In the eleven years that I have been making a living doing home inspections I have only had to do an inspection in the rain seven times. Interestingly, I’ve done two inspections in the snow, both right here in San Diego County.

Yesterday my inspection was out in Cuyamaca, a great retreat 6,000 feet above sea level where you can go camping, birding, boating, fishing, hiking….

It snowed in the East County mountains two nights ago, with some areas receiving up to eleven inches of snow. Snow in the mountains means that the population of the City of San Diego drops to about 600,000 at times while the other 600,000 head to the mountains to play in the snow. I’m not one of them. I’m afraid that the heater in my car will stop working as soon as it sees snow…. Car’s way of punishing me for taking it out in the cold.

Cuyamaca is just 60 miles from downtown San Diego. Theoretically, that’s a one-hour drive. On any given snow day, though, that drive could take you three or four hours, due mostly to traffic on those winding two-lane mountain roads.

Following are a few snow pictures from yesterday’s journey to Cuyamaca.

The main road, State Highway 79, is just a two-lane winding road with lots of switchbacks:

There is no stopping on most of the road but where stopping and parking is allowed, it’s full on snow days:

When you find a line of empty cars, just look off to the side of the road in the snow to find the people who have abandoned their cars:

I couldn’t stop on the way out because I had a schedule to keep. Here’s the house that I inspected, except that I disclaimed the roof:

Once work is done, it’s time to play. First, go exploring the small roads through the neighborhood:

If you’re lucky, you’ll find a snowman:

 On a snow day, the boats are docked, waiting for warmer weather:

The fields look beautiful in their white dress:

Can you feel sorry for a rock? This one looks cold:

I wasn’t looking for birds, but I did find quite a few, including this Canada goose looking lost and forlorn, and speaking his mind about the snow:

This post is dedicated to Will Hamm, a real estate agent with Cornerstone Homes/Metro Brokers Marina Square in Denver, Colorado. I have known Will for a couple of years through a real estate professional networking site. I highly recommend him for anyone needing real estate services in the Denver, Colorado, area.

All pictures taken by Russel Ray using a Canon 550D camera and a 55-250mm Canon lens.