So, about the snow.

The snow was deceivingly beautiful in Truckee of Northern California. Driving up it tricks you with its sparkling cool white surface. However upon close inspection it turned out to be cruelly hard and sand papery. Not at all that dreamy white powder I always envision. When you stepped in an area where it was brittle, your leg would be eaten up to the knee by the hungry snow drifts. The roads were dangerously icy too. A lot of inexperienced drivers in cars without chains got stuck coming up little hills and such. And don't forget about unbalanced people falling on their butts from the invisible black ice. My cousin and her boyfriend took a few embarrassing spills. I can proudly say though that I managed not to fall once.

Sledding was extremely fun. It brought back dozens of sweet childhood memories. We found this secluded hill that sloped down at just the right angle with a lake covered in good thick ice just behind. My family and I spent a couple of wonderful hours sledding in our colorful plastic saucers. My younger cousin, Liam, got beat up a wee bit after going off of a makeshift ramp that some guy with a shovel had sculpted. He face planted and skidded across the hard snow's surface. He's fine, just a little bit of road rash on his nose.We also checked out Donner Pass and, after relearning about their fateful trek in the cold, not to mention their unappetizing dabbles with cannibalism, it only reminded me of my feelings for the snow. It's nice to visit for a couple of days, anymore and I will freeze and possibly be eaten. Okay so the last is not likely to happen, but freezing is a definite possibility. Glad to be back in the Bay Area where it is a comfortable 60 degrees.

Photographs from top to bottom, April Snow, Broadview Avenue Hill, A&W Burger Family or the Donner party?