Big Bear Lake, Tuesday

(Or, "How I Spent My Birthday")

I went to bed at 2am. Strange dreams woke me up at 3am and I couldn't get back to sleep for another hour. So, I didn't wake up until 10 am, and we missed the waffle breakfast. :D

So, we went to IHOP for brunch and then headed to the pirate ship lake tour. Well, Ian was disappointed. He said it's not a "ship," it's a "boat." Actually it's one-third scale replica of a 16th century ship. And, according to the captain, this specific replica seems to have been in several movies and in one that's upcoming. Of course, I don't remember any of those movies right now.

We thought it might just be the two of us, but a group of about 15 or so people joined us. They were all from the same hotel and the lake tour was apparently part of a travel package.

At one point, it occurred to me that there seemed to be an obsession with Hollywood stars. Most of the tour was about which actor or actress owned which lakeside vacation home and how much they paid for it. Then I remembered that we *are* in Southern California. Big Bear Lake is to Hollywood what Lake Tahoe is to San Francisco.

Anyway, I thought it was a nice little tour although we only toured half the lake. Ian thought it was incredibly boring, however.

Our only other planned stop was the solar observatory on the north shore. The captain of the pirate ship mentioned that the observatory offered regular tours on Saturdays but that tours can be arranged by calling them. Well, I called and the recorded outgoing message said that, due to construction, they were not offering tours this year.

I drove around the lake anyway, while Ian took a nap. I found the solar observatory which was several meters from the locked gate. But I was able to take some good pictures of it from the beach next door.

There wasn't anything else interesting after that. Big Bear Lake is much smaller than Lake Tahoe, but it has its own charm.