Snow Day

My wonderful husband had the great idea to take a spontaneous trip to the snow today. We got up early, drove to Big Bear, and spent the day at Snow Valley. We did not go to ski this trip, but spent the day at their sled park. The sled park is a big hill with multiple toboggan-style sled runs. They provide big sleds roomy enough for two and…a snow lift! It is the best part of sledding with half the work! No dragging sleds or kids up steep hills! And the ski lift is fun in itself, with great views and peace between speedy sled runs. The girls had a fabulous time and so did I. The only down side was the traffic to get to Big Bear the last few miles up into the mountain. I hope we can afford a ski trip this year, but sledding is pretty fun to and takes very little skill!

Camping at Shaver Lake (or The Wettest Camp-Out Ever)

Okay, our camp out has been a bit of a bust. We have experienced severe non-stop rain, cold temperatures in the 20s and 30s. it even hailed one evening and snowed during our visit to some giant redwoods. The redwood grove was amazing in spite of the cold and snow. Our tent is leaking and it seems we spend most of day huddled by the campfire in the rain. The bathrooms are a big hike down a hill. The Lake itself is beautiful and most mornings have hiked down to the shore to explore. If it would just stop raining, I am sure we would be having much more fun. However, the rain does make the views sort of eerie and beautiful. This morning all of my friends have told us they are leaving a day early (today)!. Once they leave, we lose our shade canopies and will no longer have a covered cooking or eating area!. We can’t really leave ourselves as my brother and sister-in-law only arrived yesterday from Oakland and we have hardly even visited with them.

The good news is that my industrious sister-in-law has called around to local bed and breakfast’s and as soon as we pack up our gear (and wash a few loads of clothing, we are checking into a B&B!!! I am so excited…warmth, showers, fireplaces in the bedrooms! Civilization!

My First All Day Hike

Well back from my first all day hike and things did not go as planned. The day started out beautiful. The weather was clear and sunny. My daypack seemed full of important items yet was not that heavy. I was early to our meeting spot (Starbucks) and had time to get my Venti Nonfat Chai! The drive out to the fishbowls was long but uneventful. However, we neared the turnoff to find the actual road to the trailhead was closed (a fateful sign we ignored). It became clear that many of the trails were closed due to winter and the debate was on over where to go. One member of our group mentioned the McGill trail on Mt. Pinos and we arrived to the trailhead to find it looking open and clear.

We all unpacked and began to make our way onto the trail. At some point we ran into snow at various points on the trail. Unfortunately, this continued as we made our way up the trail until there was a lot of snow. That was when I began to have some problems. I slipped and fell a few times and eventually twisted my ankle. The remainder of the hike was on this injured ankle and that only contributed to the difficulty of hiking in the snow. Some of the snow was fresh and powdery. However, some was hard-packed and very icy. Most was on a steep grade. Some of my fellow hikers had trekking poles and they loaned them to me to help with balance. My ultimate conclusion was that my hiking boots may have been adequate for hiking, but were totally inappropriate for snow. I seemed to have no traction at all. Going up the mountain in snow was pretty bad. Going down in the snow with an injured ankle was worse. Pain was not too bad as i think the ice and cold helped make the area numb. However, being very vigilant about your foot placement, limping at times, and continued falls added to my exhaustion and the trip appeared to take forever. We arrived back to the cars around 1:30 p.m. I advised my buddies my ankle was done and I had no more energy for more, but some of our group was hell-bent on more hiking. Fate was with me when every trail they tried was closed! My carpool finally gave up and we headed back home.

My ankle was pretty swollen and beaten up by then so my husband drove me straight to urgent care after I returned home and I am the sad owner of a badly sprained ankle. I was sent home with some crutches and a lovely ace bandage.

Mammoth Memories...

Well we are back from Mammoth and pretty sad to be back to normal life. I never really aspired to live in an area up North with cold weather and snow, but I can now see why it appeals to many people. Mammoth was beautiful. Gorgeous mountains with so much untouched white snow and beautiful majestic trees.

The drive up was easier than I thought. All highway, no need for chains at all. No twisting mountain roads or carsickness! We found the condo easy enough and it was right by the main street of Mammoth. It was beautiful and pretty spacious. We got settled and did some shopping and spent the night in our temporary home.

Saturday, we spent the day playing in the snow. We found a big hill and did some sledding. We made a snow Shrek. We took a hike and explored the area. The girls had a blast!

