Spring in Big Bear

We had an excursion to Big Bear this past weekend. The town is about a 2-hour drive from Irvine, approximately 6000 feet above sea level. It is considered the closest location for skiing in the winter for us locals. In the summer, it’s a nice spot for hiking and a short weekend getaway. The last time I was here is at least 3 years ago. One of my friends had a weekend home here and I stayed with her couple times before. It was always enjoyable, as her place had a nice mountain view of the skiing slop. I figure it is time for a revisit. Besides, I couldn’t resist a deal, we stayed at the Worldmark timeshare. I got a spacious 2-bedroom for $60 on a Saturday night.

It was Mother’s Day weekend. Mom is up at Minnesota visiting my other siblings, so I didn’t have the Mother’s Day brunch obligation this year. I extended an invitation to Brenda’s family to bring along the kids. But they opted for Disneyland instead. It was their last weekend using their annual passes to Disneyland before the summer blackout dates! Instead, we brought Boo Boo with us on this trip.

Upon our arrival at the timeshare, our lake view room was not ready yet. So we rented a pontoon for our own cruise around the lake. I packed a picnic for lunch. There were plenty of duckies on the lake, waiting to share our snack. It must be mating season, as we always see them in pair around us! It was a great 2 hour tour, definitely more than sufficient time for a bit of R&R. There are many big lakefront homes. But they all seem to be empty, not sure if it is the real estate slum or just weekend home.

You can see in one of the pictures, snow still caps some of the mountain peaks. So when we were not under full sun, it was chilly! Tom was deciding if he should fish or not. But he didn’t have any fresh water fishing equipment. He claimed all his fishing gears are for REAL fishing on the open sea. I have to agree after seeing some of the fishing poles other used; they are much smaller in scale.

We browsed around the little town for a bit. Tom was in the pub playing along with couple musicians on an old piano while I browsed through the local scrapbook store. Yes, still having the high from the scrapbooking retreat. It was relatively quiet, not as I remembered from previous trips here. But it could be the fact that I was here in December when the weather was much colder and people were in a holiday spirit. On the other hand, this could be the economy???

We ended the day quietly with a sunset drive around the lake and BBQ steaks on the balcony of our timeshares, watching the dusky sky setting on the lake. Let’s say it this way, there wasn’t much of nightlife here. And we are not the nightlife people anyway. The next morning, we went for a walk. We tried to figure out if anyone actually caught any fish. Only one person out of the many we passed. At least, the walk is very enjoyable. Once again, we had a nice break and Tom told me once every 3 years is a good frequency…okie dokie…

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