To the Mountains for the Snow
Mar 19th, 2006 by Dave
I made a crack in a previous post about us not having any weather to speak of here in Southern California, and of course since then it has been raining on and off; rainiest March and April in recent memory. It’s about time! I was about to write off the ski season this year.
We like the rain in this part of the country; when it stops everything is so fresh, clean and green. I’m an avid skier - just a lottery win short of being a full-time ski bum - so to me there are very few things as alluring as the snow-capped peaks I see in my rear view mirror heading into work. Rain heals the burn-scarred hillsides here in the OC; new bright green grass is filling in around the blackened skeletons of trees and brush.
With all the snow in the mountains, we decided to head up there on the last day of winter to let the kiddies play in the snow. When we crested the mountain we passed a row of cars pulled over putting chains on. Not sure why they’d stopped to put on chains; there weren’t any signs up; cars coming the other direction didn’t have chains on and the road looked muddy, not icy. So I guess one driver pulled over and put on chains out of an abundance of caution and the others followed suit, thinking he knew something they didn’t. We continued on our way unchained.
Weather intervened on our way to Alpine Slide at Big Bear; it was so foggy on the mountain that I could barely make out the tail lights of the cars I was following through the twisties. So we pulled over next to a Mexican restaurant and joined other families sledding down the hill.
