Big Bear Lakeis located in the San Bernadino National Forest and is a large all-season resort for the residents of Southern California, There is boating and swimming in the lake, ski resorts in the winter and numerous hiking trails. Today we chose to do a 4 mile hike on the Cougar Crest Trail with Mike & San near Big Bear Lake. Since we walk a 2 mile loop around our neighborhood daily we figured 4 miles couldn't be that bad. Plus we walked 4 miles on the Santa Rosa Plateau back in March. You can read about the trail here.
There are no highways to get to Big Bear lake, just two roads, both wind through the mountains with many "switchbacks" or hairpin turns. We were told that often during the winter the roads are closed due to snow, and the people living there cannot get out until the roads are cleared. If you happen to be away from your house off the mountain, you would have to have some place to stay until the road clears and you can get back home. Snow can get to be 5 feet high!. Sounds more difficult than living in New England.
We stopped to view the scenery on the way. We are obscuring the lake.
With us out of the way you can see the lake in the distance
After some more treacherous driving, we get to the base of the lake
Big Bear Trails. The above photo was take where the red arrow points. Clickto make bigger
The elevation of the lake and town is about 6,800 feet high. That is over 1 mile high and the air is a little thin.
Starting the hike.
We didn't think about the thin air until we reached the trail head and started our hike. Breathing was a little arduous
in the beginning and we had to take it slow. Then we started the
climb. OMG!, I never anticipated the effect of both the altitude and
the elevation climb. But it seemed that after about 1/2 hour we got used to it and got our "second wind" after stopping at the well placed benches along the trail at the scenic overlooks.
Mike & Elly Resting & enjoying the scenery. Arrow is where we started!
We continued on to the summit taking many scenic photos. We also saw a few other hikers either coming or going including a large contingent of well outfitted Japanese hikers, mountain bikers going up & down the trail, people hiking with their dogs, and some very in-shape athletes actually running UP the trail!
Panorama view from the Trail. Click to make bigger
View across the lake from the trail.
Or you can just watch the video
After a little over 2 hours of hiking uphill, we finally reached the summit of the Cougar Crest Trail where it connects with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). You can read more about the PCT here and here.
Here is proof that we made it to the top
After we reached the PCT intersection, we stopped on the benches so graciously provided by the Park Service, ate the sandwiches that San made, ate the snacks and chatted with the other hikers and mountain bikers that passed by. My pedometer read 5000 steps (approx 2.1 miles) before we turned around and headed down.
The trip down was less strenuous and only took a little over 1 hour, but we were tired and glad we had reached the parking lot. We took the long way back to Redlands through the San Bernadino National Forest. We had a great dinner and great conversation at Mike & San's house before leaving for home. We were exhausted and decided that we would not get up early for Estate sales tomorrow.
Debbie was house sitting for the people who own the stables where she boards her horses. So she decided to invite us over today (not really Memorial Day) for a picnic. She and Tony each own a horse, Buddy and Aria. They ride them just about every Sunday on the trails in the area.
Aria & Buddy loose in the Field
Elly had fun interacting with the horses and feeding them. You know Elly likes all animals even turtles!
Debbie, Aria & Elly
Elly & Aria
Elly feeding the pet turtle
The yard had a tangerine tree (yum) and and apricot tree along with a pet turtle. It was too cold to go swimming in the pool, so we just sat around chatting and having a few beers with the hamburgs, potato salad and strawberry shortcake. It was a fun way to spend a beautiful day.
"Wish I had a Pony": Throughout our lives we have often met people who were dissatisfied with their lot in life. They always wished that somehow their lives had been different. Children especially often wanted more than they had or were able to obtain. Most often these "wishes" were beyond the impossible or based on an unlikely outcome Our response would be "and I wish I had a pony", knowing full well that this would never happen! Read more about "ponies" here.
On the way to the Flower Field for Mother's Day, we passed a Swap Meet in Oceanside that seemed really big. So today we decided to go see it since it was open on Saturday & Sunday. Well when we got there it seems that the BIG day is Sunday! Saturday had only about 1/10 the number of vendors. Oh well, we looked around anyway, bought a few things and decided that we will come back on a Sunday!
Since we had also planned to visit Fallbrook, and it was on our way home, we took the back roads from Oceanside to Fallbrook. More info about Fallbrook here. It seems that they grow a lot of vegetables and other things in the Oceanside/Fallbrook Area. We passed one field of sage that was in full bloom and was being picked by the workers.
Field of Sage being Harvested
Further down the road we stopped at a turn out to take a few pictures of the valley below.
