After enjoying our Christmas morning, the children were so excited to see snow, they sprang into action to get ready and loaded up so we could get on the road. We allowed them to take a few of their new Christmas gifts with us so it wouldn't be like leaving all that fun behind. We didn't know how long the trip would take so we put the DVD players in the car in preparation for a long journey. The kids got a few new DVDs for Christmas, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Tinkerbell Secret Wing Fairy. Can you say hours of quiet??? So nice to just have quiet to talk to my husband and finish a conversation. It had started raining by the time we hit Sacramento and thank goodness McDonald's was open on Christmas Day. We did a quick pit stop and got back on the road, knowing the rain we were in meant snow falling just an hour away.
And we were right! Around our 3 hour mark we hit the snow and stopped traffic. They were stopping everyone one making sure you had chains on your tires or 4wheel drive. We sat in traffic a while...but it was so fun seeing snow, we didn't even really mind. I had hoped the kids would nap on the way up but as you can see...the snow was way too distracting to thinking of sleeping.
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Then we ran into this...a total white out! Young was driving so slow and so careful. We were all praying in the car for safe travels. Timo and Cameron were totally occupied watching the snow that they sat so quiet, which allowed Young to concentrate on driving. After an hour of driving in worsening conditions, I started wondering if they should be closing the road. We later found out they did close it just after we passed the check point. We were some of the last cars they let go through. The Lord's hand was on us in so many ways...allowing us to get on the road early, for protection while driving and keeping us from having to sit in traffic for hours until the road opened again.
Finally, after 5 hours (a normal 3 1/2hour drive) we made it to North Tahoe! We were able to use some of Young hotel points to get a few night at the Ritz Carlton. The first thing we did when we pulled up to the hotel was thank Jesus for watching over us! We parked the car and didn't use it again until we left.
Our room wasn't quite ready when we got there so we headed out to the snow to kill some time. About 2 minutes into play I realized we really needed the snow clothes but the bellman had taken them to put in our room. We caused quite a ruckus in the lobby searching for our luggage and changing into our snow boots, hats and gloves but it was worth it! This was one of those times you truly just enjoy watching your children delight in the simple things. They were so happy to be in the snow. But it was snowing really hard and super windy, it was difficult to stay out for long periods of time...the kids didn't seem to mind, but I did.
We got our luggage up and settled into our room, warmed up a little and then headed back out for the 4:00 s'mores they had everyday at the outdoor fire pit! Again, it was snowing so hard, we didn't stay out long. The resort got about 2 feet of snow the day before and added another 17 inches Christmas Day!
We had a 6pm reservation in the restaurant for Christmas Dinner which was so lovely. They even made apple and peanut butter appetizers for the Timo and Cameron! Unfortunately dinner didn't last long...our children had come to the end of their day about mid way through dinner. A big morning, long long drive and afternoon snow play had taken it's toll on our troopers. Cameron almost fell asleep in my lap. Luckily our room was just upstairs! I took the kids up while Young finished eating and brought my dinner up for me to finish later. A very eventful day came to a perfect end sitting in front of the fire, two sleeping children, quiet time with my husband as snow fell outside...we were counting our blessings.
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