bubbajay.com

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!

Was up in Big Bear today, checking on the progress of my garage that’s under construction, and just loving it in general.  Got up early to go for a trail run and it was a balmy 25 degrees out.  But the rising sun was warm on my face and it felt fantastic to hit the Pacific Crest Trail for several miles. 

I posted a picture of the beginnings of snowmaking a few weeks ago, and then the first snowfall of 1/8th of an inch early this last week.  So here’s an updated view of the ski slopes as the base slowly starts to build.  With any luck they’ll be able to open for Thanksgiving.  I know I’ll be up the mountain then!  Happy Thanksgiving – here I come!

It finally happened last night.  About 3am the light drizzle turned to a dusting of snow in Big Bear, Ca.  Total accumulation at my house out in Baldwin Lake was around 1/2 inch.  Not much, but definately a sign that winter is upon us! 

Now if they could finish my dang garage at the house in Big Bear!  Can’t wait to head back up the hill for the weekend and do some mtn. biking.  The snow will likely be melted, but there’s always more to come.

Well, for me it’s a garage!  I’ve been having a garage built…well planning it anyway, and finally it’s happening.  They poured the foundation and slab yesterday, pouring the driveway tomorrow and putting up walls the next day.  Then a day for inspections and then putting on the siding and roof.  Then I can seriously get some toys going up on the mountain!

What else is new…well it’s colder than…well, it’s freaking cold!  I got up this morning to go mtn. biking and at 7am it was 25 degrees out, and crystal clear.     Had a fantastic ride, absolutely gorgeous!  I rode the PCT down to an overlook where you can see the whole Desert down below.  It was crisp, sunny, warm on my face…man I can’t wait to have this in my backyard EVERYDAY! 

So what else happens when it’s cold?  Well in Big Bear they make SNOW!  Yup, they’re blowing snow on Snow Summit, Bear Mountain and the snowplay areas.  Of course it’s still getting in the high 60’s in the daytime, but they’re still building a base, getting ready for that first dusting of natural stuff.

That’s it for now – I had DirectTV turned on, have the garage going in…have been going up almost weekly now while they’re constructing the garage.  It’s such a tease….summer 2010 baby!  Big Bear here I come….

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!

What is ‘head clearing’? It’s when I do a download…a mind dump to get stuff off my mind.

Work – too much. I remember now why I didn’t like having a ‘job’ and a boss. It’s not either the job or the boss – I have two jobs now, and two bosses, and really like both. But it’s the loss of freedom. I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I like to be free to make my own path, my own decisions and work – at least mine – just doesn’t lend itself to that.

But, times are tough out there, and I need to feed my family, pay bills and take care of business – so I suck it up, shut up and go to work.

Kids – love ‘em. I have four kids. They’re all so unique and different and I love each of them for their own merits. My oldest son Cole is turning 18 today. Wow, feeling old right about now. My youngest, Jacob is 8. And I have two in the middle, Dylan 12 and Teddi my daughter is almost 16.

The older two live with their mom locally, and the younger two with me. The younger two keep me busy and unfortunately between their Baseball, Boy Scouts, School, and my two jobs, I don’t see my older two very often. Add to this that they’re teen agers..heck adults and they just don’t really want to hang out with Dad too much. It’s kind of a bummer – but life I guess.

Location – we’ve been trying to move to Big Bear, California for a few years now, but with the housing market stinking it up out here in California, it’s just not happening. We talked with a mortgage guy the other day about refinancing and that’s not going to happen either. So, the newest plan, save some money, pay off some debt and move to Big Bear and rent our home and hope and pray for the best renters in the world. Cross you fingers.

Racing – I haven’t done any Adventure Races in months. If you’ve known me for long, I did 4 two years ago I think, and 7 last year as I recall. Love them…but need to be fit and honestly it’s been tough…well if we’re being honest – I’ve been lazy. With my schedule, when I did have time to train I usually opted not too. But, I’m back at it. I have a snowshoe race coming up in 2 months. I got third last year so I’m going to start shooting for that. I’ve been running 5-6 miles 3 days a week – either road or trail runs, and riding my road or mtn. bike the days in between. I usually don’t do any workouts on the two days that I work my day job and then night job in the same day – my ‘double’ as we call it, pretty much zaps me. They’re 16 hour work days and they’re always back to back so I just can’t do it. But other than that I’ve been pretty disciplined lately. I wanted to get some kayaking in again and some high altitude hiking to get my legs and lungs strong for the snowshoe race as it’s up in Big Bear at over 6,000 feet to START and climbs around 1000 to 1500 feet from there.

Halloween came and went, before you know it Thanksgiving will be past and Christmas is just around the corner. Dang, it only reminds me we were hoping to be in Big Bear by now. Bummer. We booked a week up there at Christmas…keep the dream alive!

Ok, so you’re all caught up. I’m busy, but doing well. Hanging in there – you do the same!

Well, the entire Snowshoe The Bear event was awesome. I went up a few days early to help my friend Peter – the owner of Equada Outiftters get ready for the race. He was one of the sponsors and the event headquarters so he had his hands full.

I spent the days before hanging out at his Mountain Shop, helping stuff the ‘goodie bags’ with the Kahtoolah rep, and getting acclimated to the altitiude. I was fighting an ever-worstening cold but there was no doing that.

The day of the race I was working the registration table until 10 minutes before the race, and then headed up to the start/finish line.

I was so congested I could hardly breath, but I’d been waiting months for this race and wasn’t going to miss it for the world.

I knew the course – I’d been snowshoeing out on the course several times. I knew it was basically straight uphill – and around 1000-1500′ of climbing (guessing here). I also knew that all the other ‘flatlanders’ or those of us from ‘down the hill’ would start out too fast and too hard.

I decided ahead of time that I was going to race the tortoises’ race in the “Tortoise vs. the Hare” story. Nice and easy…

As I predicted everyone took off running like crazy and I quickly found myself down about 30 places out of the 100 or so racers. I wasn’t too concerned. I knew other than being sick, I was fit, and doubted that all of them were that much more fit than I was.

Turns out I was right, and within less than 1/2 mile they were already dying. I started picking them off, 1 by 1. Within a mile I was probably in the top 10 and by the time I hit the top of the mountain I was beat, unable to breathe and had moved into 3rd place.

It was now a mile and a half of basically all downhill though through the backcountry, and not on the nice groomed trail. I ran the entire way back and no one passed me. I didn’t know I was in 3rd place, so I kept pushing hard.

As I rounded the last corner I was hurtin’, but I could see the end in sight. I finished up just over an hour and “4th place”. I actually got third we figured out later, but someone from the other race, had a wrong number, or went on the wrong course or something, and somehow their number was in 3rd in my race. When they got called for the awards ceremony and prizes they opted not to mention the error to anyone. (

Oh well, I raced well and I think had I had the advantage of living/training at altitude, like all of the winners, I’d be right up there with them. Not too bad for a 40-something vs. the college kids who won. I’ll see you all next year punks! )

Here’s a picture of my left heel today (2 days after the venture).