Fallbrook Panorama (Click to make bigger)
Downtown Fallbrook was real cute with shops, restaurants and antique shops.
After lunch we decided to take the back way home through De Luz to find a hiking trail that we wanted to hike in the near future. We found the trail head and hiked in about a 1/2 mile just to walk off the calories from lunch. The full hike is about 5-6 miles and parallels the Santa Margarita River in Fallbrook. It looks like it would be a good hike.
Trail Head
Elly on the Trail
The start of the trail
The Santa Margarita River. Its a little dry.
After our short 1/2 mile walk, we dove home the back way and ended going UP the road that I mentioned in an earlier post as the "road that drops off the plateau". It was a very fun and adventuresome day!
Picked up this frog fountain for the atrium a few weeks ago. It was in horrendous shape and needed a lot of work. I finally put it together to see if it would work. Elly still needs to paint it. But it does work!
Got up early to go to some yard sales today in Lake Elsinore. Didn't buy much today, not very many interesting items available. While we were driving around we stopped to watch some guys fishing in Lake Elsinore. Its not a very pretty lake but the scenery is cool with the mountains in the background. We asked what type of fish they catch, they said that they catch "fish"!. But afterwards he said mostly carp. They bottom fish using corn meal as bait. Didn't see anyone catch anything though.
Fishing at Lake Elsinore
Afterwards we decided to hit the Temecula Farmers Market to get a few things and some spices at the Temecula Spice Market for Dad's beef jerky recipe. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are now in season along with strawberries. We also saw the first signs of cherry season which starts this week or next and lasts only a few weeks.
Blueberries, Blackberries and Strawberries in Season
Old Town Temecula was hosting the Old Town Temecula Western Days with staged re-enactments of old cowboy stuff. We thought it was a little "corny".
Today was the day that we scheduled to pick up the bed we bought last week for the guest room. We had to be in Moreno Valley by 12:00 so we decided to stop in and check out a US Department of Treasury Auction in Riverside. Here is their website. US Treasury Auctions. It turned out that it was only 10 minutes from where we had to pick up the bed. The auction started at 9:00, but we arrived late and the bidding was already started.We saw items going from anywhere from $30 to $55,000.
One lot of 85 cases of Hennessy VSOP Privelege Cognac sold for $31,000. The catalog states that "these cannot be used for commercial purposes and is intended for personal consumption only" Ya right! Do they expect you to drink all 85 cases, or maybe invite all your friends over and get drunk?
We were waiting to see what lot #87 would sell for since it took up 16 pages in the catalog and consisted solely of 1591 pallets (approx 34,655 cartons) of "Wearing Apparel". Watch this video to see what happens.
We had to leave to go get the bed, but on the way out we ran into Dan & Laura Dotson, the auctioneers from the extremely popular A&E TV Show "Storage Wars". We chatted for a moment and they were gracious enough to pose for a picture with me. They are very nice folks!
Steve with Laura & Dan Dotson from "Storage Wars"
After picking up the bed which included totally dismantling it because it is a reclining bed and was too heavy to move, we headed home for a swim in the condo pool. It was 90 degrees today, so the pool felt nice.
We were invite to join Elly's cousins on their excursion to The Flower Fields in Carlsbad to celebrate Mothers Day. We met them there around 10:00 and had no problem finding a place to park. The weather was a little overcast from the marine layer but we expected it to burn off soon. Since Joyce has trouble walking, we decided to all take the tractor ride around the fields. There was no wait the get on the tractor ride which has easy handicap access and comfortable bench seats.
Joyce, Meghan, Debbie & Elly at the Flower Fields
Since this was the last day of operation, some of the fields were "past peak" and others were already turned under, nevertheless, the scene was extraordinary. The main attraction were the sloped field ablaze in color from row upon row of flowers. There was one field that was planted in red, white & blue flowers depicting the America Flag. The best view of this would have been from the air.
One of the fields
Another Field
Part of the American Flag
American Flag from the Air
After the tractor ride there were many more flower exhibits including a Rose exhibition and the Bonsai Club exhibiting some of their work.
Around 1:00 it started getting really crowded and the lines for everything were getting a bit long. We were getting a little tired even after we rested for snacks. The plan was to go back to the condo for dinner and general "hanging out". The day was a lot of fun because we planned it right and got there early when there were no crowds.
"Surfer Dude" Sand Sculpture
As we were packing the car to leave, a women asked us "if we got there early?". We told her that we got there around 10:00. She then commented that "this was not way she would have planned to spend Mother's Day!" There were no more parking places and the line to buy tickets must have had over 100 people in it. It seemed that we really did plan the day right and were leaving at just the right time. We had a great time!
