February 2012 Mammoth Lakes, CA

      One day at work, I randomly decided we needed to make a skiing/snowboarding trip happen. We kept talking about going to Lake Tahoe but that trip needs proper planning. I found a cheap hotel in Mammoth in a good location relative to the mountain and booked a room at the Shilo Inn. Our friends Cole and Gina decided to come along for the weekend to enjoy some skiing and to explore NorCal. We met at my work in Rancho Bernardo, CA and hit the road around 3pm on Friday. We were very excited to go on a yet another new road trip and to play in the West Coast snow.

We stopped at a lovely burger king for dinner and also stopped at this really strange convenience store along the way. They had a gloriously large room full of toys, knickknacks (cats everywhere), clocks and a Brandy CD from 1999 for $10 (tempting…). To Cole’s utter surprise, Colin walked out of the store with a Smirnoff Ice for him to enjoy all to himself.

We made it to Mammoth Lakes, CA around 11PM, had a couple of beers, and went to bed after a tiresome Friday drive.  We woke up bright and early the next day to enjoy the modest continental breakfast and to head to the mountain.

Cole and Colin went on their way to enjoy the mountain at their expert pace while Gina and I tested our snowboarding legs on the easier slopes. This mountain is so big and has so many different trails for everyone at any level to enjoy. I met back up with the boys later and had one last long run from the top of the mountain. Not really sure if I was experienced enough to do this, but it was fun regardless and I’m glad Colin took me up there!

We were the last people there enjoying beers outside at a picnic table with the mountain in view. When we got back to the hotel we decided to jump in the indoor pool and sit in the Jacuzzi to relax our worked muscles. We all showered and got dressed to hit the downtown area for the night.  I put on my winter coat and my knitted hat and was ready to go. I really miss bundling up and getting cozy to go outside to a warm bar during the winter time!

We ate dinner at Burgers which was very delicious and went out to a bar close by. We really didn’t like the vibe in there so we decided to head out to a dive bar up the street called Clocktower Cellar Pub. I couldn’t be happier with this choice. We had such a fun time hanging out here and drank until they flickered the lights.

The next morning we said goodbye to Mammoth Lakes, CA and took the 8 hour journey home. We ended up stopping at Convict Lakes for a pretty awesome photo opp before hitting the road to get back down to San Diego.