A Saturday in September

A couple of years ago, one of my colleagues, whom I really have grown to love and respect, quipped: "One Saturday in September is worth more than the entire month of February." This post will act as support for Dr. Bowns' assertion.

I went fishing on Beaver mountain with my old friend Scott Hanson on Friday morning. It was a glorious day, and we did catch some fish.



Bubb and I enjoyed a neighborhood party on Friday night. It was a BBQ where you bring your own meat and something to share with the neighbors. While they were grilling steak or chicken, Bubb and I grilled skewers of shrimp. The potluck was also interesting. There were three kinds of jello and two kinds of green salad. One neighbor brought an Asian noodle salad, and Bubb and I took a bag of Trader Joes wild rice mix (you know, the one with the daikon (radish) seeds) and mixed it with artichoke hearts, green olives, mayo, and little of the juice from the arti hearts. It was the hit of the party. One of the neighbors told Bubb that we were certainly "adventurous eaters." I think that is an understatement.

On Saturday, we didn't want to go anywhere or do anything, even though Cedar City was hopping. There was the annual Sky-balloon-fest, a half marathon with all of the attendant hoopla, and some kind of outdoor activity celebration. Bubb and I did the Walmart thing, and then spent the morning home, doing household and yard chores.

We broke for a movie at 1:00 PM, had lunch out, and then came back to our chores. It was such a grand day, that it was really hard to stay inside and work. The garden continues to produce and while the beans seem to have tapered off, the tomatoes are on, in earnest. We even made a big batch of salsa with the accumulated produce.

That evening, we watched the T-Bird women dismantle Oral Roberts University's volleyball team. It was good fun, because the games were all very close. We ended up winning the final (third) game by going to 30 points.

I can't say enough about how great the weather is right now. Just balmy and delightful. We are hoping for a long, drawn out fall, perhaps as drawn out as last winter was.

Buboppy

And the Winner Is . . .

On Thursday morning, we decided to take a walk on the beach, after our morning pool time. It was a sunny, but windy day, and a perfect time to walk in the sand. The beach is only a couple of blocks from our lodgings, so it is an easy and natural thing to wander down.



Probably because of the strong, on-shore winds, the shore birds were clustered on the beach. There were four different varieties, but most were gulls. As we made our progress down the beach, they would lift off the sand, facing the wind, only to touch down another 50 yards down the beach.



Each time they lifted off, the air was filled with flapping wings and a rush of feathers. Bubby thought it quite a sight, so I tried to capture it in this photo. I'll let you, the reader, judge the quality of my effort.



Bubby was enjoying the occasional wave washing across her feet as we made our way back. The water was cool, but not unbearable. We could understand why the surfers all wear wet suits. I am sure if you spent much time in it, you would need one.


We had planned to catch the 3:30 Coaster to Old Town, so that Bubb could pick up the house number for Auntie Nell's neighbor. However, as we were running to buy our ticket and catch the train, proud that we had arrived with only a 10 minute wait, I realized that I had not transferred my wallet to the pants I was wearing. Since Bubb was "hands free" (our euphemism for without purse), we had to go back to our lodging, get the wallet, and then rush back to the transit center. Unfortunately, when we returned, the Coaster had already left. Next train, 5:01 PM.

We passed the time companionably enough, and headed into San Diego right on (amended) schedule. We got off in Old Town, ran up to the tile shop, discovered that they were out of the correct frames, made arrangements to have the number and frame shipped, and raced back to the trolley station to catch a ride to Petco Park and the Tin Fish. Unfortunately, there had been an accident earlier in the day, and the trolleys were running off schedule. We waited and waited, finally catching a different trolley, one that took us to the opposite side of the ball park from where the Tin Fish is located. That train was a true milk run, it took forever to get to the Park. We arrived at 7:00, the scheduled time for the game.

We had decided that we would miss the start of the game in favor of the last fish taco in our contest. We walked to the Tin Fish, got a table and ordered our taco plate. The price was about $11 for two tacos. Of course, we shared. This one had a generous portion of fish, and the usual cabbage and pico de gallo, but it was all piled on a flour tortilla. We immediately agreed that Harbor Fish and Chips did, indeed, have the best fish taco in the world (or San Diego, at least).

We got to the game at the top of the 3rd inning, and San Francisco was already in the lead. They never looked back. When we got to our seats, I noticed that the guy sitting in front of us was the same guy who had taken our order at the Tin Fish. It turns out he is the owner, and a Padre fan. We talked a little while we watched the game. Bubb wanted to tell him his crummy flour tortilla took his taco out of contention, but she exercised judgment.



