What an amazing ski/snowboard season! The kiddos in the Bay Area have waited so long for this. The snow is still piling up in the Sierra Mountains right now in March! Even though in the Bay Area, spring has already arrived due to lots of rain this year, the Sierra mountains are still like white Christmas in the post cards! Always attracted by the Northern California outdoors, Andrea is not going to miss the snow fun, especially this winter!
From the spring of the Bay Area to the winter of the Sierra Mountains, here we come!
South San Francisco, California | GPS: 37.677690, -122.387239
South San Francisco, California | GPS: 37.677690, -122.387239Last year, we posted a summer trip to the Tahoe area. In the winter, the Sierra mountains look so much different.
Truckee is a very convenient town to stay for a multi-family group. Many vacation houses can be found on Airbub.com and vrbo.com. Families can share the cost which makes it even more affordable than hotels and you will have a lot of space and full kitchen of course. The best dinner in a cold winter night is a home cooked meal with many friends.
Photo from vrbo.covrbo.com
We took off Friday night after work. When arrived, it was already late. But Andrea couldn't wait for the next day. Luckily, there was plenty of snow just outside where we stayed.
Sunny winter morning is the best. Looking out of the window this beautiful small town covered in snow, quiet and peaceful... The sound of the boiling water broke the silence. Andrea woke up and the first thing was to put on her snow goggles.
Truckee, California | GPS: 39.326103, -120.183285
Hot chocolate is a must in a cold day like this. Dark House Coffee Roasters (10009 W River St.) is just a couple minutes walk from the Truckee downtown. Hidden in a corner, Dark House Coffee is a nice place to recess and meet new friends.
The schedule of the day is ski lesson. For the family that have children who need to learn how to ski, Tahoe Donner Downhill is a very good resort because they have large beginner's area for learning and practicing. For $49 (adult) and $23 (child) a day, you won't feel any money wasted by just playing in the beginner's playground. Another good thing is that Tahoe Donner is not crowded. Renting and fitting gears for Andrea was quick and easy. So that we could spend more time on the slope instead of waiting in line.
After a full day of hard work, watching the sunset/moonrise over the Lake Tahoe was sooooo relaxing.
For small group travellers, you might not want to pay $500 plus cleaning fee for a house that can host 3 families, Reno has a variety of casino hotels for you to choose.
Outside of the casino stuffed downtown, Reno feels like faraway north-western country: railroads, horse ranch and mountains in snow. These remind us the scenes from the good old movies.
Sometimes, you will find totally unexpected things when traveling, and they turned to be the best (or crack-me-up) moments of the trip.
Artwork by the Great Reno People
Another good find was the Crawfish Asian Cuisine (1296 E Plumb Ln, Ste H, Reno). In the cold winter, they serve fresh crawfish! Totally yummy!!
It is time to pack up for the next trip.