Vacations Blog

From guest blogger, Marsha Takeda-Morrison, of Sweatpantsmom.

When Kango asked me to make this week’s post about wintertime in Los Angeles, I thought about it for a moment, as I sat outside in my tank top and capris sipping an iced tea. What do Angelenos know about winter anyways? Even a drop of rain has the weatherman on the local news drooling with excitement. Speaking for myself, any day where it drops below 65° is reason to bundle up in a ski parka and thermal underwear.

But there are places where us sun worshippers can get a little taste of what the rest of the country experiences during these winter months. We may point and laugh when we see you on TV, digging out your cars and putting on boots just to get your newspaper, but we secretly want a little of the cold weather – just as long as we can still drive home in our shorts.

I was excited to find out that the place where I first learned to ski, Mt. Waterman, had reopened after being closed for six years. (Don’t believe anyone who tells you that my crashing into the ski patrol tower as I plummeted from Chair Lift 3 had anything to do with their closing.) Located 55 miles from L.A., Mt. Waterman has three chairs lifts and over 100 runs. The tale of how four Waterman ski enthusiasts bought Waterman from evil developers to reopen is a Hollywood story in itself.

My most recent snow experience was a little further away from L.A., but well worth the three hour drive. We visited friends who own a ranch in Lake Isabella, a little-known town near the Kern River. The plan was to take the kids to the snow at nearby Shirley Meadows, so I bundled up (did you know it was possible to wear four sweaters at one time?) to “do winter.”

The small Alta Sierra Ski Resort has a refreshing, small-town feel. The best part was the Big Brand Tire Tube Park that our kids loved. For $12 for a two-hour session, the kids barreled down a hill on inner tubes (included in the price) and then were towed back up the hill by a rope-tow. What’s not to like, especially since I got to hang out in the warming hut sipping hot coffee and chatting with my girlfriend while the husbands watched the kids. We ended the day at a local favorite – The Kern River Brewery. Excellent beer (kudos, coming from a non-beer drinker) and tongue-searing buffalo wings. And get this: one of the owners, who also waited on us, was a Silver Medalist in Kayaking in the 2004 Olympics.

But here’s the thing – wintertime in Los Angeles is unlike anywhere else. When I want to taunt my friends living back East with a wintertime tale, I’m more likely to tell them about my day spent hanging out on Zuma Beach in Malibu, watching my kids jump waves in the middle of February. No parkas needed.

How do you celebrate the winter in your area? Do you have a snow-tip to share? Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, we have a good 6 weeks of winter left….

Photo courtesy of Mt Waterman website