The first time I came to San Jose was in August of 2012. It was summer then, with warm sunny days pretty much called the dry season. San Jose’s latitude and location on the west coast of North America place the city in a Mediterranean type climate which is mainly identified by sharply contrasting wet and dry seasons. The wet season runs from November through March when 82% of the yearly precipitation total falls within this period. Wet seasons are cool, but mild. And I can identify it as cool and chilly days this was the weather when I came back in December with my daughter. And coming from a tropical country I can say it was bit of an adjustment being in PJ’s and jacket the whole day.
Snow is extremely rare in San Jose, with only a handful of well documented instances in over 100 years. It would have been lovely to watch it pouring through your house’s casement window, but that is not the case. We needed to travel at least a three hour long drive in order for us to see and experience snow. We planned this activity with church members cum friends and honestly as a first timer I am quite thrilled.
We left San Jose before 6am bound towards Twin Peaks CA where Sierra at Tahoe Ski Resort is located. “Sierra” as it is commonly called is located 12 miles south of South lake Tahoe and approximately 16 miles south of Stateline, Nevada. We rented a 12-seater van and my husband drove it. We reached our destination at around 10am and headed to the resort. I was dreading to go out of the van because even from inside I can already feel the chill of the snow.
My daughter on the otherhand enjoyed the snow so much and doesn’t want to get out of it. She kept on walking in snow, playing and throwing small snow balls to us. She tried mimicking a friend’s daughter in making a snow angel but she can’t yet. We wore 3 layers of clothing by the way including a thermal jacket .
This is us with our church pastor and some friends, behind us is where the skiing and tubing activities were held.
Our first family picture in snow!
I believe this is going to be an annual family activity, so until next year!