Winter Means Snow?

I always look forward to winter because there is a chance that I will see snow in my hometown of Gig Harbor. Actually we do not get as much snow as people may think from other places. On Sunday we did have a little snow mixed in with the rain for a little while. The snow never did stick; however, some places nearby had around half an inch of snow or a little more. There was at least enough for the kids to get out and enjoy themselves. This was the first look of any snow this winter and I hope we do get some in the next few weeks.

I know that some may think it is just a story; however, we used to get a lot more snow when I was growing up. It was not like we were getting snow on a regular basis but at least we were able to play in the snow at least once a year.  I know I was always excited when school was let out because of the snow.

This year we have had twice as much rain then for a normal year so I have not been able to walk as much as I am accustomed to unless I do so indoors. Right now I have a cold so it is even harder to walk. So with this much rain our mountains are having a real good year of snow. Last year we had a very down year for snow so good to have a lot this year.

You see Gig Harbor is right in the middle of our two mountain ranges the Cascades and the Olympics. It is one of the reasons we do not have as much snow. For example, Portland Oregon usually has more snow though they are two and half hours south of Gig Harbor because they only have the Cascades to deal with and not the Olympics.

At least we can see snow from a distance on a regular basis since we see Mt. Rainier. The Cascades and Olympics we can drive in about two hours so some people do go skiing on a regular basis. When I was a kid our family would take at least one trip to Mt. Rainier a year to play in the snow and go sledding. The area we went to is called Paradise and it made for a lot of sledding. They do have some ski lifts but most of skiing is by some other ski resorts nearby. I recommend that you go to Paradise when you come to a visit to Mt. Rainer with small children. There is a visiting center that you can go into as well. Paradise has the best view of Mt. Rainier. Besides sledding they do have several areas where you can go on daily hikes. One year when my brothers and sister in-law were home for Christmas we went snow shoeing. It was a grand time especially I had never had snow shoed before. We had to watch our steps though because my brother Dick and I both got stuck where we were up to our waist. We were lucky where we did not get stuck at the same time so my other brother Jack along with either Dick or me got each other out. I enjoyed every bit of the experience.

Though Mt. Rainer does not have many ski lifts there are several ski resorts that are very popular to ski at. Most people I know ski at Crystal Mountain which is the largest in Washington state. My brother Jack and sister Barb did some skiing at Crystal Mountain. I never got into skiing because I enjoyed playing basketball and only a few of my friends skied. One year while I was in high school Jack saw a friend from elementary school Mike who was skiing at Crystal Mountain. He asked to bring me along some time however I declined because of basketball. You see one year Jack broke his leg and I did not want the same thing happening. Now looking back at it I should have gone who knows I may have been good at skiing. Even if I was not skiing one time would have been a nice experience. Maybe I should put in on my bucket list to try.

If you are in an area that snow does come down during winter or you have the chance to go visit I would enjoy the snow to the fullest. Anyway continue to have a wonderful holiday this week.