Door county boasts unbelievable beauty from every angle but no place highlights Wisconsin’s natural wonders better than Peninsula State Park.  Famous for being the state’s most complete park,  Peninsula State Park offers not just outdoor activities but an outdoor theater as well.  Located in beautiful Fish Creek, admission stickers for out of state vehicles are $10 daily and $5 for one hour. State trail pass fees are $4 daily. Read More »

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The family spent the recent Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend at our Lake Tahoe North Shore compound in Dollar Point. We’d been promising the kids a trip up to the snow for about two years now but I’ve been hesitant to make the drive until I was reasonably sure it wouldn’t snow.

Let me explain.

We’re not really snow people in that we don’t ski or snowboard or take part in any other snow related activities short of building snowmen or sledding. The last time we went to Tahoe during the winter we nearly got snowed in. I couldn’t manage to get the chains on the car and had to be towed out of the Dollar Point development, much to my embarrassment. In short it was an exercise in frustration and one I vowed not to repeat. So when I say I would only make the drive if I was reasonably sure it wouldn’t snow I mean at least during the 48-hours we planned to be there.

As luck would have it the weather was on our side that weekend. The forecast was for clear skies and cold temperatures, which to my way of thinking is just about perfect, so go we did.  We arrived about 12:30 AM on Saturday to a freezing cold cabin and what appeared to be a broken furnace. The house was probably below 50 degrees, and remained so until the following morning when the heater inexplicably decided to begin working. I did not question it I simply enjoyed it, and left it on for the remainder of our visit lest it decide to stop working again.

But this is all background information that I’m sure does not interest you so let’s get to the activities.

The kids wanted to do some sledding so we drove to the summit of Mt. Rose. From Tahoe City it’s about a 45 minute drive on N. Tahoe Blvd (Hwy 28) to the Mt. Rose turn-off (Hwy 431). On the drive up Hwy 431 there are a couple of other places that are great for sledding as well. Don’t ask me exactly where, but they’re right on 431. You can’t miss them. Just look for the people sliding down the hillsides.

According to Wikipedia, Mt. Rose is “the highest point of the highway and the highest mountain pass open-year round in the Sierra Nevada.”  In other words, during the winter you’re very likely to find snow there, which we did. Unfortunately we also found a lot of other people there so we had to share the hillside, alas.  Never the less we spent about two hours having a great time nearly killing ourselves.

If skiing is more your bag there are more than twenty resorts in North Lake Tahoe to…enjoy your bag – including Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl and North-Star, just to name three. Many of the ski resorts offer “sno-parks” for those of you with younger kids.

For lots more on Lake Tahoe winter activities check out Gold Country Best, with information on ice-skating, snowmobiling and even dog-sledding.

Of course we had to hit CB’s Pizza & Grill, our traditional Tahoe dining establishment.  While the pizza is good this time we opted for something other than pizza. CB’s offers a full array of burgers (the girl is a burger fanatic) and sandwiches, salads, pastas and appetizers.  A note of caution; don’t order the eggplant Parmesan.  My wife ordered it and it was basically a thick slab of tough eggplant covered in sauce and melted cheese. Eggplant Parmesan should be sliced thin, fried and then baked with all the accompanying goodies.  Live and learn.

It was a short trip; up late Friday night, home by Sunday evening. But that’s one of the great things about Tahoe. It’s only a 3-hour drive from most locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.  At 188 miles door to door, it’s a very doable weekend trip for us, and one we’re hoping to do again before the spring thaw.

You wouldn’t know it by looking in my back yard or at the snow covered streets and fields that surround my house, but Ohio does not receive adequate amounts of snowfall to accommodate a successful ski resort.  Enter Snow Trails in Mansfield, Ohio.

Snow Trails opened in 1961 (Ohio’s first ski resort) relying on the technology of snow making machines that first came into use in areas of the Catskill Mountains in New York.  The machines create a fine mist that when combined with the cold dry air creates snow.

How much snow?

Generally, when the air temperature is at 28 degrees the machines at Snow Trails can produce enough snow to cover 5 acres with 1″ of snow in 12 hours.  Triple that amount (15 acres) with just a 4 degree drop in the temperature.

All fine and dandy, you say, but just what does this mean to those of us in the Midwest who want to get out and ski?  Simply put,  Snow Trails in Mansfield offers quality skiing close to home.  It’s not necessary to spend exorbitant sums traveling to far away destinations when there is such good skiing in our own backyard.

Snow Trails offers several slopes for skiing as well as snow boarding from beginners to advanced.  Several lift tickets and rental options are available, each designed to accommodate your specific needs.  For the freestyle junkies there are several terrain parks built from scratch each season that are sure to suit your XTreme cravings.  The Terrainasaurus Park is a beginner park and open to all–no height or age restrictions.  The Salomon is for intermediates and the Sobe, voted in the Top Four terrain parks in the Midwest, for advanced.

Also, whether you are an accomplished skier that needs a brush up or a total newbie Snow Trails offers lessons to suit your individual skiing level.  And for the kiddies, several options are available.  The Cricketeer Program (ages 5-9) is an all day lesson, 9:30- 3:30,  that provides instruction in a fun and safe environment.  The $89 fee includes area ticket, equipment, helmet, snacks and lunch.  The Cricketot Program ($69 for ages 3-4) is an abbreviated version of the Cicketeer.  Children must be potty trained and able to follow simple instructions.

Snow Trails also offers a tubing area perfect for the entire family.  There are no age or height restrictions.  The tube chutes follow a gentle slope down the mountain with an extended run out to slow you down.  Repeat often!  Worried about that tiring trek back to the top?

No worries.  The tubing trail has easy access to a conveyor carpet that makes getting back to the top no harder than sitting down.

Snow Trails in Mansfield is the perfect family skiing destination and no doubt a sure cure for that nasty cabin fever that inevitably hits us all this time of year.  Hours of operation are weekdays 10:00 am – 9:30 pm (9:00 am Saturdays and Sundays).  The tubing park is open Monday through Thursday 5:00 pm – 9:30 pm, Fridays until midnight, and Saturdays 10:00 am – midnight (9:30 pm on Sundays.)

Take the Mansfield-Bellville exit (interchange 169) off of I-71 and look for Possum Run Road.  Snow Trails is located at 3100 Possum Run Road Mansfield, OH  44903.  There are several lodging options in the area.  Be sure to check the Snow Trails website for daily deals and discount coupons.

Photo credits:  Snow Trails Website, and Ed Lamaze