Sunday was our ski day. It was chaotic but still lots of fun. The girls and I had an all day ski lesson and Carlos took off on his own to get in some quality ski time. I never really was able to see what Sofia's ski lesson was like since my lesson was held in a different location. However, I did run into Emma on one of my runs down the hill.

Monday, we had some adult time with some snowmobiling and I was a little terrified but it turned out to be fantastic. The scenery was gorgeous and speeding through the snow was exciting. I did need some time to warm up and I know Carlos was thinking, "How can she go so slow?"

Tuesday, we were supposed to go dog sledding, but the man who ran the dogsleds injured his back, so we ended up taking the girls out on the snowmobiles. It was clear that both my girls are built for speed. Neither had a bit of fear and both would have been happy to spend the day speeding through the snow.

Sadly, after our snowmobile adventure, we had to run back to the condo and pack up and head out of town back to home. Back to reality and laundry!

2 days to Mammoth!!

I am getting excited about our trip to mammoth this weekend. The girls and I are all booked for a ski lesson. Our friends have arranged for us all to go dog sledding. Carlos and I will also be going snowmobiling one day. My main concern is that we have too many things scheduled and besides going broke, we will be running around all weekend. I hope not. I just want to have fun with my family in the snow.

I am trying to keep a positive attitude about the skiing. I have limited experience with downhill skiing and it is all bad! I vaguely remember one ski lesson as a child. No negative or positive memories really, just the knowledge that I had some sort of group lesson. My only other experience skiing was at Big Bear, I think, with an ex-boyfriend. I had no real ski gear and had to wear jeans. My ex offered to teach me to ski, and boy was that a mistake. He was not helpful and I think he disappeared after a while leaving me to navigate down the mountain with limited knowledge on stopping. I just remember making my way down the hill using calculated falls to stop me when I began to go to fast and felt out of control. I just remember making it to the bottom of the hill, with soaking wet jeans on, and spending an hour in the bathroom in my attempts to peel off the wet jeans and then get them back on my body. Needless to say, that trip was a clue to the end of that relationship. Lesson learned, never have a boyfriend or relative teach you anything important! (A lesson I should have learned after having my parents attempt to teach me to drive a car!)

Our Trip to the Snow...

Well, Emma and I are back from our winter camp experience. It was not exactly camping as we stayed in cabins. The camp location was great (http://www.alpinemeadowsretreats.com/). There was snow everywhere and lots of great places to go sledding. The cabins were nice with heating and indoor bathrooms. The staff was nice and provided all the meals so all we had to focus on was having fun.

The drive was easier than I anticipated, but I was still glad we found a ride there and back. Chains were needed, but really only in the camp which had many small slopes and one lane roads covered in ice and snow. We rode up with another Adventure Guide's husband and their 3-year-old daughter so Emma had a great time talking with her and watching her videos on their IPOD. I must say I learned the true funcitonality of an IPOD this weekend. Wow, their IPOD had plenty of space for many movies and TV shows, the girls were never bored and it was a long ride up and back!

We had so much fun! We sledded and played in the snow. We all made snow angels. Our tribe made a princess out of snow outside of our cabin. The girls talked all night and made up stories in the cabin. We checked out everyone else's snow creations.

Sunday, we caravaned back home with some of our friends. Now, we are so psyched up for our Mammoth trip in February.

The Power of Children to Motivate

Well, I spent the morning goofing off a bit at work trying to research tire chains! My daughter Emma and I are scheduled to go to Big Bear for a camping trip this weekend. We will stay in some cabins as part of this Adventure Guide activity. I have been pretty excited about playing in the snow with Emma. However, I also have been looking forward to carpooling with a friend and her daughter, partly because they are such fun to be with, and partly because she is a frequent visitor to Big Bear and agreed to drive.

I have a fairly big fear of driving in the snow. This stems from living in Northern Mississippi for several years and too many incidents of being in my car as it slid down a big hill into other cars and sliding on the ice patches on the roads with some spectacular near misses. I would be happy never to drive in snow or ice conditions ever again. Alas, my friend has been sick all week and still is not sure whether she will be going. So there is a good chance I will have to drive to Big Bear if I want to go this weekend with my daughter!

Now if this were just me, I am sure I would have cancelled in a heartbeat, even though I am cheap and I had to prepay!! However, as I research tire chains today, i know i just can not disappoint my daughter who is so very excited about camping with her friends and playing the the snow. Never underestimate the power of your love for your children to motivate you to do things you really would rather not do!