Back from the peaks
Well, it was an interesting few days up at Big Bear. The picture, above, is what I was expecting. But that's a postcard.It didn't snow. Not one miserable flake. Though, to be fair, there was evidence — on the singularly attractive front porch of the cabin we rented — that it had snowed before we got there ...
... and it always looked as though it was about to snow, with leaden skies that looked heavy with the stuff. We did, however, get a night of rain, with sleet the next morning. Our last morning.And the 'cosy chalet' that 'sleeps ten' we rented? With all-weather patio and spa? 
With spacious bedrooms and room for all? For $325 a night?Well, it was very much on the shabby side, to be honest. Verging on the scruffy.David will need physiotherapy, and we are both on painkillers, to recover from the bed we slept in. It sank not only in towards the centre, but also out to the edges. So we spent almost every minute of every achey night clinging on to something to stop ourselves rolling about.When we regained consciousness each morning (you could hardly call it sleep), we discovered we had slipped — mattress and all — down towards the end of the bed as well, leaving a gap of about a foot between the mattress and the bedhead.And the room's unspeakably gorgeous paste-on mural of a lake scene, in which the horizon was on a definite and dizzying slope down to the right, only added to our general vertigo.But, once I recovered from the conviction that we had been seriously ripped off, we had a great time with lots of laughs, and the four kids — well, young people, really — absolutely loved it. 
The boys hit the slopes all day every day, where there was plenty of snow, even if a fair bit of it came out of a machine every morning. They started with a day's tobogganing and tube-riding, and then tried snowboarding. By the end of their first day of this, they'd moved beyond the beginner slopes, and by the end of their last day, they'd managed to snowboard down the entire mountain.
Dave and I went on a few walks with Lily and the two dogs, and spent some real together time watching the Iowa caucuses, and on our last day, with the Storm of the Century looming over the entire west coast, the Weather Channel.That night, as wild weather and snow storms hit from Seattle to Southern California, we were buffeted by high winds and a lot of rain. We lost power just after dinner, and the six of us sat around the little coffee table in the firelight — three on the one sofa (repeat, one sofa) and the rest on the floor.In our lake-mural room, everything started to leak, which really added to the aquatic ambience. Though there was another floor on top of us, water dripped steadily from the massive log-cabin-style beams in the ceiling. And, in contrast to its inability to let in much light by day, the tiny window let in a truly surprising amount of water all night. Despite my artful arrangements with towels, rain ran down the wall behind the bed. It also cascaded down the edges of all nine slats of the tasteful venetian blinds and splashed gently on to my face, and my pillow.I had visions, as I fell asleep, of that boat that ventures into the mists at the bottom of the Niagara Falls ...:: In the morning, with one eye on the Weather Channel again and another on the California Department of Transport's website for road closures and traffic warnings, Lily packed up her car and headed off with Dev and James for the long drive north to Olympia, while Dave, Will and I drove home.I had a little weep when I got home, because of the gap created by our girl's departure. I miss her dreadfully, and hate it that she lives so far away. Though I'm thrilled she's so happy, and doing brilliantly, and enjoying her own shared household, I just wish she was living nearer.:: Hey: it's 2008! My big resolution is to carry on much as I have done, as well as to read more, write more, make more stuff, knit more, paint more and lose weight. But only whenever and wherever possible, of course!
From Gloster Street to Main Street
I'm not quite sure what James and Dev expected of Disneyland. In fact, I think they only agreed to come along on Friday because I was clearly excited to take them. Anyway, they had such a brilliant time, as I knew they would.
The place looked wonderful, with all its decorations for Christmas. There was snow on Snow White's castle, and had we stayed late enough, there was going to be snow falling in California Adventure. The guys had two rides on this ...
... and even if I'd made myself as limp as a jellyfish, and told myself that whatever happened I would not die, I still wouldn't have the courage to get on this thing. It begins (below) with a rocket-like thrust that has to be powerful enough to blast the carts from stationary to the top of the near-vertical rise and the start of the ride. 
There's a huge crest in the middle, as you can see behind the Mickey Mouse ears, and towards the end it does a 360-degree spin around Mickey's face that would probably leave me in a coma.
After all, it isn't called this for nothing ...
