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Monday, February 25, 2019

Snow Day for Non-Snow People in Apple Hill

I love the idea of snow but if I'm honest, it scares me.  Growing up in the Sacramento area, we never got snow.  I don't know how to drive in snow.  I'm actually not all that great at even walking in snow.  But of course, my kids love snow even though my daughter had never seen snow in person before.  Last Monday, we had a short and sweet snow day that I wanted to share with anyone like me who is slightly anxious about snow.

This post is NOT sponsored.  I have no affiliations with any of the places or companies mentioned.  This an affiliate link, if you purchase from the link I earn a very small commission.  I wrote this post just in case you were someone like me who wanted in their heart to take your kids to the snow but got very anxious driving in and being in lots of snow.  I hope this can be helpful to you!


I talked to my husband's cousin after she posted that it snowed in the town where she lives.  Unfortunately, she told me that the snow was melting but recommended I go to Apple Hill to see snow.  Why have I never thought of this?!?

Wanna know if there's snow in Apple Hill right the second you want to go?  My tip?  Check Instagram!  You can go to either Apple Hill's page, a page of one of the orchards like Boa Vista, or you can check out posts from random people under the Apple Hill geotag.  The day I looked, I found photos posted within the hour with snow on the ground.  I tried checking the weather app and it only told me the current weather which was about 42 and did not tell me if there was snow on the ground.  The weather app will most likely only tell you if it's currently snowing, raining, etc...  That was not helpful to me.  I wanted to know if there was viable snow to be played with.


The beauty of going to Apple Hill in February is that it is not nearly as crowded as October.  LOL!  We went on President's Day which is always a Monday.  We did not hit any traffic.  There was NO snow or ice on the roads.  We went up HWY 50 and took the directions that our phone gave us.  There was snow on the sides of the road but NONE of the actual highway or streets.  This was really important to me since I didn't want to buy chains for the car.  (I did see online that people experienced traffic on the weekends.)



We decided to stop at Boa Vista Orchards since I knew from being there in the fall that they have a large open lot across the street that they normally put their pumpkin patch in.  They are open all year so I was also excited to buy some baked goods while I was up there!  It was really easy to park in their parking lot and cross the street to the snow.

There were a few inches of snow on the ground it was was perfect for playing while not having to worry about my tiny daughter sinking into a large area of snow.  Since it was just a couple inches, we were mostly fine in our sneakers and regular winter boats without needing snow boots.  In fact, it wasn't all that cold so some gloves, a jacket, and a hat was all that was needed.  The boys didn't even wear hats.

When we got too cold and needed a break from the snow, we headed across the street to Boa Vista's bakery and got hot chocolate and hot apple cider to warm up.  We also got some still warm donuts and it was basically bliss.  They have a small fire place where you can warm up a bit too.  They also have hard cider and wine for the 21 and up.  I suggest bringing a little spending money and taking some apples, baked goods, and drinks home with you too!

Things I Wish We Had:
1. Plastic Sled (this is an affiliate link, if you purchase from it, I earn a small commission.) for going down the hill they have.
2. Things to decorate a snowman ie carrot nose, charcoal eyes, etc...
3. Waterproof gloves.  We brought the cheap knit kind.
4. Waterproof shoes.  We wore regular shoes and mostly did ok but we did get our feet a little damp.


We spent a couple hours and the kids got their fill of snow.  It took about an hour to get there and an hour to get back.  I'm glad my daughter finally got to see the snow.  It wasn't anything ground breaking but it was a nice, fun time and inexpensive!



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