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Big Bear

Wow, another month has come and gone…not to mention another year!  We spent around 2 weeks up in Big Bear between Christmas break, Christmas, and New Years.   We had family up to the house, hiked a ton, went snowshoeing several times, ate an enormous amount, watched movies and hung out with family.  We had a wonderful break.  I did a bit of work remotely, but for the most part it was R&R.

Two memories I won’t soon forget…  the first one was on Christmas Day.  My wife Nicole and I took our two boys out for a hike/snowshoe.   We went on a fairly tough hike called Cougar Crest, that climbs from around 6500′ up to around 8000′.  The boys got new snowshoes and hiking staffs for Christmas and were eager to use them.  They’d hiked up ahead a bit and as I followed my family up the trail I couldn’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be.  My kids weren’t home playing Xbox or arguing about who gets to use the computer.  Rather they were both out of breath, working hard and loving every minute of it.  There are a few pictures in my gallery above.

The second memory…  I know everyone rings in the New Year in their own fashion, but for us it was a new way, and one we won’t soon forget.  Our home in Big Bear is about 1 mile from the Pacific Crest Trail (a well known trail that runs from Mexico to Canada).  The 2 mile section that is closest crosses the back of the mountains and from the path you can view the desert off the backside.  It’s an incredible view (images below).  Well as it turns out, on New Year’s Eve there was a Blue Moon.  You’ve probably heard that expression “once in a Blue Moon”.  Well a Blue Moon is when there are 2 full moons in one month -and it’s not a common occurance – hence the saying.  In fact the next one won’t be for 19 years I believe. 

Well we hiked out early around 4:00 to get out to the best viewing location to watch that big beautiful moon rise up over the desert.  There were some low lying clouds which made the event even more colorful and awesome.  I took lots of pictures – a few of which are above in the gallery.  Then we waited an hour or two for the moon to get high enough to light our path home in the dark. 

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the ringing in of a New Year!  Happy New Year to everyone – wishing you a great one!

Well I know it’s almost a week since Thanksgiving, but I just got to the video we shot up at our house in Big Bear, California.  We went up Thanksgiving evening and stayed through Sunday evening. 

Friday was cool and nice out, went for a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail and did some visiting with friends in town.  Then got my bike out for an early mountain bike ride early Saturday morning.  Much to our surprise we woke to around an inch of snow and it was starting to pick up.  It snowed all day off and on and again on Sunday for a total of around 8″.

This video shows Dylan sporting his new Innes clothing that Matt/Adam so graciously hooked him up with.

So I didn’t get to go mtn. biking, but we had a great time in the snow and can’t wait to get back up to the house for Christmas!

Too long since I’ve posted on my blog that is! Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 4 or 5 months. I used to be so good at weekly updates. Where has the time gone? It’s almost Halloween for goodness sake!

I know where the time went – into my busy life. I help coach my youngest son’s travel baseball team which practices 3 times per week, and my older son’s team too – which practices once a week and has a game once a week. Throw in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and poof the days just fly by. And that’s without the all consuming work…and my own adventure race training and exercise regime.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way. And let’s be honest – by exercise regime, I mean mountain biking mostly, which I absolutely love to do, so it’s not that rough.

Working at the pub 40-50 hours a week, and doing freelance web design work another 10-20 hours a week. But all that has brought me a step closer to ‘the dream’. The dream for me, if you’re not familiar with ‘it’ – is living in Big Bear, California.

This past June we bought our home in Big Bear after working on that goal for almost 5 years. Now we’re breaking ground on building our garage next to the house, and furnishing it. The home is just outside of Big Bear, in an area called Baldwin Lake. It’s less than 1/2 mile to the Pacific Crest Trail and less than that to National Forest where I can hike, climb and mountain bike to my hearts content. Not to mention Kayaking and playing on the lake with Jet Skiis. “All in good time” my wife constantly reminds me when I become impatient. A wise woman for sure.

Here’s a picture of the view from my front porch:

What else – my daughter is a Junior in High School – doing great. My oldest son Cole is in his first semester at Mira Costa College taking Web Design, Photoshop, Sound Engineering and The History of Rock ‘n Roll. He loves it and is doing super. He was accepting to the Art Institute in San Diego next year for their Production program (sound, web, video – all things electronic and cool).

Nic is doing super, working and working out. She’s the glue of course, keeping it all going, on track and on time. Love her so much!

If you’re looking for more me (can’t imagine), I’m on facebook at:  Facebook  and there’s lots of pictures of what we’ve been up to!

If you’ve followed my blog at all, you know we’ve been trying to move to Big Bear, California for a few years now, but with the current economy and housing market, it’s not looking so hot right now.  Anyway, we spend every minute of vacation time we have up there. 

Well it’s that time – vacation time.  A week before Christmas and we’re here!  We left late in the evening mid-week and literally 100 yards up the mountain – it started to snow.  A mile in we chained up – and began the slow climb over 6000 feet to the lake in the sky. 

It really wasn’t that bad, other than going slower than I’d have liked to – following a plow and a string of cars for 15 miles, but we arrived safely.  By the following morning we awoke to nearly 4 feet of snow everywhere.  My friend Pete who owns Equada Outfitters  - a mountain shop in Big Bear, said it’s the most snow (at least at one time) that he’d seen in many, many years. 

After a day of snow play we headed over to the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain to go inner-tubing.  What a blast!  I’ve posted a video below:

I’ll keep you posted as the fun progresses.  

Happy Holidays!

It’s just kind of hit me all at once…that things are changing quickly in my life.

Not that long ago I went from being self-employed to being an employee. My oldest son just turned 18 and my daughter 16 – sheer craziness. My 12-year old son just earned his First Class rank in Boy Scouts – a great accomplishment. And my ‘little’ guy just isn’t litte anymore at almost 9!

Whereas a year ago we were hoping to move to Big Bear, today we’re lucky to have a home in the tumultuous times. I was at a job interview this morning and I realized how lucky I was for what I have. A fantastic family life, wonderful wife and kids, employment – even if it’s not the dream, it keeps food on the table and a roof over our heads.

So… as the holiday season is upon us and within weeks a new year begins – I have so much to be thankful for, and so much I want to still accomplish. It’ll take hard work, but I’ve never been afraid to work hard. Have a blessed holiday and start your year right!