Our two families had driven up from the valley to spend a day playing in the snow. It was about a two hour trip from our home in Southern California to the mountains and the snow. We cousins could hardly sit still as we began to see snow on the ground. It seemed like the last 20 minutes looking for a suitable site to stop was taking an extra three hours. But at last, the winter frolic had begun with snowball fights and trudging up the hill to slide down again on inner tubes and toboggans.