Big Bear Lake

A few months ago, Todd signed up to ride the 50 mile Tour de Big Bear at Big Bear, California.  The ride starts at 7,000 feet altitude in the mountains and has a 3,000 feet climb.  In order to get there a couple of days before and acclimate to the thinner air, we decided to make a trip out of it and have some fun.

We left around noon on Thursday 8/3.  We stopped at a Burger King in San Bernadino around 2:20pm.  It was 103 degrees Farenheit!  Hot! 

Then we proceeded into the mountains.  In the middle of the mountains, about 20 min from San Bernadino, it suddenly started pouring rain and the temps dropped from 103 degrees to 60!! It was coming down hard.  We had to take it really slowly around the bends in the mountains.

Around 3:45, we arrived at our destination at Big Bear Lake.  We stayed at the Knickerbocker Mansion Inn, a very charming B&B. 

This was the lobby/living room.

We found out that we got upgraded to the Mansion Suite due to a double-booking error on our original room.  Score!

The view from our private deck was gorgeous.  Woods and lake.

We walked to dinner at Saucy Mama's in the village, 3 blocks away. 

On the way there, we saw the Mountain Top Strings of California performing.  They are kids 8-18, playing classical music.  They were really good!

At Saucy Mama’s, we shared a Caesar salad and a pizza.  I really liked the pizza!

Afterwards we went next door to North Pole Fudge & Ice Cream, because you get 10% off with a Saucy Mama's receipt.

Hmm.  Does anyone here look excited about the fudge??

We got caramel pecan fudge, dark & milk chocolate turtles, and dark & milk chocolate caramels. Yum!

On the walk back to the inn, we saw some weird clouds, and the moon.

The next day (Friday), we woke up around 6am to sounds of nature.  Woodpeckers right outside our windows!  And many other birds chirping.  We hung out in our room for a bit and watched some TV.

Around 8:45 we went down to the bistro for breakfast.  I had the frittata with bacon, spinach, and goat cheese.

They also had blueberry scones with orange butter.  Todd had the Jambalaya for breakfast, because he hates breakfast food, LOL.

Around 10:30 we went on a 2 mile hike around North Big Bear Lake.  It was such a beautiful day, with temps in the low 70’s.

Big Bear is a big winter destination for skiing.  See the alpine area in the mountains?  It’s usually covered with snow and there are several ski resorts.

We ate at Taco Bell for lunch, because we were having an early dinner and didn’t want to make a big deal out of lunch.  Guess who was not excited about Taco Bell?

After lunch, we drove down the street to the Robinhood Resort to pick up Todd’s race packet and race shirt.

Per bike race/ride tradition, Todd usually bakes some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and brings them on his bike.  We stopped by Sister My Sister Bake Shop to get choco chip cookies.  Todd also picked up a cinnamon roll for breakfast the next morning before his race, while I picked up a honey lavender cupcake!

After we got back to the inn, Todd sat outside on our deck and attempted to read, but fell asleep.

After some rest, it was time to walk down to the village for dinner!  I loved the view walking down Knickerbocker Lane.

Todd wanted to carbo-load, so we ate Italian dinner at Sweet Basil Bistro. 

Todd had linguine with marinara and Italian sausage.

I had smoked salmon salad.  It was yummy!

We walked back on Village Drive and it was so pretty. 

We watched TV, read books, and rested.  Todd’s bike race was the next day!