Delilah and I hopped back in the RV on Thursday, and headed up to Big Bear. Unfortunately the eternal construction on the 215 through us for a loop. There was a detour on the 215N that shot us off on surface streets, which was ok for a while, until they forgot to say which way to go for the 215N again... After a while, I ended up just getting on the 60E, and did my own detour around to the 10W, through the "charming" berg of Yucaipa, and finally made it up to Big Bear, only an hour later than I had expected.
We hung out with Titanya and Jeffry at their place for a while, then went and fed some ducks by the lake, went out to dinner, and returned to their place to watch a video - Balto, which Delilah found enthralling (of course, she finds everything enthralling). Jeffry found a short extension cord that combined with the main cord, and the extension that I had was just enough to give us the much needed "feed" for the night. In the morning of the 15th, we went in and Titanya set us up with another movie - Brother Bear (which I suppose was at least fitting for Big Bear). Titanya is getting ready for a teaching trip that she is doing with her sister Dondi in New York, so didn't have much time to spare, so we headed out after the morning movie to explore on our own.
We went into the Village of Big Bear which I had somehow missed before - cute little place, which somehow ended up with two movie theaters, strolled the shops, ate at a cute little place called the "Teddy Bear Cafe", and then, in theme with the day, went to see Shrek III, which Delilah found enthralling...
From there, found a campground with a spot for the night, with all hookups (suffice it to say that the tanks were ripe...) and managed to get Delilah to nap late, and still to bed by 9 (ok, maybe a little after 9).
This morning, we headed back in to Big Bear City with several goals - a few more gallons of gas to safely get me off the mountain above the magic 1/4 mark that kills the generator, if I try to run the somewhat feckless A/D; a refill of the LP tank; a car wash big enough to fit the RV to remove at least a little of the last 3 months of goo; and some acetaminophen to take the edge off a nasty headache that I acquired apparently from having too much room in the comfy bed all by my self. Managed to kink my neck something fierce. Somehow a toaster on the cheap managed to get in there with the drugs, so at least we can make toast without a skillet.
So it turns out that washing an RV isn't as simple as washing a car. In starting, I foolishly started in the "serial" washing fashion - spray the whole thing, then use the brush (timer!) on the whole thing, and the foam is dry before I can rinse it (timer!) so I have to go back and wet a single wall at a time and (timer! - screw it!) then use a washcloth as I am rinsing to elbow grease the spots that had dried on, etc. So after $10 in quarters (the entire laundry piggy bank), it is about 70% cleaner than it was.
Stopped at the Big Bear Discovery center, which I couldn't quite figure out what it was trying to be - a community center, a mini ranger station or a mini museum, with an oversized cafe and gift shop. All said, a nice space particularly for the locals that are in the know about the programs that they offer there.
Then, down the hill, into LA, and to our home for the next three nights, a charmingly paved slab of asphalt called the Anaheim Harbor RV Resort. Ok, at least they have a pool, and they are only 5 miles from the land of Disney which will be our day time destination for at least 2 of those three days - Sunday and Tuesday. We did have a fun time in the pool, then at her request I got to emote the plastic boarder collie animal (think army men), as she played with the pig, which somehow evolved into me getting out the guitar and us singing a rousing round of "Old McDonald". A good evening with D.
Theoretically, Barbara may be driving up tomorrow evening to meet us for a Fathers Day thing, which will be fun - then staying Monday for a visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
Tuesday again to Disney for at least part of the day, then home that night, and probably to the Del Mar Fair on Wednesday, and then off on the next part of the adventure on Thursday. Delilah and I will pick up Kim and her two kids thursday noonish, and head up to San Luis Obispo, Monterey, SFO, Santa Clara (to see Gregg and Family), and then possibly meet up with Jennifer and her kid for a day of ??, and a whole lot of other ?? before returning on the 27th to get ready for the next stint!
We certainly keep busy, but I did find myself smiling a satisfied smile as I drove out of Big Bear today - the road was nice, the weather good, the temperature optimal, Delilah napped on the road, and I knew where I was going to sleep that night, and we were actually going to get into camp at a reasonable hour!
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