Big Bear

I can't believe how fast the event flew by and we had to tear ourselves away to return to the El Cajon Elks Lodge where Don Smith who we met here 3 weeks ago was waiting to welcome us back!!

We managed to get out of San Diego but not until we'd enjoyed another evening at the Elks Lodge with Rey and Don followed by an impromptu and very enjoyable couple of hours with a couple Kimberley and Bob and Kim's Mum.

This was one of those happy encounters we have. Somebody asks if that's your RV, where you are headed and the next thing we're talking fulltiming like a couple of preachers spreading the word!! We reluctantly tore ourselves away as everyone had to go home!

Next morning we filled up the fuel tank, emptied the black and grey, hitched up the car and headed in a vague direction of north!

I had plotted a route on the GPS to get us thru Lakeside to Warner Springs then up thru Hemet to Big Bear. The GPS being a literal creature takes you to the exact center of a town if you set that town as a via point. Unfortunately I decided to delete Warner Springs thinking the GPS would just continue on up the small roads to Hemet. The GPS (who we call Nagging Maggie) decided instead to take us all the way back to I-15 and we ended up taking that to Hemet before dropping back on smaller roads to Yucaipa and Big Bear City. Nice roads. I-15 wasn't too bad and it was raining most of the way so maybe there was a better plan for us than the one we had in mind.

So why Big Bear?

The tree hides the cabin from view.

 Our great San Diego friends Tammy and Chris have a cabin there. They love to ski and use it all winter. At other times they let their friends use it. We are fortunate to be their friends!

Very cozy inside.

As there wasn't enough space at the cabin for the RV we left that at the Big Bear Elks Lodge )with their permission and for a donation). That was only good until Thursday however as the Lodge was HQ for a big Jeep Jamboree from Friday and the whole parking lot was going to be cordoned off for that event.

Camping spot at the Elks Lodge

Some research came up with a National Forest Service campground a few miles away which had partial hookups and room for our rig. We used our Senior Pass to the National Parks to get 50% off the cost. What a deal!!

Big Bear Lake

Exploring the area was next on the agenda and once we get settled into the cabin that's what we did. We have been to this area before. Back in 2010 my two sisters and my Brother in Law came over from UK and we spent several weeks exploring California from San Diego to Lake Tahoe. We had a timeshare trade for a condo in Lake Arrowhead, which is about 30 miles from Big Bear.

There is still snow on the higher peaks. Big Bear is at 7,000'

It hasn't changed much since then, very clean and tidy. As we drove to Arrowhead and around Arrowhead Lake. Happy memories came flooding back.

Arrowhead Village

The Village lake shore.

All great fun but towards the last couple of days the dreaded “Hitch Itch” http://banbrv.blogspot.com/2014/12/scratch-it-where-it-itches.html started to kick in and we were both counting down the hours before we were due to leave!

Arrowhead Lake Boat Tours