Got up early and drove to San Diego for the Scholastic Warehouse Sale. We got there at 8:30 for the sale that began at 9:00. There was nobody around, the signs weren't even up yet. I guess we were first in line!.
Scholastic Book Sale Entrance
At 9:00 they opened and we went right to the "Build a Box" area and filled two boxes. We spent about another hour looking through the stacks, but at only 50% discount, there were no money making opportunities for us so we left.
We decided to go to Encinitas because they had an Estate Sale and we also wanted to go to the other Consignment Store like in San Diego (see earlier post). The Estate Sale was the last day so everything was 1/2 price. Elly bought some beautiful designer outfits and earings. The Consignment Store was great, Elly found a rug that would go great in the condo, but it was too pricey. Afterwards we wanted to see downtown Encinitas and have lunch. After looking on Tripadvisor for restaurants, we pick the #1 restaurant in town: The Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria.
Inside of The Blue Ribbon Pizza Restaurant
We had the "Red Oak" pizza (see the menu). I had a new local beer from Redlands from the Hanger 24 Brewery because they didn't have my favorite (so far) California Local Beer from the Black Market Brewery in Temecula . It may now become my new favorite since they carry it in the Baron's Market near our condo. Lunch was fantastic and we will visit this place and this beach community in the summer.
My new favorite Beer
On our way home, I wanted to find the Seafood Store that I had located on the web. Since we had not found a good place to buy seafood close by, I figured the one in Oceanside is the closest. Here is a review that I found about this place. It was a great place with fresh seafood, Maine lobsters, crawfish, live bluecrabs from Maryland and live dungeness crabs.
Mission Seafood in Oceanside,CA
We bought two pounds of red snapper for later in the week. This will be our source for seafood in the future even though it is 45 minutes from our condo.
We had a long adventure today. First we went to an Estate Sale in Moreno Valley. Not the best of towns, I would rate it one step above San Bernadino. But the Estate Sale was in a good neighborhood. When we got there about 45 minutes early, there was a small line. We were hoping to get in in the first wave because there were a few things Elly wanted. She also gave me instructions to get some Christmas stuff in the outside shed. Well they let in 20 people and we were 24th in line. Luckily, about 5 minutes later they let 6 more people in. Elly got most of what she wanted, I got all the Christmas stuff she wanted and we bought a bed. We have to go back next Wednesday for the bed.
After that sale we decide to go to another sale in Garden Grove, about 1 hour away near Long Beach. We goth there about 1/2 hour early but were about 50th in line. It took about 45 minutes to get in. We bought a few items, but there wasn't much there anyway. We decided to take the long way home, down the coast to Dana Point and then up over the Ortega Highway (see earlier posts) to back home.
First we stopped to see the beach at Huntington Beach, but the marine layer was in and it was damp & cold.
Nice beach front houses at Huntington Beach
So we drove down through Newport Beach, Laguna Beach to Dana Point.
The Strand Beach at Dana Point. The green lots are for sale for only $1.5 million+
Dana Point is one of the places we stayed when we were out here in October. I had heard that they had a funicular here and wanted to find out more about it. "The 8 passenger rail system is a fully automated system without
operators that conforms to all required regulatory codes and provides
service akin to an elevator." The song "Funiculì, Funiculà" was written about the funicular at Mt Vesuvius. Read about it here. The funicular was not running today, it only runs on weekends and then daily after May 30. We will have to come back to try it.
Funicular tracks down to the beach
This is a picture from the net of the funicular in action
After Dana Point, we took the beautiful Ortega Highway through the mountains from Dana Point to Lake Elsinore. Here is a panorama of Lake Elsinore from one of the turnouts on the highway.
Lake Elsinore from the Ortega Highway
We were glad to get back home after a busy day of work & fun!
Oh Ya, Evan called and said that Kevin is landscaping the front yard!
We went to preview the normal Tuesday auction in Mission Hills San Diego because the pictures looked good online. Before we got to the preview we stopped at this great consignment store around the block from the auction gallery. We didn't have much time to spend in the huge store, but Elly bought a painting for the kitchen. Here is their website.
San Diego Consignment Store
The preview was a bust, so we decided to take the long way home through La Jolla and Torrey Pines (the uber expensive areas by the coast). It was getting dark and damp so we didn't stop too long at the beach, but a managed to get a few pictures of some guys surfing. These were taken with a small point & shoot digital camera at dusk.
Surfer Dude riding the "big" one
Pre Wipe-Out!
We also stopped at the glider port that overlooks the beach cliff, but the "marine layer" was moving in so the photo opportunities were not good.
