A special event interrupted our normal routine. For my 70thbirthday, Meera wanted to do something in a place near LA. Given my interest in hiking, and outdoors, she selected Big Bear Lake as the place. We rented a big house from Airbnb for three nights, so that our family could spend the weekend together. My sister’s family decided to join us, so they rented another house in vicinity. My sister and brother-in-law used to own a vacation place in Big Bear when their daughters were growing up. So, they had special fondness for the place. We had one more addition…my brother and sister-in-law decided to fly in from Rochester, NY. Now it was becoming a really big party :-).
Getting from LA to Big Bear Lake is exciting. There are two roads, steep and very steep. My sister had suggested the steep road, Rt. 38. We did not listen to her and decided to go on the very steep road. Ha ha ha. This road Rt. 330 is not for the faint of hearts. Not only it has one winding lane each way, going up to 8000’ in a very short order, but also the folks who drive on it are maniacs (except us of course). Very quickly you find yourself leading a restless pack of cars behind you, threatening to push you off the road (of course I exaggerate). A couple of times, I pulled over on the side and let the steam off. However, accelerating my old CRV to a speed required to merge back on a steep slope proved challenging. So, I stopped pulling over and let the drivers behind us fume.
The view of the valley was quite spectacular, but I could not take my eyes off the road for more than a fraction of a second. Meera enjoyed it. Soon we were on the top of the pass and headed down slope. We entered the busy town of Big Bear where we would spend the next three days. The house we had rented was in a hilly neighborhood with lots of intersecting curvy streets. It would have been impossible to find our place without GPS.
Over the weekend, the family assembled and we had a lot of fun. There were 19 of us, the youngest about a year old, and the oldest…I, of course. We ate a lot, drank a lot and had a good time.
Yes, there was a cake, decorated by the four grand children, one ours and three my sister’s. The cake came out with candles and there was singing of Happy Birthday. We played loud music, including many of our favorite Hindi songs from the 50s and 60s. I am sure our neighbors were bothered but they did not say anything because the night before they had an equally loud party.
Meera had asked several friends and family members to say what they remember when they think of me. There were several very flattering responses. Makes you feel good. It has been a great life so far.
We hiked a bit, but given the size of the Jing bang, they were modest. Meera and I told ourselves that we will come back to do some more serious hiking. They even have cross-country skiing in winter, so that would be another attraction.
After the weekend in Big Bear, we three siblings and spouses spent a week at my sister’s place. We all have met several times but never by ourselves without parents or children. It was nice to do that. We thanked our lucky star that we get along well. It is a rare family that has such good fortune.
