Goog snowshoe and skiing destination on I-90?

So I am taking my mom out into the backcountry for the first time in her life snowshoing and i will be on my AT setup. She has no winter backcountry experience and very very little snowshoe experience, But is very fit and goes on 5+ mile hikes every day. She expressed the desire to try snoeshoing last year, so she borrowed a set of snowshoes and we are planning on driving up to snoqualmie pass tomorrow and doing some hiking around. So my question is where would a beginner snowshoer enjoy that would also provide some nice turns on skis? I was thinking the commonwealth basin since i am pretty familiar with it, or the alpental basin up to snow lake, but im not sure what the coverage is like going up there. Appreciate any suggestion, Jack.

Commonwealth is a good choice, but the valley bottom isn't really much fun for turns. Were you thinking of heading up to Red? Cave Ridge? Kendall?

Assuming that you both want to be conservative:

* Red is fun for a skier, but probably not a great choice for a snowshoer on her first outing.
* Maybe North Ridge to summit of Red, staying in the trees and avoiding the steep, open slopes?
* Cave Ridge via standard route is fun enough; there are some short shots on top for you and it would be fun for snowshoeing.
* Snow Lake is a pretty good choice if the snowpack is really super bomber.
* Kendall area, but not the peak, is a good choice is the snowpack is really super bomber.

Won't you be too busy seeing to her food and drinks to focus on turns?

It's not much for turns, but I was going to suggest just cruising up the Kendall road out of the Gold Creek SnoPark... the one that leaves right near the highway. You may find some skiable shots up near the upper part, but mostly you'd be cruising a well-traveled road with your mom. Would be a good low-key introduction to it for her, since off-trail travel with our current snowpack, on skis or snowshoes, can be a little nasty.

If she doesn't have them already, make sure she has a pair of poles. Sounds like a hoot! I took my folks to Chinook pass one year and did the same kind of thing, they had a blast.