To continue my narrative on my short vacation I pick back up after Part 1 with Flor and myself's decision to venture out to Big Bear a day early. We decided to leave Sunday afternoon and drive up to The Frontier Lodge right on the banks of Big Bear Lake. The weather report called for highs of 50 on Monday and 45 on Tuesday with a dusting snow coming in Tuesday morning. I was real excited as Flor hasn't seen much snow in her life and I wanted to be there with her when she saw real snow. Checking into our hotel Sunday night was welcomed after the long day and our long ride.
Monday morning came and we mightily fought the urge to sleep in and we got up around 9:30. We went out to a local board shop and I bought my annual addition to my snowboarding gear collection (this year it was boarding pants) and we rented the rest of our equipment. After a hearty breakfast at this awesome little, and I stress little breakfast joint we headed off to Snow Summit for an afternoon of quality mountain sporting. It took us both a little while to get the handle on the boards under our feet but we both got it pretty good.
Flor did fall quite a bit more than me at first as we frolicked on the bunny slopes but eventually we both were able to go up the lift and down the hill side without falling. I even got so bold as to bring the camera out onto the slopes and snap a few pictures without falling. Check them out below. Anyway I was so happy just spending the day outdoors with my girl.
Monday morning came and we mightily fought the urge to sleep in and we got up around 9:30. We went out to a local board shop and I bought my annual addition to my snowboarding gear collection (this year it was boarding pants) and we rented the rest of our equipment. After a hearty breakfast at this awesome little, and I stress little breakfast joint we headed off to Snow Summit for an afternoon of quality mountain sporting. It took us both a little while to get the handle on the boards under our feet but we both got it pretty good.
Flor did fall quite a bit more than me at first as we frolicked on the bunny slopes but eventually we both were able to go up the lift and down the hill side without falling. I even got so bold as to bring the camera out onto the slopes and snap a few pictures without falling. Check them out below. Anyway I was so happy just spending the day outdoors with my girl.
After trying my hand on the bunny slopes I decided to be brave and I went down the Intermediate slopes a few times while Flor tuckered out and game way to the picnic tables and camera to take some video of me sliding into the base of the mountain. I must say, looking at the footage I look like I'm going much slower than I thought I was going at the time. :)
Finally leaving the slopes we decided to finish the afternoon with a little Sushi. I tried my very first raw oyster. (Thanks mom for warming me up in my youth with cooked oysters) It was really good. And then Flor and I watched three chick flicks, ordered a pizza, and built a fire right in our hotel room. The fire was quite an ordeal in and of itself. We even managed to catch most of it on film. It is kind of sad that it was so hard to light a fire even with an easy light firewood block. Ohh well, as much as I'd like it to be so, I'm not a burly mountain man. Of course in the video Flor does mention how manly I am. Yeah! Score! Mountain Man Mounts! :)
Anyway, eventually the next day on Tuesday we woke up and began preparing ourselves for a long ride back to San Diego when to our surprise the "dusting of snow" that we were expecting ended up being a big time snow storm. Apparently Weather.com got it wrong and a storm from the the Northwest ended up diving quite a bit further south than was to be expected and the temperature fell into the mid 20's and our dusting turned into 6 inches or so of snow. Don't get me wrong I was thrilled to experience that with Flor as it was her first snow storm but man it made it tough coming down the mountain side.
The whole way down we watch car after car and truck after truck go sliding off roads and getting stuck in ice patches. We saw many accidents and a lot of close calls. I am happy to report however that yours truly made it down the 35 mile mountain road in a little over two hours and didn't once spin the wheels, fishtail, or slide of the side of the road. I was virtually flawless and though it was a tense ride we had a marvelous time and even caught a little video of a truck stuck in the snow during a heavy downfall. Good times and I can't wait to go again. Until next time.
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