We went to the Big Bear Lake last weekend (10/2 - 10/4).  It turned out to be quite chilly.  Leaving a San Diego in the 80s, we found ourselves by the cabin in the mountain in 50s. 

 

Leon was going to rent a boat to tour the lake (the boys have been crazy about boats).  The guy behind the counter said, "all afternoon boats are reserved.  You can only reserve morning ones from 8 to 12."  Leon was going to take one for the experience regardless, until I asked how cold it would be in the morning.  The guy said, "30s until about 10am, then will be maybe 40s".  We looked at each other and said, uh, maybe not.

 

The cabin we have has a bedroom of one queen-size bed, and a loft with 2 full-size beds.  The boys went wild over the staircase.  They climbed and cleaned every square inch of the darn thing, including between the railings.  Isaac squeezed through the railings and jumped down to the sofa below. We told him he's going to hurt himself, but he said, "no I won't, the sofa is soft".  Of course then he bumped against one of the armrests.

 

We told Isaac that we would be going to Big Bear Lake, and told him the lake is called Big Bear.  He insisted in seeing a big bear, and kept asking where the big bear is.  Our first try is to tell him a squirrel we found by the cabin is called Big Bear, but Isaac didn't buy it.  Then we felt we had to find a bear somehow.  Forturnately there is a small zoo in town, displaying anything crow  to local foxes to black bear.  We were able to see American bald eagle, racoon, snow leopard, and a three-legged bear.  That bear totally saved the trip.  Now whenever we asked Isaac if he has seen a bear, he said he did and it has 3 arms. 

We got some firewood from the mountain behind our cabin, and lit up the fireplace at night.  Unfortunately the cabin is not really properly sealed, and winds were blowing inside at night as well.  We celebrated the Mid-Autumn while we were there with wine and mooncake.  Leon claims that's the clearest moon he has ever seen, with 6000+ feet shorter in distance.  I wonder if he saw Armstrong's footprints.

 

Another lesson other than the temperature we learned is how dry Big Bear can be.  Hands were really dry and statics was everywhere. 

 

上个周末（10月2日到4日）我们去了大熊湖。当我们从温暖的圣地亚哥 （25度）开到山上的时候，我们发现小木屋外只有10度。从圣地亚哥开过去两个多小时吧，之后后来的一段在山里蜿蜒往上爬，开不了太快。最高的地方有不到7000尺（2000米多点）高。

 

林勇本来想租条船到湖上看看，让俩孩子见识见识。可是下午的船已经租满了，只能租早上的。林勇还想租，我说还是问问会有多冷吧。那人说，“几度吧。10点以前都不会到10度。”我们俩只穿了一件薄夹克，一下子被吓住了。只好说下次吧。

 

我们租的小木屋有两层。楼下有厨房，厕所，一个有大的双人床的房间，和客厅。二楼是阁楼，有两张小一点的双人床。因为我们家没有楼梯，俩孩子开到楼梯像发了疯似的，玩得不亦乐乎。他们在楼梯上爬上爬下，连每一级扶手的柱子之间的地方都清洁的发亮。思远从扶手的柱子之间挤出来，跳到楼下的沙发上。我们告诉他摔到了会很疼的哦，他说：“不会的，沙发很软。”后来他跳的时候没计算好，掉下来撞到沙发扶手，叫了几声又继续往上爬。

 

我们告诉思远我们要去大熊湖，告诉他说那个湖叫大熊。可是他认为在大熊湖那里要看到大熊，一直在问大熊在哪里呢？林勇开始的时候看到一直松鼠，骗他说那只松鼠的名字就叫大熊，可是人家不买账。第二天我们觉得怎么也要找只熊。还好本地有个小动物园，里面有乌鸦，狐狸，还有黑熊。我们看到秃鹰，脘熊，雪豹，还有一直三条腿的熊。还好有这只熊，现在每逢我们问思远他看到熊了么，他说看到了，那只熊只有三个胳膊。

 

我们从山后收集了不少柴火，晚上在小木屋里生火取暖。最不好的就是小木屋的密封做得不是很好，真是外面刮大风，屋里刮小风。在山上的时候我们过了中秋节，喝了红酒吃了月饼。林勇非要说这是他看过得最清楚的月亮，毕竟距离拉近了2千多米，还没有云彩折射。也不知道他看到了人类登陆月球的脚印了没有。

 

除了很冷以外还有一个教训就是大熊湖那边太干燥了，洗完手后觉得手非常干，而且静电到处都是，开车门都被静电打到几次。