The Padre ended up loosing 7 to 3, and we began the backward migration. This is the night view of the Coaster, as we were boarding it. Things actually went very smoothly, and we were back in our lodging before midnight.

Friday was a pretty lazy day, the only thing of note being another trip to the Harbor Fish and Chips for one last fish taco.



This morning, we had some shopping to do. Bubb wanted to take advantage of the cheap fresh corn so she could freeze it for later in the year. We went over and bought 25 ears. While we were shopping, we noticed these pickles on the shelf. Check out the name. Of course, Bubby says they are spelling it wrong, but she was pleased, never the less.



Here is our non-Jewish Bubby holding a bottle of Bubbies Jewish pickles. Too good a photo op to pass up.

We are packing our bags, headed out early in the AM. It's a long ride back to Cedar City from here. We have loved our little break, and while we feel refreshed, we hope it won't spoil the rest of the fall for us.

Buboppy

A Visit to Vista

Our social calendar was pretty light yesterday. We spent the morning in quiet activities like piecing and correspondence. Yes, I have a situation at work that I am trying to work through long distance.

At 11:00, Bubb and I went down to Oceanside Harbor and Marina to try what Nancy E. thinks is THE best fish taco in the world.



This harbor side eatery is pretty low key, but it has both inside and outside eating opportunities. Bubby and I opted for outside, because it was a beautiful morning.



Here it is. Bubb and I ordered a two taco plate, which included a side of coleslaw. The cost was $11. Of course no mere human could eat two of these, so we each ate one. Bubb swore that Moby Dick was in her taco, peeking out from either side. Our assessment? I don't give anything a 10, its as simple as that. However, this one comes as close to 10 as is possible. The corn tortillas (doubled) were fresh and tasty. The sauce had a hint of herbs like dill, and the batter on the fish was light and fluffy. The fish, not as good as Bluewater, was still fresh tasting. We may have a winner, but with one more taco to try (at the Tin Fish) we are reserving judgment. It will have to be pretty good to compete. Ron E. thinks that the Tin Fish has THE fish taco. We'll find out tonight, because we are having dinner there on our way to the ball game.



After lunch, we loaded up and headed to Vista, CA, to find Costco and Sprouts. The Costco was different enough to be interesting. We did see a portable, stainless steel gas grill that we thought was pretty cool. It was light, could be cleaned with a power washer (like a car wash offers) and wouldn't take up so much room in your trunk. If this unit ever comes to Utah, it will revolutionize trips onto Cedar Mountain. No more BBQs on wheels in the back of pick up trucks (come on, you've noticed them, too).

Although it was listed on the Web as Sprouts, when we got there, the store was called Frasier Farms Market. It was certainly a lot like sprouts. The produce was absolutely gorgeous and farm fresh. The prices, like at Sprouts, the best we have seen in San Diego. We bought corn for our dinner (7 ears for a dollar) and this honeydew that Bubb could not resist. It cost her $0.77, that's right 77 cents for an entire honeydew! (Doesn't she look positively gleeful in the photo?) Of course we already have a cantaloupe in the fridge, so we will be taking this home, along with the box of peaches that Bubb could not resist.



When we returned to Oceanside, we tried to find a quilt store for Bubb. There were three listed on the Web, but none existed on the ground. We decided after that major disappointment that it was pool time. This is the pool layout at the Worldmark in Oceanside. The closest pool is actually a spa. That is where we usually hang out.



Here is Bubb soaking up the last rays of sunshine. She is wearing a new swim suit, but this is as much of it as she is willing to reveal.



I thought I ought to include at least one shot of the exterior of our Worldmark. Our room is on the third floor about half way down this wing. Nice views of the harbor and ocean out of our back window. The weather has been gorgeous, and we have had a blast. Sorry we can't start the whole week over again.

Buboppy

The Quest Continues

The big event for the day is a trip to the San Diego Temple. Bubby wanted to time it so that we would miss as much traffic as possible and be able to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Verona at the temple. Uncle Bill serves as a shift coordinator, starting at 4:00 PM.



We were in no hurry in the morning, but at about 1:00 PM, we readied ourselves and headed down I-5 to Mission Valley. We were in search of this Triple D location (one we visited on our trip to SD in February). The Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill is a combination fish market and restaurant.

