Finally made it out of the urban sprawl! My first town in the mountains was Rim Forest, they call it the "Rim of the World". The high school was built in a magnificent spot overlooking the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains! How do they get any work out of those kids... or teachers? I would just stare out the windows all day... what a view!
Just as I was leaving San Bernardino, a guy pulled up beside me and said, "Love God!" He kinda' caught me off guard, I said, "Pardon me?" He said, "Your sign, it should say love God!" I said, "It does." He said, "No it doesn't, it says love life!" I told him that Life and God mean the same to me. He shook his head and said that wasn't the way he saw it.  I politely told him to let me know when he was going to walk across the country with his sign, that my friend Nathan, in South Carolina, would make him one just like mine saying whatever he chose to say, for about $30.00 plus $12.00 shipping. He shook his head again, but he was polite and he was smiling big. I could care less what the other persons sign says... I only care about my own sign.
I thoght about it later, I have had similar questions and debates about my sign before, I think, next time, I will  answer, "What about those that do not believe in God, we aren't to encourage them to love life and embrace it and... stay alive?" I'm about living not about personal beliefs. If I could have my babies alive right now... I wouldn't give a damn what their beliefs were...  nor how much they differed from mine!!

Yesterday, very early in the morning at a c-store a couple miles past Running Springs, California, I saw two really big men laughing as one yelled, "Hey there's three right there!" He was picking something up from the parking lot. I asked one of them if someone and dropped a bunch of change or something? He laughed a big hearty laugh, the kind that comes from guys that size, and said, "No, this is just a game we play. We work for San Bernardino County and there are three of us who stop at various c-stores before work, at lunch, and after work. We comb the parking lots for change and then we tally up who found the most at the end of the day. The one with the highest monetary value gets a tag with his name on it which goes in the jar with the change. The one with the most tags at the end of the year then gets the jar full of change." Everyone in their area of store stops is aware of what they are doing. They told me that sometimes people will throw a whole roll of pennies out... and they pick 'em all up! And a few times, there has been change they couldn't pick up because it had been Super Glued to the pavement! Both Hailey and Randy were laughing those big hearty laughs when they told of being fooled by the glued change! They were both from Green Valley, CA. and everyone coming and going at the store seemed to know them and most commented on their change collecting. Hailey told me that San Bernardino County was the biggest county in California and he was pretty sure it was the largest in the U.S. and that it employed 30,000!  They also told me a snow storm was forecast for that night and that I should try to get to lower altitudes. I told them I once found a hundred dollar bill while walking in Ohio. They said they were now inspired to look much harder!

The San Bernardino Mountains were beautiful but the wind was fierce most of the day as I tried to move as fast as possible to beat the coming storm. Just between Big Bear Lake and Big Bear City, I pitched my tent on a little hill right on California Rt. 18 and just above the traffic. These kind of spots are perfect for me as they are just out of eye level for the the passing motorist and the driver really has to be looking to actually spot someone up there. I pitched my bright yellow tent (not my choice) and no one even noticed. The storm started some time during the night, bringing rain and hail  When I woke this morning, I had to break the ice off my tent and let it lay in the sun to dry for awhile before I could get started. I looked up toward the mountains behind me and they were completely fogged in. It was 10:00 am before I could pack my tent and head out.

As I was walking through the small resort town of Big Bear City a very pretty lady, Diana, stepped out of Thelma's Family Restaurant and asked what I was doing. After telling her briefly what I was doing, Diana invited me in for coffee. You betcha!! Diana introduced me to Eric Asorson who was having breakfast. Erik is "Erik the Black" who has thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and is author of the Pacific Crest Trail Atlas, billed as, "The Ultimate, Ultralight Pacific Crest Trail Guidebook". Erik also maintains Erik the Black's BLOG, www.ErikTheBlack.com. A very enlightening source of information not only on the Pacific Crest Trail, but on hiking and backpacking in general. Erik and I talked for a long time. He told me how his life had become confused, he was fed up with society and just didn't like where he was in life. He said that all that changed for him when he took on the challenge of thru-hiking the beautiful Pacific Crest trail. Now is that a story or what?! He not only recieved the ultimate therapy from Doctor Mother Nature's Pacific Crest Trail... he put together the ultimate guide book and maps for it. And Erik is not quite 30-years-old yet!! I'm telling you folks... there is THERAPY out there on them thar TRAILS!! Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail was most definitely a life changing experience for me. This is why Erik and I and other experienced thru-hikers, want to make as many as possible, aware of the therapeutic healing powers available through the beautiful long distance hiking trails of America!  the owner of Thelma's, Mark Henderson, treated me to a biscuit and gravy breakfast! It was wonderful!

I had been told of a truly wonderful motel, Nature's Inn, on the outskirts of town that catered to Pacific Crest Trail hikers. www.naturesinnatbigbearlake.com. WOW! WOW! WOW!! I stopped to check it out and... WOW! I have never seen an Inn more dedicated  to pleasing their guests!! Everything about their motel is centered toward the hiker! They gave me a price I couldn't refuse... and the regular price of $49.95 is an absolute bargain! Edward Stanik and his wife Debbie have taken a normal little motel and turned it into an absolute showplace and comfort station! Debbie is an interior decorator that knows how to keep adding the right touches to everything she sees. The rooms are decorated in themes, owl, bear, raccoon and the one perfect for me... the squirrel room. There is a huge front porch with swings and rockers which each room faces. The rooms each have a stone fireplace (gas), fridge, microwave, and big skylights. There is spa's,, pool table, foot massagers, exercise machines, and a kitchen available for use by the hikers! There is an array of free samples of different companies products available in each room and in the office, things like, gum, shampoo, Gatorade powder, cold medicine, toothpaste, lotions, feminine products, Granola bars, oatmeal packets, hot chocolate,etc., etc., and apples! There is stuff everywhere! Oh... and they have WI-FI for your laptop! I have hiked all the Appalachian Trail and I never saw any place along the trail like the Nature's Inn at Big Bear City, California. I'm jealous of the Pacific Crest thru-hikers for having such a place available to them. the Nature Inn is not only fit for the hiker, but for anyone... even a king! The reason for the wonderfulness of this little motel and it's uniqueness from the hundreds I've stayed in came from the mouth of Debbie Stanik when I was complimenting her on what they had accomplished with Nature's Inn, It's the love we put into it." Love, the miracle worker. Can you tell I loved the place?!!! 

I will be escorted out of the mountains by snow in the morning, what a nice send-off into the desert! I still don't know how this is going to work out, crossing the desert without my cart to haul lots of water. My plan is to hold up my empty water bottle and hope that drivers will stop and help me with water (good way to meet people too!) and if that doesn't work, I'll have to hitch a ride through the 300 miles or so of desert country. And i have a cell phone (I hope to see that little guy with big black rimmed glasses and all those people behind him... I do have a Verizon phone) There is supposedly lots of traffic (always in California) on the highways I'm taking, Rt. 18 to Victorville and then U.S. Rt. 395 for 823.2 miles and into Oregon.  I think I'm going to take the suggestion from "Erik The Black" and get on the Pacific Crest Trail somewhere near Lone Pine, CA. and then jot over to climb Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48. Erik says I should be able to do it in one day, but then... Erik is 29... I'm 62! We'll see.