When I got inside I noticed the weather report on the new, which was predicting, with 100-percent certainty, 3-5 inches of snowfall on Monday! This was the kind of alignment of forecast and finances that I'd been awaiting all season. I immediately went to work making the requisite bookings and plans. For those who care, when I did go back to the pool the duck was gone and I had a good session with visions of snowflakes and mountain lodges swimming through my head.
Furthermore, I received a Metrolink promotion, which gave me two free round-trips. I used one of them for the trip up, I still have the second left.
SUNDAY
I took the Metrolink train for free from Orange to San Bernardino. The train was nearly 30 minutes late yet it arrived on time. It was a pleasant ride and my first time on that part of the route. The Anaheim Hills portion was incredibly nice, it became less and less attractive starting with Corona. When I was walking back from the restroom another passenger (a rugged and raw white guy with long brown dread locks) gave a look (like what's wrong with me). From the San Bernardino Metrolink station I caught the Off the Mountain bus up to Big Bear.
It was dark at this point. The bus was interesting as it did not have a modern fare collection unit with digital card readers or electronic slots for money, it just had a plastic box with a slot for the money to be dropped. When I put in my 10 dollars the driver pulled a lever, which caused the money to fall into a safer storage area below (to reduce crime, I imagine). The driver was senior who looked like he'd logged thousands of trips. He sped up the dark mountain roads with impressive efficiency and seeming abandon. During the night drive I enjoyed the unique red mood lighting and a radio recording of an old "Time Was" old time music program on my iPhone.
When we arrived I wasn't sure if it was the correct place as there was another woman who got on when I did but she wasn't getting off, and it was the end of the line. However, I got off the bus successfully and started my 1.7 mile walk to the hostel. It was actually warmer than I expected, but there was a nice chill nonetheless. I was impressed at the visibility of the nearby ski slopes, which were well lit. I stopped at a Starbucks and tried the Smoky Butterscotch Frappucino flavor (with coconut milk) for the first time. I wasn't impressed.
During my walk I passed by one of the nicer Denny's restaurants that I had ever seen. It was an eerily quiet walk with relatively little traffic and no sidewalk activity beyond myself. Of course, me being me, I was always fearful and vigilant of possible attackers and, in this case, vicious wild animals. Fortunately, I encountered none of these. I actually did come by another person on foot when I was getting real close to the hostel.
At the hostel I was greeted by a young woman with a European accent (she sounded French or Belgian to my ear, but her accent was hard to place). She checked me in with another young woman's help, who also had a European accent. Checking in went relatively quickly although I did use some of the time to call my mom and announce my safe arrival.
When check-in was over the young woman showed me around as is customary at many of these places. They had a piano (not a grand, mind you, but a nice one), guitars, comfy furniture, and an overall impressive rustic and cozy vibe. There were plenty of restrooms, which were all clean and functional. The kitchen was spacious and clean. Everything was as if they had cleaned up for VIPs.
Actually, before she left she made fresh coffee just for me (since I asked about it)!
I got a room code and a main entrance door code. There was a young couple in my room who proved to be quite nice and non-judgmental about my introversion.
I spent the next few hours in the Grand Room updating social media and this very blog. I also did additional last minute planning for the next day. During most of this late night session I had the pleasure of overhearing a rather robust conversation between young (and less young) women about self-defense, murder, independence, parental emotions, and even Marvel's Jessica Jones! I tried to close my ears during the Jessica Jones part because I still hadn't caught up. Their presence did much to enliven my online session and to distinguish my hostel and trip experience for the better.
I finally got to bed at about 1:30 am. Rewind, before bed I made some oatmeal from the free food stash and I sweetened it with the lowest calorie peanut butter they had (why are so many people peanut butter-and-jelly types?); I also mixed my serving of Met-Rx protein powder in it. Furthermore, I had the rest of my metabolism and anabolism supplements as I am still actively training.
I woke up around 5:30 in the morning. I started taking all the photos in my last post at around 6:00am. The young woman who checked me in eventually appeared and proceeded to prepare the breakfast of the day: pancakes (plain and Danish style). She put the pancakes out in an industrial warmer on a rather beautifully prepared table. I went for the Danish style, which were that much better. Oddly, most everyone favored the boring plain pancakes. I was remiss at the lack of a high protein breakfast but this was better than nothing. It was not snowing yet but there still about an hour to go until the snow was due (according to the hourly forecast).
I left before the snow started so that I could get further into the village sooner. It started snowing shortly after I arrived at the lake, which was pretty much perfectly timed as it allowed me to get snowy pictures at the lake and then continue to capture the snow on my walk back through the village.
