In a region teeming with over 10 million people, you need a place close by to escape to now and again. In the summertime, when the heat inland can easily top 100 degrees, many people head to the ocean. Many, many people. This causes major traffic jams, making the drive last hours instead of minutes, and then you have to deal with finding a parking spot.
No easy task when it seems several of those millions have the same idea you do.
We like the beach, too, but we're happy to go off-season when the crowds are staying away. Instead, we might head up to the mountains.
Southern California is blessed with an abundance of mountain ranges, something you might expect in a region riddled with earthquake faults. A lot of it is wilderness or open space (President Obama set aside a few hundred thousand acres of it to create the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument) with few roads but many trails. Some of these mountains are quite big with San Jacinto (near Palm Springs), San Antonio (also called Mt. Baldy, near Upland), and San Gorgonio (rising up 11,503 feet above Big Bear) all cresting over 10,000 feet tall.
Just a handful of communities reside in these mountain ranges...Mt. Baldy, Wrightwood, Idylwild, Big Bear, Crestline, Running Springs, and a few others. All have their charms but we've come to enjoy Lake Arrowhead the most, even though most of the lake is off-limits to the public since it's privately owned and maintained for the property owners that surround the lake.
Fortunately, there is a village on the south shore that is open to the public and it makes for a great little getaway from the heat below. Everything you need to have a fun day is here and, as a bonus, it's all within walking distance once you find a place to park.
Our weather at home is supposed to get near 110 degrees today as we get ready to escape up to the lake, where it should be a decidedly more pleasant 75 or so. A 90 minute drive, with the last half hour along a mountain road, will get us there. About the same as going to the beach on a hot weekend.
Not as bad as the beach but plenty of people have the same idea as us. We get lucky and find a great handicapped spot in front of the Pendleton Outlet store by the McDonalds (the village is like a small outlet mall with a few outlet stores from companies like Coach, Bass, Jockey and more). If there's no parking at this lower lot, we know we can find more in the upper lot, a short block away, where we can get back down via a handy elevator.
The main part of the village is just above us, up a short flight of stairs. Letty thinks there's an elevator along the lakefront side of the path. I don't remember one but we'll go that way (there isn't one, by the way). It's a very pleasant stroll, feeling the cool breeze off of the water and watching people speed by in their boats.
It is the long way around but it still isn't that far. We make it to Lollipop Park, a micro-sized amusement park out on the point.
You can ride on the bumper cars, a couple of kiddie rides, or even drive go-karts on a tiny waterfront course. A miniature golf course and carousel are also somehow squeezed in along the sidewalk.
Here, we can make the wide turnaround to access the main part of the village in the wheelchair. A pedestrian walkway winds through the outlet stores, souvenir shops, restaurants and bars. A stage with open air seating is at the far end. A U2 tribute band will be playing a free concert there later.
A break for ice cream is called for before we continue into the village at the Village Ice Cream Shoppe, just after we clear the amusement park and across from the Bass Outlet.
My wife wants to do a little shopping but after driving up and walking around the far way, I want a drink first.
The Lakefront Tap Room supplies the chaser, a nice craft brew on tap, while the outdoor patio at Papagayo's...about ten feet away...supplies the shot, a chilled shot of tequila with a lakeside view and breeze.
Letty goes on to browse the Famous Footwear Outlet, Wilson's Leather Outlet, and a few others while Tim and I knock around outside. We meet up at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate shop where they get some sweets and even I get in on the action with a selection of delicious sugar-free options. Good, but expensive at $22 a pound.
We cap off a day with a meal at the Belgian Waffle Works back on the edge of the lake where a nice dish of waffles awaits us.
After filling our tummies, we head back down the mountain to the heat below before it gets dark. It was very nice to escape from it for a few hours.
Darryl Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment