Southern Cal snow

January 29th, 2007 · No Comments

One of Aimee’s Christmas presents to me this year was a weekend in Big Bear (emphasis on “Big” when said, like “Big Lake”), for a little winter weekend getaway. Until now, our time in Los Angeles has felt, weather-wise, like an extended summer vacation, lasting six months (as of tomorrow, actually). With this trip, unaided by a long-distance flight, we were able to see real snow on the ground, bundle up with justification, and enjoy a cozy weekend at a great bed and breakfast. It took a little longer than expected to get there (at four hours, it took twice as long to get there as to get back…), but once we did, we had a great time and didn’t do much more than relax.

We enjoyed the hospitality of the b&b, especially the friendly Qila, the house Alaskan Klee Kai. Being from Alaska, I was surprised I’d never heard of the breed, but we were a pretty Airedale-centric household, and the Klee Kai are a pretty recent breed. Anyway, Qila was a bundle of fun, and we had a great time playing with her.



The house, an 80 year-old home that is now a 7-room inn, was a great place to spend the weekend, and our “Cozy Pine Suite” was really nice. Really, I mean nine pillows on the bed, stove in the corner, jacuzzi nice. We were in good company, as well, judging from the wall of signed head shots in the kitchen: Kenny G, James Brolin, and Larry from “Three’s Company,” among others.



On Saturday, we went for a great little hike along a trail in the state forest, with our trusty guide brochure telling us about the trees, plants, and views we were seeing along the way. It was nice to get out into the fresh air and away from people, cars, noise, and everything else.

Big tree

That night, we had a nice meal at one of the local restaurants, and thought about what it would be like to live there year-round. I’m always intrigued by life in these resort towns; I couldn’t get a feel for what this one was really like, though. It didn’t feel much like Aspen or Vail, nor did it strike me as similar to Stowe or Jackson or any of those places. I guess it’s the Southern California influence, but I felt like it couldn’t figure out whether to be hippie or Harley, and the town itself, at least the parts we saw, didn’t have much of a personality. If there isn’t a brewpub and a homemade gourmet pizza joint there yet, there’s a killing to be made some day soon.

Big Bear Lake

More photos here.

Tags: Los Angeles · Travel