Vacations Blog

Kanab Utah Main Street

Many people call Kanab, Utah the Gateway. Kanab sits in Southern Utah along route 89 about seven miles north of the Arizona border and subsequently gets visitors on their way to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park among many others. Summer finds the town packed with RVs towing boats and wave runners on their way to Lake Powell and family vehicles bursting at the seams with camping and hiking equipment. The winters in Kanab are not quite as busy but still full from people going to ski at

Coral Pink Sand Dunes

Brianhead Ski Resort and snow tubing at Coral Pink Sand Dunes. The beauty to be found in Kanab and the surrounding area is breathtaking and you usually take a little bit home with you in the form of the red dirt that Kanab is famous for.

Kanab’s population is small, about 3,500, and the residents rely heavily on tourists as the largest source of income for the city. The slow-paced small town feel is a nice change from the crowded attractions and parks and the people are friendly as you walk down Main Street to check out the stores. Frontier Movie Town is a short walk away from downtown where you’ll see authentic movie sets and memorabilia from some great western movies made there. They also have the Pioneer Museum with classic western and pioneer artifacts. Read More »

April Chill Extends Ski Season

In a recent post I mentioned the schizophrenic nature of a Northwest spring.  It was snowing in Seattle on April 1st only to be sunny and 75 degrees less than a week later.  Just a couple of days ago another frigid spring storm produced a nasty hail storm at sea within the city limits.  As annoying as an April snow storm can be to Seattleites, avid alpine enthusiasts benefit from the fresh new powder accumulations in the mountains and the promise of a precious few more days added to the ever shortening ski season.

The bottom line is that although spring is upon us and the weather gets milder by the day, there are still plenty of good skiing and snowboarding opportunities to be had at Northwest ski resorts.  Add on end of the year deals on lift tickets and it makes for a great time to send winter off in style.  With that in mind, here is a quick rundown of snow levels, lodging options, and lift schedules at the few local mountain resorts that remain open. 

1. Crystal Mountain - Washington’s Largest ski area still has 128″ total Snow with an 86” base.   

Adult (age 18 – 69) All Day: $60, Half Day (12:30pm – 4pm): $55
Youth (age 11 – 17) All Day: $55, Half Day (12:30pm – 4pm): $50
Junior (age 7-10) All Day: $30, Half Day (12:30pm – 4pm): $25
Child (age 0 – 6) All Day: FREE
Senior (age 70 & over) All Day: $35
Discovery Chair Only (for beginners): $35

Ski Season ends Sunday, April 19th. Lift ticket are now Half Price. Check here for lodging options. Includes Crystal Mountain Lodging Suites.

Don't delay - ski season ends soon

2. Mt Baker - 172″ Base. Starting April 17th on Spring Schedule. Open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Spring Lift Tickets:
Adult (age 16-59)  $43.17
Youth ( age 7 – 15)  $32.50
Senior (age 60 – 69)  $37.61
Super Senior (age 70 & older) $20.91
Child (age 0-6 ) FREE

Click here for lodging options, including The Inn at Mt. Baker.

4. Snoqualmie Pass – 91″ Base at Summit West.  The Summit at Snoqualmie Pass is operating on a Spring Schedule – weekends only but with no set closing date.

Spring Lift Tickets:
Adult (age 13-61) $48
Youth (age 7 – 12)  $32
Senior (age 62 +) $32
Child (age 0-6 ) $11
Super Senior $11

Lodging options, including The Summit Lodge, can be found here.

Ski Lift at Mt. Baker Ski Resort

5. Stevens Pass – 111″ Base.  Ski Season ends Sunday April 19^th. 

Spring Lift Tickets:
Adult (age 13-61) $62
Youth (age 7 – 12) $38
Senior (age 62-69) $39
Child (age 0-6) $7
Super Senior $13

Look for local Stevens Pass lodging options here.

6. White Pass -  Currently open Saturday and Sunday through April 26^th.

Spring Lift Tickets:
Adult (age 13-64) $47
Youth (age 7 – 12) $29
Senior (age 65-72) $29
Child (age 0-6) Free
Super Senior Free

For lodging options, including The White Pass Village Inn, click here.

 Photos: Top from www.summit-at-snoqualmie.com remaining two from http://www.mtbaker.us/

1. You watch LOST wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sipping Mai Tais.

2. You find yourself driving by travel agencies that aren’t even on your way home.

3. You send people postcards from the corner market.

4. You only buy travel sized bottles of shampoo, aspirin and liquor.

5. You cover your carpet in sand and ask everyone to call you “Little Buddy.”

6. You make your kids wear flotation devices on snow days.

7. You keep your dirty laundry in a suitcase.

8. Whenever you leave the house you pretend you’re lost and can’t speak the language.

9. You’ve spray painted your snow-covered yard green.

10. You wear your sunglasses at night and your name isn’t Corey Hart.

11. You’ve replaced your office chair with a beach towel.

12. No matter where you are you tell people that what happens there stays there.

13. It’s 32 degrees outside and you just got a bikini wax.

Photo by Whit Honea

Snow Trails Mansfield, Ohio

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?

Snow Making at Snow Trails in Mansfield, OH

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.

Snow Trails Mansfield, Ohio

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?

Trekking Back is Not a Chore at Snow Trails

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

Paradise Inn at Mount Ranier

Snow Scene From Paradise at Mount Rainier

Photos by: Lee Coursey

Parts of New England are getting up to three feet of snow this week. Can you say white Christmas?

Because of Christmas and the New Year, there’s also a week off from school for most kids at the end of this month. Can you say Christmas vacation?

