Sunday, March 12, 2017

SMARD Adventures at Donner Lake


"I really did do my dream!” was Nate’s exclamation as he sat in a sled in the snow this last week. A few months ago, Nate said to Annie, “I just don’t think I can have a happy life if I don’t ever get to see snow.” I’m not sure why this came up but it was around Christmas so I suspect Michael Buble’s dulcet exclamation to Let It Snow had something to do with it. Who can refuse the sweet picture that man paints with his voice? No one, that’s who.

[from left to right] Super model, adorable 6 year old, leering cave troll.  

With Nate’s new life ambition out in the open, Annie and I tried to see if it was possible. The proposition was doubly enticing since I LOVE being in the snow. Thanks to the wonderful generosity of some family friends, we had a cabin we could stay at in the mountains, so the only thing left to figure out was, could we get Nate there and how could we get him playing in the snow.


There are things we need to consider any time we go somewhere and we need to give special thought and research when it’s some place new. In this case, we had to consider the chance of getting snowed in longer than expected, the number of stairs we would have to deal with and whether we could get Nate IN the snow in a way that he could enjoy.


Turns out the real obstacle would be driving up to the cabin. The day before we wanted to leave, I-80 was completely shut down and we weren't sure conditions would allow us to get up there.  The next day however, the sun came out and the roads opened, a sure sign from Apollo that he approved of Nate’s greatest desire. Later that day we were in the snow and Nate was pronouncing that his dream of being in the snow had come true. And thus began Nate’s favorite family vacation ever.


We were particularly fascinated with the gigantic icicles. I made sure to stand directly underneath them as often as possible since this was the best way to get a cool, refreshing drop of water.

Of course the icicles were best used in the "Snow Cave of Doom" or as I call it, SCD, because who has time to write out Snow Cave of Doom more than once. Well, apparently I do. SCD was the capstone to Nate's sled run.


So much snow had fallen that the back porch was covered in a 1 - 2 feet of snow.  The porch was also large enough to allow us to dig a winding trench through it with a couple of bumps. This was Nate's sled track and it ended with the SCD. He only actually sled...er sledded...slod? rode his sled through the cave once. It ended with his head scraping the ceiling of the cave, him losing his beanie, and experiencing, for the first time, the sensation of having snow down in your shirt.

He loved it though. As we were building the track we would periodically test the ramp at the beginning. Before we started Nate would ask Annie to "document it". As if we were some test pilots trying something dangerous and new. After testing the ramp, he would always respond that it could be bigger.


Nate also loved just looking outside. Who could blame him.




Towards the end of our trip the whole lake froze over and then was covered in snow. There is a lake in there somewhere.


Nate loved to perch on the second story balcony, press his face against the railing and watch the snow.


Boy did it snow.



My highlight was when Annie, terrified of the cold and projecting her own fear of freezing, bundled Nate up in so many layers he couldn't move. It was a moment out of A Christmas Story.

He is wearing so many layers in this pic that when he laid down flat on the floor, his head fell back a couple of inches.



It was a lot of fun. Nate has declared to be his favorite vacation ever. Which is saying a lot considering how much he loved San Diego.  I'm glad we finally helped Nate to make his dream come true....until his next one.