65-68°. See Heat below. If heater does not come on check that the pilot light is lit (see below).
• Turn water heater Temp. to Warm or slightly higher (much higher and water can be scalding). Turn large red dial at the bottom front. See diagram to right.
• If there is no water it may be shut off or frozen.
  Check the water shut-off lever by the water heater and turn it 1/4 turn to ON (towards wall)
• The outside water valve to the right by the floor should be off in the winter so it does not freeze in the outdoor pipes.

• Turn off heaters in back bedroom and hall by ladder to loft.
• Unplug heaters in lofts.
• Turn thermostat in kitchen down to 51-52°
• Set bathroom thermostat between 1 and 2.
• Turn water heater Temp. to Vacation.
• Leave doors to laundry & bthrm open so heat can circulate and prevent the pipes from freezing.
• Lock outside doors including dead bolts on side and back bedroom.
  Lock the knob on the front door as you leave.
• Leave keys on the kitchen table
• Turn lights off.
• Empty the dishwasher.
• clean perishables in refrig.
• Take trash to cans in bear-proof container and be sure the bear bin door is closed securely.
• We usually leave the water on, but if asked, turn water shut-off lever to OFF (towards you)

Reference material
There are some binders by the old radio on the shelf in the kitchen which may have a copy of these instructions (may be an older version), maps, guide books, etc.
See also the Tahoe West Shore page.

Kitchen Stuff
In the pantry you will find paper plates, napkins, and so forth. There are even some citronella lanterns, if you wish to dine outside.
Please use the vinyl tablecloths provided for the big table- there are several sizes, as marked, depending on the number dining. All are located in the pantry.
Extra dining table leaves are located in the closet in the living room.
There are also three red checked cloths, for the picnic table, the round table, and the funky square table in the yard, if you wish to use them.

If you haven't cooked at altitude, remember to adjust oven temperatures upward by about 25 degrees.

Bedrooms
Beds will be unmade when you get there; see information on sheets below.

There is an extra charge for cleaning linens (check with us for rates). Alternatives are washing them yourself or bringing your own. Leave beds as you found them - unmade.

Back bedroom has one king size bed. There are sheets are in the closet on the right looking toward the door.

Above it is a "quaint" loft with 3 small mattresses. It is accessed by a "ships" ladder, or more conveniently, a disappearing stair pulled down from the laundry ceiling. Young kids like this room a lot, but the ceiling is low, from an adult perspective. It accommodates 2 to 4, depending upon how you arrange the cot mattresses.

There is a queen sofa sleeper (gold color) in the living room, and the bedding is located in the cupboards above the bookshelf in the dining area. Additional blankets are located in the closet near the opening between living room and kitchen.

Upstairs, the front bedroom has a double bed, and a twin. Although not as peaceful due to street noise as the rear rooms, it does have lovely sunrise glimpses of the lake. The loft across the hall has a double bed and a twin, and low ceilings.
Sheets are in the bathroom cabinets.

Winter
There is a snow shovel hanging on the left side outside of the garage.
You may be able to find the names of people who will help you shovel or dig your car out on the bulletin board at Obexer's Market across the street.
Snow plow - Don Virgo D & L Snow Removal (530) 525-1250 $50

Heating

Back bedroom - Turn wall heater from off to on (indicator line straight down NOT to Fan). Adjust thermostat if necessary.

There is a thermostat on the stairs to the front bedroom which controls a fan to take hot air from the stove to the back of the house. It should be set to 72° in the winter and 80° in the summer.

The rear rooms all have individual wall heaters, except the North bath, with the claw foot tub, which has a heat lamp, and picks up some heat from the front rooms. The heater for the rear loft is located on the wall to the left of the door to the rear bedroom. The heater for the rear bedroom is located to the right of the back door. Both of those heaters must be turned on, (left knobs), and temperature adjusted with the right knobs.

For additional comfort, the front bedroom has an overhead fan, controlled with a switch at the top of the stairs, on the right. The three speeds are controlled by the pull chain.

Fireplace
There should be plenty of wood for your stay, located to the right of the wood stove under the stair. If you run low, more is located on the back porch, under the canvas to the right of the door as you go out. The wood stove also has an output regulator, located behind the brass door on the right of the stove. Once lit, keep it on low, (lever up), or the front upstairs rooms will be quite warm. Even so, you may find that you want to keep those doors closed as a means of temperature control. Dale likes to lay on a bigger log for overnight, to allow for some coals to help start the morning's fire.

There is a "Chimfex" chimney fire extinguisher, which looks like a highway emergency flare, by the fireplace. If there is a chimney fire you pull the black tape to remove the end. Then use the abrasive striker on the end to light it like a match. Put it in the stove, close the door and move the lever up to the blue section to minimize oxygen.

Summer
There are beach chairs and lounges overhead in the garage.

