Our trip to Big Bear

Big Bear Lake, California has had an interesting past, starting with the Serrano Indians who hunted and trapped Grizzly's in the area. Hunters came in 1845 and gold was discovered in 1860 in a nearby valley. The area grew as roads were built to carry supplies and passengers to the area. In 1911 a dam was constructed to form the lake. In 1952 the first ski resort Snow Summit was created and Big Bear is a thriving year round resort.
We stayed at Northwoods Resort, while not on the lake was very beautiful and hospitable. We had our own spot to park the MG's and a fantastic hospitality suite, and a wonderful group price as our room was more like a suite and very comfortable. The no pets rule was the only downside and Gwennie stayed home with her big sister. She would have loved it and we plan to take her there someday as the town itself is very pet friendly.
The mountain area, was under attack by fire and the main road was closed, however, it was quite a distance away and the resort areas were safe. As of today the fire is 100% contained, last Saturday as we walked around town. There were many signs in businesses, thanking the firefighters who were staying around town for rest before going back up to the fire lines.
Saturday there was some rain and we thought about snow, the rain was predicted so we took the MGB rather that the MGTF, since the B has winshield wipers that work and it is a little snugger than the TF. Sunday morning we saw only ice melting on the ground and the cars, as we prepared to leave. And it was a beautiful day. The heavy rain happened down the mountain in LA, San Bernardino and Riverside County as it came thru Southern California.

Last Week: Very Interesting

Mr Bankerchick and I were away this weekend to a Mini Gathering of the Faithful (GoF)with our Vintage MG Club. Pictures to come. We stayed in a great spot in Big Bear Village and had a wonderful time. We really had a chance to meet and and really get to know many of the folks better.

We also had an interesting week as we found the travel trailer of our dreams. We have been looking for a Trailmanor that has been previously owned as they say. And Mr B found it at Custom RV in Anaheim. We have been on the look out for one after seeing them in at that dealer. It's nice to work for a bank as I got an employee loan in about a day and we will be picking it up next Saturday. We will probably take it on a shake down trip one weekend soon, and for a week at Thanksgiving. It will probably be Turkey cutlets on TG Thursday. It is not a pop-up tent trailer but a telescoping full size 30 foot. It tows at 23 feet. We have heard nothing but good things. We should have some great adventures when we are both retired in 2009.

This may seem like a paid post but these RV folks have been great in helping us find what we want and we are very excited.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

Thirteen Things I have been watching on TV this year,

1…. Medium...Fun and not too scary-NBC, I am eagerly waiting for the new season, just to see how much the girls have grown.

2....Dr Who... on SciFi (Last Saturday's was Fantastic)and BBC America, I have started watching Torchwood on BBCA, and not made up my mind yet. Anything that is British Mysteries on BBCA , PBS or anywhere, I am there.

3....My Boys on TBS a cute sit com with a girl sportswriter and her guy friends. They just did a great send-up of Friends.

4..... Formula One on Speed. This has turned out to be one of those things that Mr BC watches and I would blog but I have picked up a lot by osmosis It is almost a soap opera with rivals on teams, team espionage and a driver named Kimi (Raikkon). He won on Sunday.

5.....TIVo Star Trek Voyager....SpikeTV I didn't really watch it when it was new. Yes I am a closet Trekker.) I did not like the Captain, But it is growing on me.

6....The Closer. TNT I just watched the season finale and I am not sure I will watch next season as I like the premis and I liked Kyra Sedgewick's spunk the first season, however she was more of a pain this season and became a caricature at the end. Some series should end, while they are ahead....Saving Grace TNT it's summer and it is new, I am not sure that I like it for the same reason as above, and the character is not very likable.

7....House Fox. I love Hugh Laurie, ever since Jeeves and Wooster on PBS. He is so funny and can do a wicked American accent. He does great comedy and this show has a touch of comedy and drama.

8. Rome HBO I can't wait for it to come back next year and I am hoping they rerun soon on On Demand as I missed a couple.

9.....Almost anything on HGTV I like the DIY, I Want That, The Gardening, stuff and spend a lot of time doing it around the house during the winter and spring.

10...The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy channel and thanks to Sarge Charley The 1/2 Hour News Hour on Fox. That way I have all sides of political Humor. Satire is for everyone, right or left. And laughing makes me happy.

11....America's Funniest Home Videos even the reruns ABC. That program still makes me laugh after all these years. I like Tom Bergeron better that Bob Saget.

12....The 4400 USA, this had a good premis on the first and second season and to keep me watching they had better wrap this up a little this season ending or I will probably dump it like I did LOST. You have to give the viewers a reason that things happen at least a hint. I got tired of watching LOST with very little hints of what was really happening . Even scifi and fantasy have to have some kind of reason.

13...Eureka....Scifi... I like this one a good story every week and a backstory that could be meaningful. It is funny and makes me laugh. The world ends almost every week and everyone out side of Eureka never knows about it. Fun

The new season is about to start and I have spotted some shows I may check out so I may have some new favorites to TIVO. I love being able to watch when I want to watch.

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Wordless Wednesday

Awards, and the Emmy goes to.........

Some one nice I hope! However in TV land that might not be possible....

The Emmy's are on tonite....and I probably will not watch again this year, because I have so many other things on Tivo and Sunday nite that I like to watch. I watch TV a lot, specifically not what the Nielson families watch. CBS, NBC and ABC are really low on my radar and just have a few things on usually at 10:00 that I TIVO for watching earlier the next night or so. Cable has my attention most of the time and maybe I'll T13 that someday. My major TV time is taken up by blogging, reading blogs and finding new blogs to read at the same time the TV is on.

