Saturday, January 10, 2009

A Big Time in Big Bear!

I am really starting to like Big Bear Lake; it is about 2.5 to 3 hours from our house (depending on traffic). In the winter is a very popular ski/snow board resort, in the summer the huge lake is a perfect place to spend a lazy day enjoying cocktails on a pontoon boat.

My first visit was during the summer, when Bonnie and I went to visit at the beautiful cabin of our friends Chris and Van (you can read more about this visit in an earlier post on this blog called “Big Bear” August 2008).

This time, I drove up (along with Bonnie, Martye and Van (Chris joined us later)) on December 30th and we had a great time over the New Year’s holiday. An usually heavy snow fall a few weeks ago turned the area in to a snow covered wonderland, along with slippery sidewalks and tricky driving, but it was worth it!

We spent time at the ski slopes watching our friends ski from the comfort of an outdoor deck at the base. We did not bring gear (frankly Bonnie and I do not have gear) so we did not join in. Neither one of us really knows how to ski well, but Van has offered to teach me how to snow board and I think I may take him up on it!

New Years Eve and brunch the morning after was huge fun, we hosted by Janet (a friend of Chris/Vans and now ours). What really made the evening fun was the amazing collection of people that were there. It seems that Big Bear is a magnet for unusual personalities. In no particular order there was:

- A Russian lion tamer who used to travel with Cirque de Solai

- A palates instructor who counted Sting and many other celebrities among her clients

- A partner from a San Diego law firm which is called Mo-Fo

- A delightful older woman named Georgette who I later found out drives one of the local snow plows

- A vocalist who has performed with musicians ranging from Huey Lewis to Bette Midler, who was also a member of the screen actor guild (SAG) and gave us the lowdown on all the new movies coming out, and who was also prone to burst into song at any moment many time sounding a bit like Ethel Merman.

Photos are below; I can’t wait to see what happens on our next visit to big Bear!

Happy 2009 Everybody!





A House Full Of Fun

We had a lot of visitors this Christmas, and they did not include Jacob Marley (or even Bob Marley). Unlike Scrooge we were happy to see our visitors.

Near the end of December my little brother Nathan and my sister in law Shannon came for a weekend. We had a good time showing them the town.

On December 14th my sister Morgan (or Martye as I call her) arrived for a multi week visit that has become part of Bonnie and my Christmas tradition.

Next came the P’s, Nate and B.J., they arrived the same evening that I got back from a business trip in Dubai. I am amazed at how much of San Diego we covered in just a weekend with them. We went to the coast, up in the mountains to see snow and to the San Diego Zoo (many people have told me I belong a zoo, now Bonnie and I are members,).

We did manage to fit on one decent sized party with 18-20 friends over, we had a great time.

The house seems kinda quiet now, but we are re-adjusting…….