Ordering is a little overwhelming, but it goes like this. You choose what kind of fish you want from about a dozen choices. You tell them how to prepare it (lemon, oil and lemon, teriyaki, or whatever), and then whether you want it on a plate, in a salad, or in a sandwich. All these decisions have to made very quickly because the staff is very impatient. I guess this is a busy place most of the time.

Bubby wanted some scallops, and thought she was ordering them in a salad, but ended up with a sandwich. Sounds weird, but it was very good. The scallops were huge. We ordered a fish taco to share, wanting to have another entry in our quest, and I ordered a salad with teriyakied Hawaiian tuna (whatever that is). We didn't think we were ordering too much, but the total food on the plate was impressive. We just got it tucked away before we both said, enough.

This fish taco had wahoo (in Hawaiin "ono" which means delicious) as the star. Wahoo is a white flaky fish and the fish taco was very good. The fish was a 10/10, however I wouldn't rate the taco as a whole better than 8/10. Bubb said she might go 8.5. It was delicious and we both enjoyed it very much. Our original plan was to take photos of the food, but alas, it would have been too embarrassing in the crowded quarters where we ate. Our readers will just have to check this one out for themselves. We will definitely be going back on this trip because we didn't get to try the soups (CHOWDAH!) or the ceveche, which I enjoyed on our last trip.



It was just a 10-15 minute jaunt back up I-5 to the San Diego temple from our lunch spot. We didn't have to wait more than 15 minutes for our very small (less than 12 people including ourselves) session to start. It was a real role reversal. In St. George, the officiators tend to be old and the witness couples young. Bubb and I were asked to serve as witnesses, and our officiator couldn't have been much over 30.

The celestial room in the SD temple is absolutely stunning. The entire edifice is like something out of Architecture Digest. Building design elements are repeated in the decor so the same geometric highlights appear throughout the interior and exterior. I asked Bubb if she had her camera so we could take a photo of the celestial room, and she gave me a crusty. Go figure.

We did get to see Uncle Bill, and Bubb saw Aunt Verona as she was heading into a session. We may have an opportunity to get together with them later in the week. Our social calendar is not too demanding this week.



After the temple, we drove back to Oceanside and tucked in for the night. Bubby watched the final two episodes of 24-season 2, and we had some dessert.

This morning we walked down the beach again, out on the pier, and back home. We are planning another fish taco and perhaps a trip to Vista. Just to take a look around.

Buboppy

Padres 4 Dodgers 2

Once we got back to our digs yesterday, we were pretty lazy. We took some time for piecing (quilting) and correspondence, and then exerted the effort to go to the pool. We went for a dip in the hot tube, and sat in the sun and read our books. I have never been much of a by the pool guy, but, I could get used to this.

Our big event for the day was the Padres game at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. We could have driven down, and then searched out and paid for parking, but on the advise of others, we decided to ride the Coaster down to the game. We dutifully checked the schedule, and decided on a trip into the city early enough to include Old Town (Bubb is looking for another house number like we bought in February, for a friend of hers) and perhaps dinner at the Tin Fish. We decided on a 3:30 departure from the Oceanside Transit Center.

When we got there, we unfortunately discovered that because of the Labor Day holiday, the Coaster would only make one trip that day. A 4:55 PM departure specifically to provide transportation to the Padres game. We tried to make sure of the details, but found the ticketing staff a little bewildered by our questions. We asked really hard ones like, "Is the Coaster running to the game, or not?" "Which track will it arrive on?" You know things that only Heavenly Father could know.

We did purchase our tickets. It seems that Bubb's days as a cheap date are coming to an end. It cost $13.00 for her Coaster round trip ticket and only $6.50 for the newest senior citizen in the Eves family. She still wants to be a cheap date, but for the next two years, it looks like I may have a few advantages. Of course how cool is it to get a senior discount? Not very.

We had some time to burn. Bubb suggested a return to Worldmark and lunch at the Harbor Fish & Chips (highly recommended for its fish tacos). I pointed out that by the time we drove back, parked our car, walked to the marina, and reversed the process, we would be hurrying. My alternate plan was to find food on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and enjoy it at our own pace. I told Bubb she had to choose the restaurant.



We drove along the PCH clear to Carlsbad, but Bubb didn't see anything that intrigued her. We passed this place on our way south, and when we turned back north, figuring that Carlsbad was too far from our train, we spotted the sign below.



