To the Snow We Go!

Ok, time for another story. I REALLY wanted to take the kids to the snow at least once this season, and I knew it had to be done while Sam was on Christmas break. So, we got ourselves a sled, and researched Snow Parks in the area. I wanted to go to a snow park because they have bathrooms(very important) and sometimes a place to eat and warm up. So we decided on the snow park in Yuba Gap. It had bathrooms and a cafeteria, so it was picked. We printed out directions, packed up, and headed to Yuba Gap. Well, when we got there there were police blocking the entrance and people were parking on the other side of the freeway and walking in. So we parked with them, and were getting out when people started coming back out and getting back in their cars. I had Paul ask a few people what was going on, and the park was FULL and they were not letting any more people in. They were ticketing and towing anyone who was parked on the street. AHHHH! I really needed to use the restroom, and the kids were getting antsy. So, we thought about finding a restaurant or gas station in the area where we could park in the parking lot, use the restroom and play in the snow. We couldn't find ANYTHING! We followed signs, tried different exits, NOTHING. There were people everywhere parking wherever they felt like it, even though there were no parking and no trespassing signs everywhere. I even saw people sitting on someones "No Trespassing" sign throwing snowballs. I couldn't believe it! We kept driving around, until we started spotting signs from people charging you to let you park in their driveways and parking lots. I would much rather pay to park somewhere and have it be legal, than to teach my kids to break the law and do whatever they felt like doing. We came across a lodge that had $10 parking. I asked Paul to check it out. To ask them if I could use their bathroom, because at this point I would have payed $10 just to use the bathroom!!!! There was a super nice guy who gave us in and out privileges to the lodge, and said we could play wherever we wanted to on his property. Fabulous! We had free reign of the place! It ended up being an awesome day, we got to play all by ourselves, and had hills for our sled and plenty of space to goof around. Lilly started freaking out after a while and didn't want to be in the snow anymore, so I was able to take her into the lodge. The guy turned on his pellet stove for Lilly, and made her some hot chocolate. He was so nice! We got to hang out inside while the boys finished playing. We had such a great time. The place was PERFECT for us. And the kicker? While we were enjoying all of the benefits of the lodge and it's property, the people who had parked on the street illegally (there were tons!) had been towed. They shoulda payed the ten bucks!