A Weekend Get-Away to Big Bear Lake, California

A couple of weekends ago we picked up our niece S, and took her on a little mini-vacay with us to beautiful Big Bear, California.

Though we'd already had a few weeks of warm weather in our desert valley, on the drive up into the mountains we passed several large fields of snow, and stopped at one so our poor deprived-of-snow kids could get out and throw some snowballs.

Big Bear is a gorgeous little mountain town in Southern California best known for great snow skiing in the winter and water sports on Big Bear Lake in the summer.

Oh, and the camping up there is superb. In the summer, the fresh mountain air smells of pine and and tends to be at least 20 degrees cooler than the desert where we live, and at most of the campgrounds, you're far enough from roadways to hear only the sounds of nature.

For these reasons and more, it's been a favorite destination of our family for years.

While there, we usually have to take a trip to the Moonridge Zoo.



For years, the small, privately funded facility has rescued orphaned wildlife or rehabbed injured animals.

We arrived at feeding time in the Red Fox habitat. The zookeepers hide the meat (chicken legs), inside boxes with small openings so that the foxes are forced to root around for their food and dig it out much like they would do if they were looking for rodents in the wild.



What cracked up the kids was that the foxes couldn't seem to relax while eating their food, because they could see the wolf 'pups' next door, pacing around on the other side of the fence separating their enclosures, and so were wolfing down eating their food as quickly as they could lest it somehow be taken from them.



Here is a coyote on high alert.



Cousin S really liked the big cats exhibits, particularly this snow leopard which lifted it's head momentarily for a look at us but went right back to his nap before I could get a photo.



Here we visited the Mountain Lions.

This one seemed to be saying, "Ew...you stink!"



"Here, let me give you a bath."



"Ahhh, much better."



We watched the grizzlies for quite a while. To a child of Judah's age and disposition, there is something thrilling and yet terrifying about getting that close to big, scary wild animals, even those separated by fences.

I suppose the fact that you could smell their natural, wild smell added much to the experience from his perspective, as he clung to Jeff's neck the entire time we were there.

This grizzly got up to leave because it was feeling a bit crowded and wanted some space from his brother, and so moved to his own place in the sun.



Brother bear, missing his warm, soft pillow, followed along and snuggled right back up to him in his newly scouted out spot.



This is perhaps my favorite photo from the zoo.

Can you see what it is? It's VERY well camoflauged. (You may need to right click on the photo to enlarge it.)



That log looking thing between the two tree limbs? A bobcat. About twice the size of a normal housecat, but with thicker, more powerful legs and paws.

I wouldn't want to tangle with one in the wild, that's for sure.

Then we got to the bird exhibits.

The owls all sleep in plastic dog houses burrows which keep out the elements, namely the snow, and are therefore much easier for the zookeepers to keep clean.



This barn owl had a little perch in the top of his habitat, as his type of owl is more accustomed to hanging out up high.

I would almost swear that this owl was speaking to me in Joe Peschi's voice, "Are you lookin' at me?





Here was a very large California Golden Eagle.



I tried to get a photo of the Bald Eagles nearby, but it didn't turn out.

One had somehow injured one of it's eyes, which left the eyeball devoid of the cornea and pupil rendering it a very faint grayish white yet still able to move around wherever the eagle looked. The result was that the eagle, which was hopping around on his talons at the bottom of the exhibit, looked at you with a very blank 'eagle eye' stare.

Which really freaked out Judah. "I don't wike dat zombie eagowl!"

:: :: :: ::

Not far from the Moonridge Zoo is one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, La Montana. (The n should have that little ~ thing above it, but I can never remember how to get it there.)

It meets our criteria for good Mexican food: It's rather rustic inside, they make their beans from scratch (with lard), and the place is always hopping. We're pretty sure that is because they make some of the most delicious chile rellenos we know of. They also keep replenishing your tables with their addicting chips & salsa to the point that you end up taking most of your entree home with you. Delicioso!

Another fun place to visit while in Big Bear is Pine Knot Village. This is an area consisting of all kinds of wonderful shops, galleries, a few restaurants, coffee shops and even a movie theater.

The shops are spaced out so perfectly that the boys never feel like we're shopping, and therefore don't drag their feet or complain when we go into 'boring' shops (the ones mom likes, lol). We just poke around in all the shops and everyone has fun.

This area is also home to the best ice cream/candy shoppe in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was rather chilly outside while we were there and the shop owner was shoveling snow away from the front entrance, but we noticed that it didn't stop too many tourists from having an ice cream cone while window shopping in the area.

Normally we would have done just that, but we'd already passed the bakery which was down the street and around the corner, and which sells raspberry, cherry or apple turnovers. Those just sounded better to us that particular day. Decisions, decisions.

While Jeff and the kids wended their way through several souvenier type stores, I meandered through the nearby quilt shop and other crafty, home-decor type places. Ahhh...bliss. The ideas alone made it all worth the trip.

One of the art galleries there boasted a 'taxidermied' Dr. Seuss character that was mounted in much the same way as an 8 point buck's head (we weren't allowed to take photos, sorry). It was amusing to say the least. And sorry, no...it was not a Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz.

This same gallery also had some beautiful Bev Doolittle prints in which the artist masterfully camoflauges wildlife and sometimes Native American images in among nature scenes...so well that you really have to look at them to finally see the wild horses among the birch trees or the bears among a pile of large rocks. (If you click on the link, her 'hide and seek' series are the ones to which I refer.)

There were also some Thomas Kinkade special edition paintings that incorporated Disney characters like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and The Princess and the Frog and even Pinnochio into the fanciful scenes. This perfect 'marriage' of art forms was such that I could envision a pretty spectacular girls bedroom decor theme around any one of the scenes a.) if I had a daughter, and b.) if they were they not quite so spendy.

Towards the end of 'the strip' of shops, there is an old converted filling station where folks can take old-time carriage or stagecoach rides around the village behind a draft horse, or have old-timey photos taken indoors.

Incidentally, this was where Judah went rushing out to pet the goat that was tied up outside. He got right down beside it, and the carriage owner called out, "That might not be such a good idea. That goat might butt him!"



Surprisingly Thankfully, we got out of there unscathed, and went inside to have our photo taken.

The kids all voted in favor of the Roaring 20's style clothing.

I think that was because Cousin S found out she could dress like a flapper, and because Jericho got to hold a Tommy Gun.

The man who runs the studio was a congenial fellow (dressed in old-time attire) who was kind enough to allow us to play around with our own cameras behind the scenes while he answered a stream of customer inquiries at the counter.

He even suggested a couple of fun poses like these.















I'm pretty sure this was permitted only because our boys took such an instant liking to his delightful canine Chester.



Chester knew several tricks, but perhaps the most endearing was that he would high-five you for a treat.

The fact that he would lie on the floor beside them and plop his weary head into their laps like he'd known them for years may have also contributed to their instant bond, because they really wanted to take that doggie home!

The portrait we had taken there was copyrighted and therefore can't be shown here, but we took plenty of our own photos and I must say, they all turned out pretty cute.











After having exhausted ourselves exploring Big Bear that weekend, we headed for home.

We always know it's been a good trip anywhere when Judah is out cold moments after buckling into his car seat.



This was the gorgeous scenery at a scenic pullout on the way down the mountain.





A lovely way to end a lovely weekend.