Quote, "If we are on a quest for fish tacos, this is as good a place to start as any." I looked at the price (top line) and figured, what the heck. This place was sooooooo greasy. I know why Ron and Nancy haven't ventured here for fish tacos. We ordered up two for $4.85 and a side of "fresh cut" fries, and tried not to get infected while we waited. When the tacos came we were pleasantly surprised. They were huge, piled high with fresh-fried white fish, jack cheese, cabbage, onion, tomatoes, and a sour creme-based sauce-all wrapped in a fresh corn tortilla. There was fresh salsa and pickled carrots to be had as well. We both devoured the tacos, rating them 7/10 on our quest scale, and commented that Harbor Fish and Chips and the Tin Fish might have some competition in our taste test and were already sucking wind on our cost test. The fries tasted just like In-n-Out, except they were thicker. Very, very good. The entire meal cost $7 and change. Not too bad.

Catching the Coaster proved to be more challenging than we thought. We parked, walked over to wait, and the fun began. There were two tracks, shared with Amtrak. We were trying to get our bearings and a lady on the other track (Track 2) shouted over that if we were catching the Coaster to San Diego, we needed to wait on Track 2. This involved a trip down two flights of stairs, a stroll through the tunnel, and a hike back up the stairs. Very soon thereafter, a voice came over the loud speaker. It announced that the Coaster would be leaving from Track 1. So, we reversed the process, and resumed our wait for the train, which by now was late. One of the Transit security folks instructed us that the Coaster would actually be leaving from Track 2. Down the stairs, through the tunnel, back up the stairs, and we wait. Not ten minutes later, the same security staff member informed us that the train would be leaving from Track 1, after all. Reverse the process.



I realize that this photo of the Bubb is a little out of focus, however, in the photo that is in-focus she is not smiling. Probably exhausted from all the stair hiking and tunnel travel. That photo was rejected by the Bubb.

Once we got off of the Coaster, we just followed the Padre and Dodger fans to a trolley and then to the park. Piece of cake. Our seats were on the left field line. We were four rows back from the left field fence. I thought we might see a fly ball, but it didn't happen.

After the game, we reversed the process to get back to Oceanside. While it didn't involve as much stair work, we still didn't arrive at the Worldmark until after 12:30 AM. Way past the Bubb's bedtime. She ate half a peanut butter sandwich and crashed. We did get to play a little cribbage on the way home. As long as Bubby was thrashing me, she was willing to play. When I won the first game, she quite. Actually, it was approaching midnight and Bubby's head was morphing into a pumpkin like form. She just couldn't handle the mental anguish.



Once we woke this morning, we decided that a trip to the grocery was in order, before breakfast. We did our work on the computer and found the nearest was Ralphs, a Kroger affiliate like Smith's in Utah. It was 8:30 AM, and when we plugged the address into Tom Tom, she wanted us to get on the I-5 for a 2.5 mile trek. Not likely at that time. I just started down the PCH and let her have apoplexy trying to steer me back to I-5. She finally gave in and took us there via the PCH.

Ralphs is a nice store and we bought our stuff. But we noticed, like Smith's, it was a little pricey. Before returning to our digs, we noticed the market pictured above. At first I thought it was a Mexi-market, but it ended up being a health food/international store with amazing deals on produce and a wide variety of ethnic foods. More kinds of yogurt than I have ever seen. You know how we love a grocery store, so we enjoyed our morning. We even found some Oceanspray White Peach and Cranberry mix-in powders, to make yucky water taste good (look for it in the store, Babs, pricey but good).

Today we will go to the San Diego temple and Blue Water Fish Company. More later.

Buboppy

Labor Day in Oceanside

Bubby and I rose early this morning (imagine that) and took a walk down the beach toward the Oceanside Pier. The tide was out, so our walk along the beach was on packed sand and cobbles. We were looking for shells, but didn't see much. Bubby says she knows a much better place nearer to San Diego. Unfortunately, that one isn't within walking distance.

When we got near the pier, there was quite a bit of activity and it turns out that this morning is the annual "swim around the pier" event. We wandered around the registration area, and discovered that event didn't start until 8:30 AM. We had an hour to burn, so we decided to walk out to the end of the pier and watch from there. There were fishermen all the way along the pier. We got to do some people watching, a favorite pass time.

When we got to the end of the pier, we decided to have some breakfast at Ruby's Diner. We secured a nice window seat with an unimpeded view, and took our sweet time with breakfast. It ended up being lots more than either of us wanted to eat, but we milked it long enough to watch the paddle boarders and first flight of swimmers make the turn at the end of the pier.