For a lot of folks, a winter vacation means skiing. And, although some of the best skiing in the country is admittedly in the West, some of the best family destinations for skiing are in New England. These six states offer nearly ninety ski resorts with a wide range of trails for all levels, great scenery, local attractions, and activities for downhill skiers, cross country skiers, snow boarders, snow mobilers, ice skaters, and even non-skiers looking for great amenities like spas, indoor pools, game rooms, and great restaurants and entertainment.

Everyone has their own “top ten” or “best” list, and there are some notable exclusions here.  Stowe, for one, is usually in any list of top Vermont ski resorts.  The five here, however, come up again and again as the top New England destinations for family skiing.

Smuggler’s Notch

Skiing at Smuggler's Notch in Vermont

Located in Vermont, Smuggler’s Notch is a year-round resort that has been catering to families for over thirty years.  My own family and I have even visited in the fall.  With indoor pools and hot tubs, game rooms and play rooms, child care, great restaurants, indoor and outdoor activities, entertainment, on-site lodging (rooms with one through five bedrooms are available) and more, the resort is a great hub any time of year for visiting Vermont attractions. For skiers, three peaks—each appealing to different skiing and snowboarding levels—all lead to the base village.

Okemo

Also in Vermont, Okemo offers over 100 trails with most for intermediate skiers. Not to leave anyone out, there are also novice programs and a few runs for advance skiers. Other family attractions include a wide variety of kids’ programs, a snow park, snow tubing hills, and an ice skating arena.

Bretton Woods

The Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire

Located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, this is the state’s largest ski resort with over 430 acres of skiable terrain—including both downhill and cross-country skiing. Bretton Woods specializes in creating beginner and intermediate runs for family skiers. Again though, the advanced skiers won’t be left out. Bode’s Run—an expert’s only run—was designed by Director of Skiing, Olympian and World Cup Champion Bode Miller. In addition to great family programs and activities, Bretton Woods also offers a variety of accommodations that include The Mount Washington Hotel—one of New England’s finest.

Killington

Another Vermont resort, Killington is the largest in the East.  Like other great family destinations, Killington also offers something for beginners, intermediate and advanced skiers.  Because of its size, the resorts attracts more than just families.  But also because of its size, there’s a whole lot to do here both on and off the mountain in the local area.

Sugarloaf

Skiing above the tree line at Sugarloaf in Maine

Sugarloaf is the second-highest peak in Maine and offers the only skiing above the tree line in the East—and the longest continuous vertical drop in New England.  Sugarloaf is a great family ski destination, but—being deep into Maine (about four hours north of Boston)—there’s not much surrounding it.  Because of that, vacationers to Sugarloaf are likely to stay on the resort and take advantage of its restaurants, shops, entertainment, and activities for the whole family.

Whatever your plans are for the holidays, have fun, be safe, and enjoy any vacation time you get.

Deer In Wintertime at Highbanks

The chill of winter is settling upon us in America’s Heartland and already we are enjoying the sequela induced by cabin fever. That’s sarcasm, people. Anyone with children surely knows that whenever you sequester five energetic and bored children to the indoors for any extended period, come springtime you’ll be needing a handyman, or a general contractor. Thank the heavens for the Central Ohio Metro Park System.

Metro Parks operates 15 parks year round in seven Central Ohio counties. Educational and recreational opportunities abound for patrons of all ages and best of all, facilities and the programs are available free of charge. Thanks, voters. Don’t get the wrong idea about that statement. According to the park executive director, the Columbus (Franklin County) Metro Parks system has the largest land area, 23,500 acres, of any of the parks in Ohio but by far the lowest per resident expenditure (less than $20 a year per resident) and lowest tax millage. The Metro Parks system enables anyone to enjoy Ohio wildlife and nature year round.

Grace and Mary Innis Inniswood Gardens

Shag Bark Hickory at Inniswood Metro Gardens

What’s more enticing, is that the Metro Parks are conveniently located in you own backyard, there’s no need to travel far for a perfect wintertime getaway. And with literally hundreds of programs and activities scheduled this winter, you’re sure to find something to your liking.

Winter Hiking Series at Metro Parks

Nature programs will teach young and old how the animals survive the cold Ohio winters. Twelve of the fifteen parks have designated pet trails. It’s not just Susie and Billie with cabin fever. Fido and Fluffy need to get out, too. There are over 140 miles of trails to explore. The annual Winter Hikes Series will be kicking off Saturdays in January and February. Guided or self-guided hikes are available with refreshments and for the hearty–a decorative patch if you complete at least seven of the thirteen scheduled hikes.

When conditions are favorable most of the parks have cross country skiing trails. Several others have excellent hills for sledding: Batelle Darby Creek, Blacklick Woods Golf Courses, Highbanks, Sharon Woods or Blendon Woods (kids only). Call the park office, 614-891-0700 to verify conditions are right. Batelle Darby Creek and Blendon Woods also offer skating ponds.

Diehard golfers will be happy to know that Blacklick Woods Golf Course is open year round. From November through March it’s not necessary to call for a tee time though you may want to call the pro shop and verify that the course is actually playable. 614-861-3193.

Don’t let the chill of winter keep you locked indoors. Now is the perfect time to get out and enjoy the wonder of nature. The cool air and serenity of a secluded trail can be invigorating.  Columbus’ Metro Parks offer the perfect wintertime escape and just what the doctor ordered for that nasty case of cabin fever.

Hiking the Snow Covered Trails

Park hours are generally 6:30 am until dark. Click here for specifics. Photos: Ed Lamaze, and courtesy of Charmaine Gray, Diana Morse and Kim Leach via ParkScope Metro Parks Guide.