Now back to the main topic. Awards! I certainly did not start to blog for awards and until last Sunday, I had not even received awards and was not really concerned about that as I see them a lot like award shows, there are too many of them. One of my favorites Akelamalu , though awarded me: The Nice Matters Award, proudly posted on the side of my Blog. it was my first (or so I thought) and it came from Akela and since she is one of the first to ever comment on my blogging efforts and because I read her blog first when I make the rounds. I am honored. She writes a witty, profound, personal and simply WoW blog that I enjoy so much, that I accept humbly and want to thank my............

Now I am suppose to pass it on to 7 others, and if you look at my side bar I have a very select group of that I regularly read and comment on. because I don't have a lot of time. I have some additional links on my Yahoo favorites that I look at when I have a chance and some times they move to my regular reads when I am intrigued and want to comment, otherwise I am a tremendous lurker. Many on my side bar have already received the award and deservedly so, because Nice Matters. However, I did not see it on Chrsty O's: The Misadventures of Captain Poopy, a very interesting name for a Blog. It is not your usual Mommy Blog, however Capt Poopy is adorable and another is on the way. Check out her entry for September 11, it is heartfelt and moving. I will pay it forward some more when I can find someone else who is nice and really make it count. 6 to go and counting.

********************************************************************

Saturday and Sunday are my main catch up days and I also decided I should check my Bankerchick e-mail since it had been a very long while. ( I forget to look) I had been awarded post of the day over on The Rising Blogger in August. Many thanks for that. and I did pay it forward, a little belatedly. Late is my middle name. Judd very nicely credited me with being in my 40's and that was a nice compliment since I just started my 60's. I have put that award on my side bar as well as putting the link with all of the rest of my favorite reads, hopefully I will find some new friends by checking The Rising Blogger out.

PLASTIC FOOD

I ostale djakonije - hrana u izlogu je od plastike, bili smo i u radnji koja prodaje modele hrane, vecina restorana u izlogu ima plasticni model jela koja sluze - korisno za nas Gaidjine (strance)

DD1 and SIL have been in Japan for the last 10 days or so. Big travelers, and they always post pictures as they go. Here is an example and the comment in Serbian, since SIL takes the pictures he writes the comments for his larger Serbian family and we wait for DD1 and SIL to tell us all about it when they get home. Now since I too have been to Japan I can sometimes figure out the comment with my online Serbian translator. So I believe this is an example of offerings in the window of a restaurant, that are PLASTIC models. I believe he is saying the things that look like billard balls is PLASTIC bread, and that the food looks exotic or strange (strance). So how did I do SIL was I close?

Mr Bankerchick and I went to Japan in 1979 and went to many of the same sights and I was amazed at the models of the entrees in the windows of restaurants. We actually see a lot of that in the windows of Asian food emporiums here in SoCal but at the time we went to Japan it almost seemed like Pop Art to me as it was so realistic.

Big Chief and Plaid Dresses-Back to School!

Yesterday, Mr Bankerchick and I were out driving around trying to get our shopping done and listening to Prairie Home Companion, they were doing a compilation of school days stories, and he really got the Bankerchicks talking and thinking about how we got ready to go back to school. We are both in agreement that we were anxious to get back to school after the summer. He grew up in southern Missouri and I grew up in Southern California so BTS shopping was a little different for both of us. I was familiar with Big Chief tablets since my Grandparents had one around the house so my cousin, brother, and I could entertain ourselves with drawing and writing, however, I grew up in the Glory Days of California education, when one did not have to shop much for school supplies as they were provided for us. I can remember the early years of school where the class room monitors would pass out the manila paper with the big lines so we could practice our handwriting. I believed the teacher was mispronouncing the word and could not figure out why they called it vanilla paper for years. I always had a new lunch box and thermos, as we played with the old one all summer and they were dirty and broken by September.

Back to shopping We also shopped differently, Both moms had to get new school shoes for us as we always had gone barefoot all summer outgrew our shoes every few months. In California September can somtimes be the hottest month so I usually started the year with some of summers sundresses and short sleeve shirts and skirts that my mother made for me. We always wore dresses or skirts to school in the conservative '50s and changed into play clothes after school. I usually got a new sweater and jacket, sometimes a hand me down from my older cousins Betsy and Sharon, and it was many years before I resented that, because it was good stuff. My new clothes came from my Christmas gifts later in the cooler months and what my mother sewed for me. I can't remember feeling bad about homemade clothes as she sewed beautifully.

Mr B had the Big Chief book, the pencils, Roy Rogers Pencil box or whoever was popular, and new eraser etc. He had new shirts, as his mom worked at a shirt factory and sewed up shirts from her own material on breaks and such. They were not rich, but his mom was proud, so Mr B usually had the basics that he needed because his mom was careful with her money and always used lay-a-way. He always got to wear his new school clothes because Fall always started in September in Missouri. I usually started wearing my new clothes in late October or November.

Fall clothes were in the stores in August and September, in California but it never was cool enough on the first day of school to wear them, except for the new red or green plaid dress my mom would alway have for me to wear on the first day of school. A tradition that went on for years as she always sent or I bought a new plaid dress for my girls to wear for elementary school, day 1.

MUSIC

Luciano Pavarotti.

This of course is not my photo, but Pavarotti meant music to me! How lucky we are to be able to listen to him forever.

Saturday Photo Hunt DIRTY Job