Our Family Summer Vacation

This year for our summer vacation, we went to the Lake Arrowhead area in the San Bernardino Mountains again. Last year, we went at the end of June, right after school ended, but this year we didn't go until the middle of August, so the weather (and the pool!) was a lot warmer. We rented cabin #5, Little House, this time, which has stairs going up to two separate sleeping areas upstairs. The stairs alone were a huge hit with Felix, who must have gone up and down them 50 times the first day. Maybe when we remodel our house, we can install some for him... Anyway, we left home on Sunday mid-morning and headed to the 101 which goes right into the 134 which goes right into the 210 and then up the mountain. If you look at the map, you'll see that it's almost a straight shot headed East:

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After our usual stop at Del Taco, we arrived at Pine Rose Cabins mid-afternoon, right at check-in time. After unloading all the suitcases and food and finding the best spot for everything, we headed right out to the pool. Felix got some brand new "swimmings" (arm floaties) but he didn't actually make it into the pool the whole time, preferring instead to watch from the side and throw stuff in for us to retrieve.

The next morning, and the morning after, we saw a big group (flock?) of California Quail (the state bird) pecking, jostling and skittering around the grounds of the cabin. We were able to borrow the membership card for the private beach clubs at Lake Arrowhead from the owners of the resort, and we made our way over to the North side of the lake and spent a pleasant morning relaxing under a shady tree at the Tavern Bay Beach Club which had shallow (but cold) water. The kids collected seaweed (lakeweed?) and made sand-cakes. We visited the same beach again the following day, and went to a different beach a few days later, Burnt Mill. Burnt Mill was actually smaller and even shadier, and the water was also shallow but went out further so it was warmer and even I swam in it!

Another day, we drove out along Highway 18 to the Children's Forest and tried to take a short easy hike but we had a couple of complainers in our party (one of whom had just woken up from a nap so he was even more grouchy). Further up the mountain, up along a windy road, sparsely vegetated, at 7882 feet (2317 m) was the Keller Peak Fire Lookout. It was getting near closing time but the volunteer fire looker-outer was still at the top of his tower, and we climbed up (me carrying Felix!) to be rewarded with a beautiful view, and lots of busy hummingbirds at the feeder.


On the Wednesday, we drove out to Big Bear (about 30 miles away). It was funny to drive past all the winter resorts, with the bare snow-less mountains, and their ski lifts deserted and quiet, dangling statically. We gathered pine cones and visited the Discovery Center where we joined a short, informative and entertaining nature walk. The kids learned a new word: scat, and how to identify different scat & its possible owners. We also visited the water slide park at Big Bear and played a round of mini-golf.

Other days, we went into the village of Lake Arrowhead proper and fed the ducks, ate ice cream, sat on the grass for an evening rock concert, ate at the pizza parlor/arcade and I bought myself a couple of cute summer dresses at the Friday market. We also went over to Crestline and went bowling, on a day that it was really hot out. In the evenings, we borrowed movies from the front desk of the cabin resort for the kids. One morning, we did a treasure hunt - reading the clues on an old map, a story about elves & dwarves, and looking for the boxes hidden around the resort which had stamps & pads in it to mark into the kids' little booklets. At the end, they were allowed to pick out a wooden 3D puzzle.

Here are a few photos, and if you'd like to see more, click on the link at the end for our Shutterfly site with all of the photos.




At the malt shop


That big pile of sticks is a rat nest, built and lived in by one just rat

The treasure hunt

The rest of the photos: Shutterfly Dennis Family Site