After a ride on this thing ...
... which hurtles groups of sixteen people up into near-space and then drops them, twice, the guys raced off for two tours on Space Mountain, while I sat sedately and had my lunch. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride impressed Dev so much that he kept on talking about how he wished he could be a kid again. But I just loved the atmosphere, and, as the sun started to sink, all the lights ...
:: On Saturday, Will and a friend took James to see a Queens of the Stone Age concert at the campus of the University of California in San Diego, and Dev went out partying with another of Will's friends. I think they're loving it so far ... and there's so much more to come!:: Dave called a half-hour ago to say Oregon had been hit by bad storms, and they'd slid off the road from Crater Lake in a blizzard and landed in a snow drift up to the car door handles. Fortunately, no-one was hurt and, with some help, they were able to dig the car out, undamaged, and get to a hotel for the night. But Lily said she'd had to tell poor snow-virgin David to calm down and put away the flares ... I think he's very, very glad to have his thermals and gloves.
Earlier he'd been raving to me about Portland, where he'd found an independent bookstore that took up a whole city block and was three storeys high. Lily always says Portland is her favourite American city so far. All I've seen of it is the interstate 5 freeway - I can't wait to explore.
Snowbunnies in action!Click on the word SNOW for a glimpse of our future downhill champions.
Off to the mountains ...It's getting near the end of the ski season, and the snow is far too soft and mushy for Dave and me to take to the slopes with our usual ease and grace (!), but on this lovely sunny Sunday morning, we got up early and drove about two and a half hours north-east, to Big Bear Resort in the San Bernadino Mountains, out the back (east) of Los Angeles. That's me at the wheel of my fabulous Freestyle (above), and we had the roof open. Don't forget you can click on the pictures to see bigger versions.
:: Once we were off the big freeway and the road started to climb, we stopped for brekkie at the country cabin pictured above: coffee and magnificent BLTs served with a big spoonful of sauteed potatoes - yum.
:: Above: Lily was in her pyjamas still, and Will in his trackies, but hey! They didn't care! That's Julian on the left, one of the Bondi partners. He was taking a couple of Australian friends snowboarding — they know how to do it, and even have the right gear!
:: Julian took this pic (above) of the four of us at the entrance to the resort. Apart from Will, who went to Mt Hotham for the annual Christ Church Year 7 ski trip, none of us had ever been to a ski resort before, but we quickly discovered, that, like everything in this country, it is brilliantly organised, with easy, free parking, lots of chair-lifts to clearly designated slopes, classes for everyone from tiny-tots to geriatrics like Dave and me, and loads of fun.
:: We don't have any real snow gear - though Will is in his very classy snowboarding jacket that was a birthday present from Dace and family , and Lily is in a jacket she found in Randy's cupboard at our place - but we were able to hire boots and boards. They wore jeans and got absolutely soaked to the skin. But that didn't seem to worry them in the slightest. I didn't get any good still shots of them actually coming down the slopes because I switched my camera to video. The videos are hysterical! Will got the hang of it and started to pick up speed by the end of the day, and Lily was getting on pretty well too. We were all worried she would sprain or break something (you know how she is!) but she has nothing but a couple of bruised knees!
:: I did get a shot of them at the bottom of the slope before they rushed off back to the chair-lift.
:: It was a pretty warm, sunny day, and the snow was melting fast. The resort makes a lot of its snow at this time of the year, using water from Big Bear Lake (above), at the foot of the mountain.
:: This (above) was a shot from the car as we drove home - gorgeous mountains with just a touch of snow still. The highest point we drove through was just over 7000 feet.
:: Above: The road down was 12 miles of hairpin bends and tight curves - and fantastic views. The tall trees with the 'broken' tops are Douglas firs.
:: It was a fabulous day! See ya!
We've had some really cold days and nights, and earlier in the week we had lots and lots of wonderful rain, so up in the high country to the east of us there's been snow.
— it took my breath away whenever we stepped out of her warm and cosy house. 
But oh! It all looked so gorgeous!
There's been lots and lots of snow up in the Pacific North-West, even on Vancouver Island in Canada. Lily's friend Grace arrived at Seattle airport and freezing weather after having left Buenos Aires and 40 degrees (104 F)!
