A Ride to Big Bear @ 7000 Feet.....and The Ill Effects of Bad Food.

A beautiful and calm start to our Wednesday, here in Desert Hot Springs, CA.

Yesterday was the planned motorcycle ride to Big Bear City and Big Bear Lake - at 7,000 feet elevation, located north of the San Bernardino National Forest. 

A break in the cool, high elevation reaches on our way to Big Bear.

I was invited to join a group of like minded riders from the Outdoor Resorts.  I met them outside their resort gate and by 8:30 am Tuesday morning, we were rolling west on I-10, then north and east on highway 62 to Yucca Valley, then north again on highway 247 to the Lucerne Valley.  At the junction to Barstow, we turned left and headed up to 7,000 feet and the large resort Big Bear area.  The temperature upon arrival?  55 degrees!  Good thing for heated riding clothes and heated grips.

Strip mining is evident high up in the mountains.

As we climbed into the twists and turns, making our way up to the high elevations of these mountains, we felt the temperature decrease by the minute.  There was evidence of snow in the shadows of the ditches along the way.

The motorcyclists I rode with are not bloggers nor camera buffs.  As a result, I could not take the many photos I hoped for to show off this stunningly beautiful area.  Jeanette and I will take another ride up there and we'll report on our findings in a future blog.

We did stop for lunch at a restaurant and only minutes after eating and returning to our motorcycles, I felt the ill effects of a gurgling stomach.  I feared that I had been food poisoned.  Well.....I had been!

We made a quick return ride (couple of hours) south of Big Bear, through twisty turns and steep drops in elevation to arrive in the city of Redlands, CA.  Back on I-10, we followed the crazy traffic at speeds of 140 km/hr (80 mph) through Beaumont, Banning and back into the Palm Springs country.  I could not get back to our site soon enough.  I was not feeling well.....!

Back home, the proof was clear.  I faced several hours of running to the bathroom....and dealing with dripping sweats and freezing too.  By 6:00 pm - the bad food eradicated - I was able to return to a normal body temperature and get some sleep.  I feel fine today!  What an awful ending to what started out as a really good day.

Our route to Palm Desert along 1000 Palms Drive

Riding along Bob Hope Drive - southbound.

Monday was a planned day to meet my cousin for lunch.  She winters in Palm Desert and we always make a point of getting together.  Jeanette and I arrived at 11:30 am and after spending some time chatting on her patio, we walked along El Paseo Drive to the Back Street Bistro.

Cousin Madeleine excited to greet us.

The grounds at her townhome off El Paseo Drive, Palm Desert.

Jeanette is admiring the flowers at pool side in this resort.

The  lunch fare was very good.  We enjoyed a beautiful early afternoon sitting outdoors and enjoying the chat on a variety of topics.  Madeleine's mom and my mom were sisters. 

Our spot for lunch - Back Street Bistro on El Paseo Drive, Palm Desert.

By mid-afternoon, Monday, we said our bye byes and headed back to our site where we engaged in a happy hour with some nice folks from Panoka, Alberta - a small town about 50 miles south of Edmonton, Alberta.

A parting photo before taking our leave back for Desert Hot Springs.

Feeling fine this morning, a planned motorcycle ride to Julian will happen.  Jeanette and I will meet Lucky and Trena in Cathedral City before heading out over I-74 and to the secondary roads that will lead us to the pie capital of the southwestern California country.  Looking forward to that.

We also look forward to our son Deni, wife Courtney and baby Owen who will arrive in Palm Springs late this afternoon.  

Thanks for dropping by.