Big Bear Film Fest

The Big Bear Lake International Film Festival will be starting up Sept 17th with three days of screenings. This is the eleventh year the event has been going on.

Apparently it has been voted one of the 25 film festivals worth going to. Plus, you get the added benefit of being in the mountains.

For more details and get tickets, visit their website: http://www.bigbearlakefilmfestival.com/index.php

Native American Festival in Big Bear Lake, CA

There are lots of activities happening in Big Bear in the non-winter season. Goes to show that there is more to the place than just snow & winter activities.

The 6th Annual Native American Arts Festival is happening 08/21 & 08/22 from 10a-5p. The event will be at the Moonridge Animal Park.

For more information, call 909-878-4200 or visit www.moonridgezoo.org.

Renaissance Faire in Big Bear, CA!!

Turns out there's a Renaissance Faire happenning Aug 21-22 in Big Bear, CA. There will be shows, children's activities, and food (my personal favorite is the turkey leg a la Henry VIII).

We've gone to them before with our children and they seem to have a good time. Its a great educational opportunity and way for them to live a little history.

Details can be found here: www.bbvrsinc.org


BIG BEAR CITY RENAISSANCE FAIRE

Where: Historical Pedersen's Mill, 39115 Rim of the World Drive, Fawnskin, on the north shore of Big Bear Lake

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, and Aug. 21-22

Cost: $15 adult, adult weekend pass $26, adult season pass $50 seniors, 55 and older, military and students with ID: $12; children 6-12, $12; senior/military/student/child weekend pass $20; senior/military/student/child season pass: $38; children 5 and younger free

Big Bear, CA Event: Big Bear Cowboy Gathering Aug 19-22

The 11th annual Big Bear Cowboy Gathering is set for Aug. 19-22 at the Big Bear Performing Arts Center.

For tickets and information, call 909-709-0449; or visit www.bigbearcowboygathering.net.

Happy Holidays from High View Retreat Big Bear Cabin!

Wishing everyone in Big Bear a very happy holidays!

How to Save on your Visit to Big Bear Mountains This Winter

So I've noticed that this winter season, there are several sweepstakes or special discount promotions being offered that make visiting the Big Bear mountains more afforable. Spending a ski/snow weekend in Big Bear isn't as expensive as going to other snow places around the country and these deals make the trip that much lighter on your wallet).

Let me know if there's any other discounts out there. I will continue to update this list when I come across new offers.

1) Upload your ski or snowboard photo at OrangeCounty.com to win two free lift tickets to Bear Mountain/Snow Summit. Apparently every Wednesday a photo will be selected as the winner. You can enter at the OrangeCounty.com website.

2) Snow Valley Sweepstakes: Snow Valley is another Big Bear area mountain ski spot and they are holding a sweepstakes contest. Grand prize is a brand new snowboard, season pass to Snow Valley,  and a weekend stay at Lake Arrowhead Resort. But the cool thing is that in addition to the grand prize, they seem to be giving away lift ticket passes on a regular basis. To enter you visit this page where you send out a Tweet about the contest, and sign up as a Twitter followerer. Here's the link to the contest.

3) Snow Valley discount code for lift passes. Use the code SLOPE2 if you order lift tickets online at Snow-Valley.com or there is a coupon you can print out. This will get you 50% off lift tickets.

4) Lift & Lodging Packages. You can get Lift & Lodging Packages right now. Midweek starts out at $69 per person, per night and weekends at $89 per person, per night (minimum 2 nights). Bigbearcoolcabins.com (who manages the scheduling for our cabin High View Retreat) is part of the midweek package, but you can see a full list of participating lodges and see other details for this offer at the Bigbear.com website or you can call (800) 4-BIG-BEAR (800-424-4232).

5) Big Bear lodging coupons. You can visit this link to get coupons for some of Big Bear lodges. There's coupons for % off a stay or buy 1 get 1 free nights or free firewood. Over six pages of coupons that you can use to save on lodging.

6) Restaurant coupons. You can't come up to the mountains for the weekend and play in the snow all day and not expect to work up a big appetite! That's why I have this link for restaurant coupons. Again, this link goes to a page with coupons for several area restaurants. Discounts range from % off to $ off.

7) Activites coupons. Here is a link to coupons for some activities to do while here in Big Bear. These are not for ski resorts. (did you know they have a pirate ship up here at the lake?) There's also this link for discount coupons for several services like spa service, massages, wedding service, etc.

8) Shopping coupons. Like to shop? You can spend the afternoon in the Village and save some money too with these Big Bear shopping coupons.

Surviving Big Bear Mountains Storm- Weekend December 11-13, 2009

So we heard that there would be snowstorms moving into the mountains so we decided to go up to our cabin in Big Bear, CA. Its always so nice and relaxing to get out of Los Angeles for the weekend, especially if its stormy weather outside. We like staying inside our cozy cabin, enjoying a warm roaring fire in our fireplace and not doing anything at all. Its a good way to get away and take a break from our everyday lives.

So our adventure started Friday night when we decided to leave in the afternoon hoping to get ahead of the storm. We kind of did  but going through the Artic Circle on SH 18 was very foggy. We made it and settled in for the storm. We had lots of movies to watch, games to play, smores to make and wood for a fire.

Well, on Saturday morning we were able to play in the snow with the kids but the snow didn't roll very well so our snowman was only ok looking. The rest of the day was extremely windy and rainy, but no snow. At one point, our lawnchairs blew into the neighbor's yard!

We woke up on Sunday morning after a long and storm night to discover snow on the ground and lots of it! We went with the kids out side and got in some sled runs in our backyard (the cabin backyard is very large and has a very good slope which is perfect for sledding). Our daughter was even eating the icicles.

Enjoy the pictures! We hope you can plan a weekend to visit Big Bear and enjoy the snow.