TRAVEL TALES

Young Chang

The Wests and the Thomases of Costa Mesa caravaned up to Mammoth

Mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountain range last month for a relaxing

vacation that included cooking dinner, packing lunches and home facials.

They enjoyed the comforts of home in a land covered with snow, in a

brief world that allowed the kids and parents of two families to have a

weeklong slumber party under the same condo roof.

The Wests and Thomases both have children at TeWinkle Middle School,

which meant they had coinciding time off for President’s Day. They chose

to caravan to Mary Thomas’ mother’s cabin because the two families had

made a similar trip to the ski resort and loved it.

“Everywhere you turned, you saw people you knew,” said Mary Thomas, a

pharmacist at Fairview Developmental Center, of other TeWinkle families

spotted at Mammoth.

Juliet West, who works with cosmetics at Bloomingdale’s, said the

families’ similarities made everyone get along.

“My daughter and her daughter are the same age, our son is the same

age as their son,” said West.

Taylor West, 11, and her friend Jennifer Thomas, also 11, spent most

the trip skiing and snowboarding together, as they were old enough to

venture off on their own with a map.

The boys -- Ryan West, 6, Kevin Thomas, 10 and 6-year-old Matthew

stayed with the mothers most the time, as the two youngest ones needed

help learning how to ski.

The adults took turns baby-sitting the kids, so whichever couple

wanted time alone could hit the slopes together. The two families also

met up with other vacationers from Newport-Mesa and skied the same

routes.

At night, the Wests and Thomases cooked dinner together and stayed in

watching the Winter Olympics on television. West also gave the girls

manicures, mud masks and other beauty treatments that make staying up

with friends fun.

“I even have pictures of the girls in the mud masks,” West said.

Mary Thomas and Juliet West agreed that the weather was perfect for

skiing, even on days when it constantly snowed.

“It’s a fun experience with all the families,” West said.

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to Travel Tales, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail young.chang@latimes.com; or fax to

(949) 646-4170.