Friends, Bugs and Disney Dreaming

Our last morning in Big Bear was all about finishing the rest of the food we had so that we didn't have to throw much away. I used the leftover potatoes and corn from the night before along with some onion and tomatoes from taco night so create some fried potatoes. Joe, Zach and I had breakfast burritos and David ate the last two pancakes from a previous breakfast. We packed up our stuff, cleaned the kitchen, and I attended one more short meeting while the trash was taken to a local site.

This is the first road trip with my new car Harvey, a Honda HRV. It is the bigger cousin to my red Fit and you would think we would have had plenty of space. It is surprising how 3 bags of games, a guitar, a Labo kit, and lots of suitcases will fill up the back in no time. It's crazy to remember that nine years ago we took a 14-day trip in the cutest little red car you ever did see with such a small amount of luggage and stuff.

Before leaving Big Bear, we took a quick drive up to Pine Summit, the camp where the two older sons attended AWANA camp for so many summers. It has different owners now and when the time came for David to attend, AWANA had changed their camp to a campground in Idyllwild. All we could do was peer through the closed gate before heading down the mountain and on to the next adventure.

On the way home, we stopped to visit our friends the Eastons who live in Running Springs, about 30 minutes from Big Bear. We were able to visit with the whole family and catch up on what everyone is doing. Wade and Judi have a cool house and are keeping busy with some renovation and doing ministry. Ashleigh and Alexander are working, but we still got to visit with both and see how they have grown into young adults. They have a handful of animals including a dog who doesn't like strangers (so we didn't get to meet him), chickens, ducks, and lizards. Everyone got a good laugh, when they saw my reaction after we were shown the cockroaches they were raising to feed the lizard. Yes, you read that correctly, they raise cockroaches! Not your average little brown roaches, these were big two inch black disgusting things. Just writing about it gives me the heebie jeebies all over again.

It so happens that Downtown Disney had re-opened on the very. same day we were headed home, so we had to take a detour and at least get close to Disneyland. We had our temperatures checked before we entered the security bubble and there were cue lines outside of the stores. World of Disney had the largest

line. Portable hand-washing stations were all over the place and cast members greeted us along the way with a cheery "Welcome Back." We walked the length of Downtown Disney and David and Joe went to the gates ensuring that the parks were still there. We've been a little sad not being able to go to the Happiest Place on Earth in a while. We had an early dinner outside at Earl of Sandwich except Zach who got a tofu pancake wrap at the Asian food truck across the way and then it was time to finish the drive home. 

We were back in San Diego by 6:00 with another road trip in the books. I am grateful that we had the chance to take this little trip. Every year is a gift and with Zach leaving for Germany some time this year and the other two back to work soon, this could be our last one. I remember when my boys were little guys and I would get sad thinking about my babies growing up, but one day I decided that if I could have my sons as friends, that would be pretty awesome. I am glad for the experiences I have with my adult children. I enjoy their company, their conversation, and their perspectives and I am honored to call them my friends and sons.