More photos from Big Bear and Oak Glen >>
Situated up in a valley in the San Bernardino Mtns Oak Glen proved to be a rough uphill climb for the Cruisemaster trudging along at 10-20 mph. Once we finally arrived at the top we were greeted with cool mountain air and a high altitude view that was stunning.
The first night was very foggy. Around 9:00 I went out to the jeep and noticed something big next to it. I bent down to see the outline against a street light. It hit me quick went I saw an outline of a furry head and round ears…BEAR! A BIG BEAR! It just looked at me and ambled back off into the fog. I was so close to him it scared the crap out of me. The following day we learned they roam around the park at night quite a bit. There were even sightings of mountain lions and numerous coyotes. The rest of the stay we never went out at night without everyone being together. To ease Sharon’s mind we loaded the dogs at night and drove them up to the well-lit clubhouse to go potty before bed.
This little town of Glen Oak is famous for its apple groves. We had apple cider, apple butter, apple jelly, apple crisp, apple syrup and we loved all of it.
A must eat is the breakfast at Laws Coffee Shop. The omelets are huge and so are the pancakes so come hungry. Other good finds are the Los Rios Ranch for cider and crisps along with La Mexicana for homemade tortillas.
Hiking at the conservancy trails was great. They were well kept and a perfect length with great varied terrain, streams, open meadow, sequoias, hills. It was a perfect time. Had some great cider and played with the puggles on the open grassy field. A diamond day.
Note to self: Check shoes for lizards before putting them on.
We visited all the shops up there in Oak Glen on memorial day, getting some souvenirs and stuffing our faces. We picked up some Granny Smith apple wine adding to our growing collection. The highlight of the day for Sharon was the petting zoo, and for I it was the staged old west gunfight. Good stuff :)