When I got back from my walk I had to go to the restroom really bad. I started to retrieve my door code from my wallet when another lodger approached and opened it up. I rushed into the restroom, snow falling off my clothes, and relieved myself. There were many inspiring quotes posted to the walls, which I photographed (see below). When I got out the same woman appeared again and informed me that my "laptop" (actually tablets in a single carrying case) was in the front office since they discovered it while tossing the room. I retrieved my tablets and took off because it was pretty much already time to leave even though I wanted to stay longer.
When I exited the Grand Room I noticed something that looked like my wallet in the snow. I picked it up realizing that I had dropped it earlier in my haste to get to the restroom; I was so glad I didn't lose it!
I started the walk back to the bus stop at the Interlaken Shopping Center. I was actually running late and had to hustle in the mildly treacherous conditions, which turned icy (not as bad as my first visit to Portland though). I visited The Village Sweet Shoppe despite my better judgment as it was the top shop I intended to check out. I bought a case of"Bitch Mints" for the novelty of it and because they are low calorie.
Sadly, I failed to make it in time, which meant I had to catch a later bus, which meant missing the train and having to book something else instead. I decided to return to the Starbucks and take care of things. There was a woman who was quite stressed where I chose to sit. I wonder if the woman hated the snow or if it was more the work she was doing that was stressing her? Either way, I ordered a hot coffee with some white chocolate syrup and vanilla powder and got down to business.
I booked a Greyhound going to Anaheim from San Bernardino. I also made an online purchase of a deep-fryer as I had decided earlier that weekend that I should have my own for relatively healthful home frying. I also had to arrange transportation from the ARTIC in Anaheim to my home.
I decided to walk back toward the village and check out some things I missed. I checked out the Bowling Barn, which was way overpriced ($38 per hour, prices by game weren't good either). I had also revisited the lake and got some new perspectives. Finally, I walked through the village making visits to the various souvenir shops, which resulted in me leaving empty-handed every time.
I visited the Vons on my way back to buy some protein bars as I hadn't had quality protein since 1:30am and it was now nearly 3:30pm and I wasn't destined to arrive home until after 9pm. I bought a Met-Rx Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bar as well as some from another brand (cookie dough and s'mores flavors) I don't remember. I was pissed off (and cursing under my breath) that the woman in front of me had the cashier take extra time on her account including the receipt of giveaway stickers since I was in a hurry (I was overly anxious). When it was my turn I told the cashier that I didn't care about the giveaway stickers, which the guy behind me thought was amusing.
Anyhow, I made it on the bus with no problems. However, the bus ride was beset by several delays. First, the driver decided to "chain up," which led to his discovery that the chains were not on the bus, which resulted in a delay of roughly one hour. When we finally got chained up and moving it didn't take long before there was another delay of about 30 minutes near a checkpoint, this time I didn't know what the cause was. There was one more point where we spent about ten minutes at a stop while he communicated with another driver, I think it had something to do with transferring a passenger. Fortunately, I was in no hurry as I had several hour between the scheduled arrival in San Bernardino and the Greyhound departure. I arrived in San Bernardino with approximately one hour before the scheduled departure of the Greyhound, which was reduced from nearly three hours.
However, my Greyhound bus was delayed by yet another hour. San Bernardino has one of the crappier bus stations. I was discouraged by security from walking to buy cheap water due to the neighborhood. As a result, one of the guards pitied me and gave me an unopened water for free.
I was glad to finally get on the bus and on our way. Early on it was neat listening to the bus driver, a young black woman from Florida who was not uniformed like most, speak with one of the passengers, a 40-something white man also from Florida, about their common Florida experiences. The Florida man also spoke often with a thickly accented Asian (probably Chinese descent) about Los Angeles. They were planning a rendezvous upon arrival. They were marveling a how much Riverside has improved throughout the years. Downtown Riverside is especially nice and possibly the destination of a future trip.
However, the ride became unpleasant as I realized that we were behind by nearly another 30 minutes by the time we reached Santa Ana. It was painfully amusing listen to the Asian man complain aloud ad nauseum about stopping in Santa Ana and Anaheim before Los Angeles. Specifically, he kept repeating some variation of: Santa Ana then Los Angeles...No!...Los Angeles first, then transfer to Anaheim and Santa Ana! He also kept pointing at the ticket, which doesn't list all the stops, declaring that it says San Bernardino to Los Angeles, that's it! And he cursed the "stupid fucking driver" and offered her a bet, of questionable sincerity, in which he would buy her dinner if they got to Los Angeles by the time she claimed (in little more than 30 minutes), which was impossible since our stop in Santa Ana took up more than twenty minutes by itself. I could tell that she lacked hustle, which is a critical quality in a Greyhound driver He was wrong about the first two complaints but right about the last.
Ultimately, I arrived in Anaheim at about 11pm. The Asian dude was surprised and a bit confused by the new ARTIC station in Anaheim, which he was ignorant of. I was glad to boogie off that bus and glad to take the next day off work.
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