Please enjoy the deck fire-pit and the backyard fire-pit! Just do not leave the fires unattended this dry year, please. There are marshmallow roasting sticks near the little turquoise cupboard in the outdoor kitchen area. If you want to roast hot dogs, there are stainless roasting forks hanging on the wall near the water heater, in the little alcove between the kitchen and laundry.

Bears
There Black Bears around. They are afraid of people, but if you leave food out they will come and get it. If you leave the door by the deck open when no one is home they will go right through the screen door and help themselves to what they can find in the kitchen.
See: Bear Etiquette

Basic Guidelines

• No Smoking.
• Conserve energy but be comfortable.
• Don't leave doors open with no one home. Bears don't knock.
• Don't leave food outdoors.
• Don't leave fires unattended outdoors.

Housekeeping Stuff
You will find brooms and other touch up necessities in the utility alcove across from the pantry. Barbecue tools are hanging there,too, next to the aprons. Also in that area is a laundry hamper, and a bucket to toss recyclable glass and cans (a can smasher on the wall). The is no pickup for recyclable, so you can put them in the garbage or take them home with you.
Trash compactor bags are in a drawer in the kitchen. Garbage goes in the bear-proof bin by the driveway. Pickup is on Tuesday.

Light bulbs are located in an antique box, and cracker tin, on the second shelf, on the right, in the Laundry hall.

Wood for the outdoor stove is located under the turquoise cabinet next to the house. It's great to crank it up for pancakes on the griddle in the morning. The cabinet houses most necessary tools and utensils. Takes some getting used to the facilities, but everyone seems to enjoy it. Worth noting that, cooking outdoors or in, allow extra time for the altitude!

Power Outages:

• There are candles in the 2nd drawer of the table by the wall and on the shelf over the radio in the kitchen and other places around the house.
  
• Flashlights should be on the top shelf over the cabinets by the deck door in the kitchen and on the hearth of the fireplace.
• There are butane fire lighter sticks over the tool box on the wall by the hot water heater that work better than matches. (The auto lighter on the stove won't work).
• There is a wired touch tone phone behind the couch by the TV. Cordless phones won't work.
• Move some of the blue ice packs from the freezer to the refrigerator and avoid opening the refrigerator too often.
• The UPS over the cabinets in the kitchen will keep the Internet up for 30-45 min., when it beeps fast there is about 2 min. of power left.
  You can turn it off to save power for later Internet access or plug it into the PowerStation (below) to run it later.
• There is a green 320 W (18 amp-hr @ 12v) jump starter/power supply PowerStation in the back bedroom. It will run a 25 W laptop for about 6 hrs., a 60 W light bulb for 2.5 hrs. or a 135 W TV for 1 hr. It has both 12 V cigarette lighter output, a 110 V AC output and a light. It can be charged from your car or an AC outlet when the power comes on. If you use it remember to recharge it afterwards.

Tips
See TV instructions for how to use the VCR tuner to get cable channels.
CO₂ detector info.

Phones at Cabin:
(530) 525-7552
There is an old touch tone phone that works when the power goes out behind the couch by the TV.

Contacts :
Dale & Marty (530) 673-9373
Don (732) 560-0369
Thomas (617) 549-1064

Contacts/Services
Cleaning - Mirlaine Bennett (530) 581-1257
Snow plow - Don Virgo D & L Snow Removal (530) 525-1250 $50
Plumbing - Dennis Hoffman 525-6061
Utilities:

Gas: Southwest Gas(530)  582-7200 800-832-2555 (Emergency: 800-772-4555)
Elect: Sierra Pacific Power 583-8859 800 782-2506
Telephone: SBC Pacific Bell - Trouble 611 or 800 310-2355
Cable:  Sudden Link in Truckee - (530) 550-3900, 1.800.832.2258
Water: Madden Creek Water 525-7555
Garbage: 
 Tahoe Truckee Disposal 583-0148
 Garbage Pickup Tue. 587-4235
   Dump -Cabin Creek Rd   M-S 8-4
  Trash pickup $11/yd.  
   can leave < 1 yd (7 bags) out and they will 
   pickup and use our can credit for no charge.
See services under the Tahoe page for updates (I may forget to update it here)
N. Tahoe Fire Dept 583-6913
 Wood chipping 546-4347

See Emergency Services for sheriff, forest service, ...

Tahoe Forest Hospital - 530 587-6011 emergency: 911 emergency room: 530 582-3209
10121 Pine Avenue, Truckee (2 blocks east of Urgent Care)

Heater Pilot lite:
If the pilot lite gets blown out the gas will be shut off at a valve under the heater. To get it going again you need to open the panel at the bottom of the heater on the living room side and:

1. Turn the knob to Pilot, push it in and hold it in.
2. Light the pilot at the end of the gas tube with a match or grill lighter.
3. Keep the knob in for about a minute.
4. Turn the knob to on.
5. The pilot should stay on. If not repeat step 1-3 holding the knob in a little longer.

Rental: See rental page.
Specs
See lot & building info.