Month: February 2016

Kyburz?

Yeah, I know. Before a few weeks ago, I hadn’t heard of it, either. I was poking around VRBO, looking for a place that’d be either near snow, or near a river, and this was a place that happened to have both. So I booked the place for a weekend, and away we went.

There was some anxiety about taking the S up, because if there wasn’t a place to charge, our options would be pretty limited. As is, we managed to find a regular plug, which gave us enough charge to get around a bit, though not entirely without some range anxiety. 😀

IMG_1700It was K’s first time in the snow. I think this picture is from literally moments after he stepped in it for the first time. J’s 2nd time – we haven’t gone up to Tahoe in the winter in ages – mostly (for me) because I hate the drive up when the drive up sucks, and I’m not super confident driving in the snow, particularly in an RWD car. But we figured the roads would be clear, and the other day, J saw a picture of something snowing, and said, “That’s my favorite season!” – no wonder why, the last time he was in the snow was up in Ottawa, surrounded by relatives and having the time of his life.

But K hasn’t had anything like that, so we figured it’d be good to show him what it’s like. And we’d been to Sunol the last few weeks, and had been poking around a river down there, and really loved spending time by it, tossing rocks and sticks in, and just watching/listening to the water. So spending a few days riverside was high on my list of “things to do.”

IMG_1707We drove up on Friday evening, and on Saturday, decided to go try sledding. Unfortunately, the place (Adventure Mountain) was at capacity, and they weren’t letting anyone in. So we drove around a bit until we found something that looked like a place to play around, and we found a completely random little secluded spot where the snow was about 6′ tall.

Funny – while we played around, a handful of other families that were *clearly* doing the same thing we were drove by, then eventually drove back, and came to play in the same area – just a random snowbank across from a closed, for-sale restaurant building and some sort of weather station. By the time we left, the place we’d parked was full of other cars, and there were another four or five families messing around in the same area we were.

IMG_1726IMG_1733I think Ei-Nyung’s mom is happy with the snowman we made.

After an hour or so of poking around, it was time for K’s nap, so we went back to the cabin & put him to bed. J and I decided to poke around the river, which was fun. I actually don’t think I’ve been to a river that was that … loud. All the time. I thought a fan was running or something, but nope – just the river. That realization happened probably 10+ times a day.

Really pretty, though. Air was really crisp, and it felt in some ways like the cabin we went to when I’d visit my aunt & cousin when I was a kid. More modern, sure – but some things felt the same.

Today (Sunday) we hit out for Adventure Mountain a lot earlier, so we’d get there when there was still space. Great place. $28 for admission for an entire car all day. Sled (and helmet) rentals were reasonable, we bought some gloves that actually fit our kids, and had a good time J went down the run a few times, but then just wanted to play in the snow, but K wanted to keep going.

IMG_1736So we sledded, but mostly just played in this awesome area for another hour and a half. We ended up on a really “easy” hill off to the far left, but the advantage was that it was a really secluded area, so while most of the other runs had lines, there were only maybe 10 other people here total, and the kids had this area all to themselves.

We ate lunch, headed back, packed up, and drove home. Got waylaid by  some massive traffic in Sacramento, but made it home in one piece, having had a really great weekend.