We just had our little pocket camera, but hopefully you can make out the mass of humanity in the water headed for the end of the pier. It is overcast this AM, and I am sure that the water is in the mid-60s, but it didn't deter these hearty folk.

We are back in our digs now. Bubby is sewing, and I am writing this. We have tickets to the Padres tonight, so we will have to figure out how to ride the Coaster into San Diego and then how to ride the trolley to Petco Park. Should make for some excitement.

Hope all of you are enjoying more holiday activities.

Buboppy

One Last Look at Big Bear

On Saturday, after the yard sales, morning walk, and pool time, we took a drive out to one of the marinas and took a walk out to the lake shore along a jetty. It was blustery and crowded, but we did watch a para-sailor and some jet ski renters on the water.



Englesteads insisted on taking a photo of us with the lake in the background. Bubby was happy. She doesn't have many photos of the two of us together, and I throw half of those that exist away. You know how I enjoy being photographed.



Here are our wonderful host and hostess. They not only showed a great time in Big Bear, they provided the opportunity for us to be here in San Diego enjoying life. There is talk of a January trip to Indio, CA, which would be wonderful. We will be anticipating that. They are just a great couple to have fun with.



One of our recreation options was some time on the water. The problem was that they wanted $85/hour to rent a little boat. We decided to pass. I caught the girls drooling over this number, so I forced them to pose for a photo. Paying the $15K price tag (used and five years old) for this one would just be the beginning. We would have to make a serious investment just to take it to the lake.



As part of the quest for "big bears" we visited a log sculpture place where there hundreds from which to choose. The prices were certainly californiacated, but if you consider them art, they were probably appropriately priced. I got Bubb to pose on this bench that had carved bears on either end.

That evening we went out to an Asian restaurant for dinner. Bubby and I enjoyed a bowl of Thai soup and some chicken paenang (red curry in coconut cream). The soup was delicious, but blazing hot. It even brought tears to Ron's eyes and he is a serious chili head. We enjoyed our dinner and went for frozen yogurt afterward. It was a lovely way to end our stay in Big Bear.

Buboppy

16224 Govecenter Street

Although we knew we would be disappointed in the end, we couldn't resist a drive past the former address (above) that was home to so many happy memories. It was here that we all ate spread tacos, picked lemons and avocados, played so many games of cards, and laughed together in the living room.

Bubb and I just wanted to see how things looked, and unfortunately, the current owners aren't showing the love to the old house that it is used to. When we pulled up, they were trying to tame the jungle that was formerly Granny's rose garden. The big evergreen tams on the corner were huge and the whole family of current owners were hacking away at them. Probably needed to do so in order to provide visibility to those turning right onto Hartley street. I remember doing some surgery myself after Lumpy passed away.



So, here is the front door. The hydrageneas are still there, but there have been a few new trees and shrubs planted in the yard. We did notice that the house needed painting, but with a wooden exterior, your house always needs paint somewhere.



We had to be a little surreptitious in our surveillance, because the homeowners were right out front. I am sure they would have demanded some explanation if they had noticed us shooting photos. We got this photo of the garage side of the house. Notice the new door on the north garage.



This is Bubb's favorite photo. The big tree in the back is the old avocado tree that my Grandpa, Jasper Almond, planted so long ago from a seed he sprouted in a mason jar. We used to get groceries sacks of avocados to haul back to Utah with us when this thing was in season. We can't even imagine what it would cost to buy all those avocados.

"You can never go back home again" is more of a reality than any of us would like to admit. Both Bubby and I were glad we stopped, but I don't think I will need to do so again. This happy place will live in our memories forever, but, quite frankly, our memories are far rosier than the reality that currently exists.

Buboppy

An Auntie Carolyn Sighting!

Although we have much more to report on, the news that many of our readers are waiting to hear pertains to our visit to see Aunt Carolyn on her birthday. We were out the door from our Big Bear accommodations promptly at 8:30 AM, having eaten our breakfast and dressed for church. The road down the mountain to Redlands and San Bernardino was soo serpentine that Bubby referred to it as the "curviest road in the world." Not sure about that.

We arrived in West Covina with about 40 minutes to spare, so we decided to stop by the old homestead on Grovecenter Street just to see how things looked. We will post the photos of our drive by "shooting" very soon.

