Well, it’s finally here. Winter, that dark grey mistress, has finally taken hold across broad swaths of these United States, and in most places they’re predicting a season equally as bad as the last. Hopefully you all took advantage of those short, warm months to stock up on sunshine, pineapple and good karma – you’ll need it for this trip past March.

Or maybe you’re like my friend Jon, a native New Englander who has the right idea about winter and is actually looking forward to the season that’s great for skiing and other outdoor adventure. It’s hard to concede, but, with the right preparation and context, spending time in the snow can actually be fun. It’s just a matter of picking the right destination and fortifying yourself against the cold. And it doesn’t have to be about skiing either – plenty of destinations have a fair share of activities for those numb to adventure sports.

Here are a few ideas for your winter vacations.

You’ve probably already seen a Montana ad on a billboard near your home town, but I have to hand it to them – they’ve got a great product to pitch. Montana is the land of Big Sky, and the first night after you land in Bozeman, Billings or Missoula you’ll know what I mean. Head up to Glacier National Park for the most spectacular landscape in the state as the massive American Rockies smash into the Canadian glaciers and wildlife. It’s an amazing site to see regardless of the season.

Montana’s also got a great spot for skiing at (you guessed it) Big Sky Resort outside of Bozeman. Big Sky rises out of the surrounding, Montana flatness like an iceberg pushing out of the Antarctic Ocean, and it’s a great spot to get some big mountain skiing in from a unique point of view.

For those on the east coast and more tied to a 9-5 schedule. Vermont and New Hampshire are easily within striking distance of New York City and Boston. A great way to sneak up to the mountains for a weekend is via Cape Air, which will fly you from White Plains (HPN) airport up into the Appalachians for a couple of hundred dollars. The best part of their service is that they also offer free limo transportation between 35th street and 8th avenue up to HPN so you don’t even have to worry about transportation from Manhattan.

West coasters can alternatively consider the playground on the California-Nevada border known as Lake Tahoe. Properties here are swank, activities are many and the snow is deep – not just two-feet-deep but twenty-feet-avalanche-time-deep. This is the first place where we’ve actually had to dig a tunnel out of our rental property to get to Heavenly resort down the street, and the experience was thrilling. Lake Tahoe is also haloed with myriad small cute towns and condo associations, so you should have no shortage of activities or inspirations. Just make sure to plan your air travel in advance – passage from San Francisco or Reno can be time consuming.

Don’t forget that you can book a Homewood Suites in nearly all of the above destinations. Bozeman has a cozy property in the heart of their old town while New England has a property in Dover, Manchester and Portsmouth respectively. There’s also a Homewood Suites in Reno, which is the closest airport to Lake Tahoe.