Snowy Mountains

It used to be that we would get a couple days of snow a year. Maybe one day to stay home from work and school to play but not much more than that. Lately, however, we've been feeling the effects of global warming in a noticeable way. No more snow. Not even a flurry. So many of the books we read feature snow as a major part of winter. One more when it was very frosty A came running to me excited about the "snow". She asked to go sledding. It was sad to see her heart sink when I told her it wasn't in fact snow. So this idea of a road trip to the snowy mountains was born.

The winter months are always tough for us financially so I wasn't sure we could make it work. But gas prices fell and I managed to put aside a little bit for the quick trip to the mountains. It was a long drive but worth it. It was the perfect day for snowshoeing too. It was snowing big, soft flakes of snow when we arrived but by the time we got the sleds hooked up and our trail passes it cleared.

We had barely made it down the trail before A jumped out of her sled and wanted to make snow angels. F had to join in of course. The snow was deep so it was fun to just sink into it. We continued on through the snowy woods. We noticed animal tracks in the snow, watched Whiskey Jacks swoop by our heads and listened to the snowy silence. A had really wanted to make a snowman but we didn't want to leave one in the way of trail users so instead she and her dad made a snow mouse to take along with us.

After an hour on the trails we decided to head back to the lodge for snacks and sledding. As we finished our snacks and got dressed for sledding the snow began to fall again. I'm glad it did. Falling snow is completely magical. The wind did pick up however and it got a bit cold. A had begged for sledding for weeks before the trip but when standing at the hill she decided she didn't want it. F however, could barely stand to wait his turn. I could hear him laughing the whole way down. He had the biggest smile on his face as they walked back to the top.

I'm so glad we did this for our family. It was precious time together, special memories and endless fun. I hope we can find a way to make this a winter tradition. Even after years of no snow, winter just isn't the same until I've had a day with the white stuff.