Skis, Snow, and Bears- Oh My!

Big Bear, California - Presidents Day weekend 2023

8 friends in a remote winter cabin? What could go wrong? Nothing. Nothing went wrong, I promise.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon in twos and threes, caravanning up the mountain in shifts based on who was available to drive and when. Meals were pre-assigned so Grace and Ralph made dinner on night one. It was a spectacular Filipino themed spread!

We settled in and held a game night, starting first with Code Names and moving on to Blockbuster.

On Sunday morning, Meredith and I were in charge of cooking breakfast and we took our job very seriously. Eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, berries, juice, coffee/ tea, (and David brought pastries).

While we started cooking, everybody else went down to the game room and started a *gigantic* puzzle on the pool table.

We had ski lift tickets only for afternoon/ night skiing, so after breakfast we put on the snow gear and went outside to explore.

Jacob's first day of snow, ever.

We found a good hill for sledding, and everyone had at least one good ride.

We went down closer to the mildly frozen lake and spent a long time throwing things on the ice (like rocks and... more ice). It made cool noises.

Meredith and I tried making a snowman.

We made our snowman a little hat.

And then it was time to suit up for skiing! (Or snowboarding, if that's more your speed).

We had a whole range of skill levels all the way down to "I've never seen snow before and now I'm trying skiing for the first time" which was super exciting. The bunny hill was our new best friend, and everyone needed a few practice runs anyway.

Snow Summit had a night ski option available, which worked out perfectly for us. Although it did get a little cold towards the end of the night, the view was spectacular and there weren't as many people on the slopes as there were earlier in the afternoon.

Tired but successful!

We got home late, ate dinner late, and managed to finish the puzzle sometime after midnight.

The next morning, we packed up the house and took one last walk down to the lake. This morning the ice had shifted!

The wind was stronger, so the ice had come up to the shore in scales.

Grace took this candid shot, she said it looked like Elsa.

And I saw this heart-shaped rock and sent a photo to Mom, because sometimes she sends me photos of heart-shaped rocks.

And one last photo in front of the house! Thank you, house.

It took us a few hours to get back to LA. We collectively stopped for lunch on the way and I dropped my passengers back off at their respective front doors as we drove back into the city.

A successful friend-trip!