Monday, July 10, 2006
Big Bear Lake
My brother-in-law Michael, a great actor, accomplished singer, and terrific dancer, was doing the show Carousel at the Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center. The last show of the run was on Sunday, and Carole arranged for us to get tickets for the matinee.
I decided to ride my bike up, for a variety of reasons, but mostly so Carole could drive up in her 'Vette. It's a little less then 55 miles from my house to the junction of I-10 and SR-30 in Redlands, which passed quickly. On the way to the show, I took the 30 to the 330 to the 18, and made good time. It had been a while since I took a long ride, and it felt good to hit the twisties.
Carole pulled in to the PAC just after I arrived. We stopped at the Will Call window, and met up with Michael in the lobby. He informed us that the lead actor was unavailable — something about a car crash, but rumors in the crowd hinted at a DUI and a jail cell — so they were going to do a concert version of the show - full costumes, scene changes, the full ballet, but without the dialog. Karen and Sam joined us for the show.
The actor playing Jigger filled in as Billy Bigelow for a few of the big numbers, and did a fine job. They had him play both Billy and Jigger in different scenes, making it hard to keep track of who he was at times.
After the show we went to Pat and Harvey's for barbeque. Crystal and Logan joined us, and it was fun chatting with everyone. A lot of times there's just too many people at the big family gatherings, but this was just about right.
I wanted to get off the mountain before dark. At 7:30pm, I geared up and got started, and immediately got blinded by the setting sun, which if I continuned back on the 18 would be a constant annoyance — and safety concern — for most of the way down the hill. I made a quick decision to head back on SR-38, which adds 20 miles to the trip but starts out heading south and east, away from the setting sun.
I got back around 9:15pm, and caught up on the World Cup results.
