We had a snow day planned for January 9, 2010 a few months ahead of time. However, we did not have any specifics planned like where exactly we should go. As this day got closer the weather was getting warmer and warmer. Oh no! This is not good. How are we going to find any snow?
Any Suggestions?
Asking around, people recommended Palm Springs Aeriel Tramway, Idyllwild, Wrightwood, Forest Falls and Big Bear. We checked out the Palm Springs tramway cam on their website and it looked like there was no snow. Idyllwild is the mountain next door so there is probably no snow there either. I called up Mt. High in Wrightwood to ask them how the snow is in the area. She told me that there is not enough snow for sledding. Forest Falls is a nice place to go if there is a lot of snow, but it has a pretty low elevation. Big Bear may have snow due to their high elevation. So, I looked up some sledding areas in Big Bear. There are various locations along Hwy.330 & Hwy.18. There is also one at the Serano Picnic Area on Hwy.38 near the Observatory, North of Big Bear Lake.
Our Limitations
This is what we were limited to because I am pregnant and we have a one and a half year old with us. A lot of the places that make their own snow did not allow anyone under 36 inches or pregnant women in. We do not want to go skiing because the kids are too young for that. Should we do this drive up the mountains not knowing if we will find snow?
Problem Solved
If only I can just call someone that lives up there. Then it hit me, I do know someone I can call. I do SEO (search engine optimization) for real estate agents all over the United States. Therefore, I know people all over the US. I decided to call one of my clients, Greg Steffens. He specializes in Lake Arrowhead real estate and Running Springs real estate. He was happy to help me out. He recommended that we go to Snow Drift Snow Tubing Park in Running Springs. They make their own snow so we do not have to worry about not having enough snow. Plus he has a little daughter who is under 36 inches. She was able to go tubing as long as she was accompanied by an adult. He also recommended that we go to Neo’s Pizza for lunch. He also sent me his blog post about his snow tubing experience at Running Springs. This is great! Now I have an exact location and a place to eat.
Up the mountain we go
We still wanted to keep our options open if we happen to run into anything better on our way there. As we were driving up the mountain we got excited when we started seeing some snow on the ground.
We ran into this sign.
Snowdrift Snow Tubing Park
It was $5 for parking and $10 a head for one hour. Plus you get your own tube. We started on the smallest hill and eventually moved our way up to the second highest hill. There was a line for the highest hill, so we just stayed at the second highest hill for the rest of our time there. They had a lot of snow and the kids loved it. My husband said it was a work out going up the stairs to the top of the hill over and over again, but going down was fun.
Even little Laila had a blast. She went down the hill with my husband. He said that she would say, “weeeeeee” as they went down. You can probably see her in this picture. Look for Laila in pink.
We left when we got tired. We did not keep track of time. Then we ate at Neo’s Pizza right after. My husband got lucky and was able to catch some of the Jets game there. What a perfect snow day.