When we got to the church, thanks to Tom Tom, we were immediately recognized as the children of Jasper and Edith. It seems that in the process of redefining boundaries many of the old Baldwin Park II ward members ended up in the Orangewood Ward, where we were attending. A member of the bishopric immediately spotted me as Grandpa's son. Unfortunately it has been so long since we have seen many of these people and we were unable to place some of them.

There was a lovely spirit in the testimony meeting, and we sat right next to Aunt Carolyn. We actually sandwiched her so both Bubb and I could maintain maximum contact. It was sooooo very good to see her, talk to her, and even squeeze on her a little bit. Best of all, she is very involved in her ward, and doing wonderful acts of service among its members.



While this is not the greatest photo of Aunt Carolyn, we couldn't pass up the chance to photograph her with my cousin Donna Marie (Uncle Leo and Aunt Donna Miner). She looked great and seems absolutely ageless.

We stayed the whole block and had many chances to remember Granny and Lumpy with the former members of their ward. While I was in High Priests, the Group Leader, mentioned that his wife visiting taught with Granny. He said he had been the beneficiary of some of Granny's sage advise, via his wife, just that week. Upon his telling me that story, one of the other brethern in the quorum announced, "Jasper Eves was my mentor in the Gospel." They did good in The Church all of their lives. We have a great legacy of service to live up to. It was an exceptionally fun day today, and we had lots of chances to remember Granny and Lumpy and all of our fun times together. It made us miss them more than ever.



Although it was Sunday, we decided to have lunch together at a strip mall sushi spot. The food was fine, the company much better. We talked for nearly two hours just enjoying being together. When it was time to go, there were hugs all around, and we parted company. We all promised to do a better job of staying in touch, however, since Aunt Carolyn is anti-email, it will be a challenge. I do have her cell phone number, though . . .

We drove south for about 90 minutes and arrived safely in Oceanside. We are installed in our digs, unpacked and ready for a ton of fun this week.

Buboppy

The Search for Big Bears

We were able to get out of Cedar City fairly early on Friday morning. Of course, the preparation to get out of town was extensive, parts of it took the entire week. For example, I had to file some Eagle Scout paperwork for a boy in our ward who turned 18 on August 31st, and I finally got the last signature and merit badge posted to the Utah Scouts site on Thursday afternoon. Whew!

We had a delightful drive to Baker, California, and even got through the rush hour traffic in Las Vegas in short order. Bubby had her heart set on breakfast at The Mad Greek in Baker (a Triple D location). It was truly a dive, but the menu was extensive, and we were late for the breakfast rush and early for the lunch crush. We shared an omelet that contained gyro meat, tomatoes and onions, accompanied by hashed browns and pita bread for toast. We even shared a custard filled Greek pastry. It was OK.



We turned off of I-15 at Barstow, and headed south to the Lucerne Valley and then up the north slope of the San Bernardino mountains. Our faithful navigator Tom Tom took us right to the driveway of our accommodations, the Worldmark on Starvation Flats Road.

We hooked up with our friends the Englesteads, who were enjoying the pool when we arrived. After moving in, we did a little touring and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. This is a fun couple, the ones who made it possible for us to stay at the Worldmark resort in Oceanside. We will be taking residence there on Sunday afternoon.

We did a drive around Big Bear Lake, stopped to check on a couple of flea markets, and made it bake to our lodging in time to eat dinner (a lovely Thai chicken salad that will be trying to duplicate) and a rousing game of Bloody Smash (Bubb was proud that she won).

We were awake early but not wanting to bother our hosts, we slipped out at 6:30 AM for a brisk walk around town. We visited several neighborhoods and found a couple of grocery stores. We even had a cream cheese filled pastry at a Mexican bakery.

We returned to our digs at about 8:30, and had time for a new.familysearch.org lesson on how to look at birth certificates from Ron. Nancy fed us a lovely breakfast of ham and eggs, and we all went for a walk in search of yard sales and "big bears". Just as the pineapple is the symbol of hospitality in New England, carved wooden bear statues are the symbol of hospitality at Big Bear. We got a lot of great photos. We also visited a ton of yard sales. We didn't buy much, but we looked at everything while enjoying a couple of miles of walking in the cool forested streets.






When we got back home, we changed, and headed for the pool for swimming, sun, cribbage, lunch, more sun and swimming, and then finally (after 4:00 PM) we all showered and dressed for the day.

So far this outing has been nothing but fun. Stay tuned.

Buboppy