The hike up Pine Knot Trail to Grand View Point probably provides the most epic views in the San Bernardino mountain range. Starting from Big Bear Lake, this climbs about 1,000 feet to Grand View Point which overlooks a valley and the highest mountains in Southern California. Roundtrip it is a little over 7 miles,…
Among the many hikes in the Big Bear Lake area, Cougar Crest Trail provides great views of the area. While Cougar Crest Trail has a significant uphill climb, it is done over a steady pace. This is a fairly moderate hike that can be done with older children. Cougar Crest Trail starts in Fawnskin, across…
Castle Rock Trail is probably many people’s favorite hike in Big Bear Lake. It is a short, mile and a half round trip with great views. However, the big attraction of this hike is the large boulders. This is our pictorial guide to hiking Castle Rock Trail. The hardest part of the Castle Rock Trail…
Big Bear Lake is a great area for hiking. For families with children, some of the hikes can be a little strenuous. To get children excited about hiking in this area we suggest the Woodland Trail. Woodland Trail Interpretive Loop is a fairly easy 1.5 mile hike with 16 signposts highlighting trees, plants and other…
Yosemite National Park in California is rightly seen as one of America’s great attractions. It is a place of unsurpassed beauty with countless outdoor activities for all ages and skill levels. It is also the Disney of National Parks. Everyone wants to go. Proper planning is essential to avoid what could become a nightmare of…
Whitewater rafting is a great family activity. Over the years, the Cole family has done rafting trips in California, North Carolina and even Italy. Our favorite trip was probably the one we did whitewater rafting on the American River in California’s Gold Country. This post is a guide to our trip whitewater rafting on the…
Catalina is a 75 square mile island off the coast off southern California. This makes it about the size of New Providence island in the Bahamas, home of capital city Nassau. While Nassau is a crowded busy place, Catalina is the opposite. There is only one town of note on Catalina, Avalon with a population…
The famous prison located on Alcatraz Island is right off the city of San Francisco. As such it makes an easy trip for visitors to the city. However, this is not a spur of the moment activity. In 2015 a number of features came out suggesting that Alcatraz was one of America’s best tourist attractions. …
We were lucky to get to see the awesome Lego Art of the Brick exhibit when it came to San Diego in four months in late 2016/early 2017. This traveling exhibit features over 100 Lego art pieces built by artist Nathan Sawaya. We were skeptical of going because 1) it was expensive ($25 kids 12 and under,…
Over the years we have had great success getting significant travel discounts on hotels using Hotwire and Priceline. These sites have regular listings for hotels, but the discounts usually come from paying for an unknown hotel. Because you don’t know the name of the hotel until after you book, you can get a bargain price…