Friday, January 6, 2017

Lots of rain in our town means lots of snow in the mountains...


Oh merciful heavens, have we been getting pummeled with rain this winter.  It is awesome!  Every time it rains, it comes in buckets and the snowpack is growing like gangbusters.

For the first time in a long time, there is plenty of snow up in the mountains.  We were all so excited to make our annual pilgrimage out to the snow (for one whole day).  

It did not disappoint.  We found a great place to play and sled the very first year we went out to snow...like the very beginning of 2013?  It was out in the Stanislaus National Forest.  There are three roads that go through the forest and after the first trip, and with the drought, we couldn't remember where the great snow place was!  We tried all of the roads and this year we finally got the right one.  It was perfect.  We found a Snopark (where you pay to park and just play in the snow around the parking lot...in the middle of a forest) and spent the whole day.

The kids were over the moon happy.  Clare did a back flop into the snow as soon as we arrived...and back flopped onto a stick.  We learned that the depth of the snow was deceiving.  We found a few fun sled runs and had a blast.  We threw snowballs and built a snowman.  Colter stuck to the sidelines playing with his trucks.  We had snacks and water (thanks to about 15 trips back to the car by yours truly). 

It was such a fun trip.  Now we know where to go every time (Strawberry).










 As we were unearthing our bodies from layers of snow clothes, Lorien discovered a beautiful view out onto the valley.  The sun was streaming through the clouds and lighting all of the frozen trees in gold.  It was stunning!


Dinner at Applebees on the way home (where Colter whispered "I hate that guy's voice" about our waiter) and you've got yourself a successful snow day for the Andersons.


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