Little Bear goes to Big Bear

Big Bear Lake, that is! I took a day trip up into the mountains to see if I could reconnect with any of my bear family... but I didn't see any real bears, just lots of statues and bear logos. I tried to go here, to the SuperBear Arcade, but it was closed. I was surprised and sad that I couldn't play SkeeBall. I wonder if they had any bear games...not any shooting ones, I hope! Look at all the snow still on the roof up here! You could tell which mountain cottages had had people there for the winter by the ones that were cleared -- many still had feet of snow on the walks, drives, and porches.

Because it was such a lovely sunny day, I also spent some time by the lake. The observatory is across the way, though it's hard to see in this picture. If I came here at night, I'd look for my favorite constellation -- the Little Dipper, also known as the Little Bear! :) I thought about going snow tubing, but the lines were long and people don't always see a little bear trying to fly down the hill! There's always next time...

Did I just go back in time?

Today I headed out to Cabazon for some holiday shopping, but made a pit stop to say hello to this Apatosaurus on the way! He was quite nice -- quiet like me at first, but once you get to know us... watch out!

Speaking of watch out, he tipped me off to look out for the neighborhood Tyrannosaurus Rex...I took a picture quick as I ran back to the safety of outlet shopping centers!

California bear :)

I am living large... dreaming of my next big adventure. Any suggestions or ideas?

A tourist in my own backyard

Today I felt like I needed to get in touch with nature and my roots...so I took a walk at the Water Conservation Gardens here in Riverside. The main point of the garden is to teach people how to have a nice garden without using a lot of water, since this is a desert. I just liked seeing all of the plants and doing a little climbing to exercise my innate Bearness.

A palm tree just my size! All of that exercise makes me hungry for some hunny!

How do I afford all of these travels?

As many of you guessed, I get to see a lot of neat places, and do many fun things. In this tough economy, travels like mine don't come cheap. It seems like good people have lost money recently when the stock market went down. I used to think the only way to make money in stocks was to buy them and hope they eventually went up. Recently, I met the guys from ELWsoftware.com they introduced me to option trading. With options, there is no reason to wait for stocks to go up. Options allow you to make money even when they go down!

Just like anything else there is a catch. I'm just a bear, and these option guys are very tough competitors. Without help, I would probably lose all of my hunny money. Luckily, I now have some new smart friends that will show me how to trade options the right way.

Miller Park -- Go Brewers!

Today I got to go cheer on the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI. I got in for free because I don't take up a whole seat of my own, you know. I had a beer called Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss -- hunny in beer, what a great idea!

I had a good time watching the game from our Terrace seats -- the Brewers beat the Padres 12-9 and there were tons of home runs -- I think 6 of them? The Chorizo won the Sausage Race. Someday I still hope to meet the Racing Sausages -- a bear has to dream big.

Door County, Wisconsin

Well, my blogosphere friends, no one guessed from my last post, but I am in Wisconsin for the week. I just got back from a few days relaxing up in Door County, enjoying fudge and cheese curds and cherry wine. Mmmmmm :)

Of course, I had to try a Door County fish boil while I was up there. Us bears love fish, you know! However, I'm not very good at catching my own fish -- my arms are just too little, you see -- compared to my grizzly bear cousins. The idea of having a nice fisherman cook up a pot of fish and onions and potatoes just for me was a very nice one. When they threw the kerosene on the fire for the boil-over, the fireball and heat were ridiculous! See how surprised I look? It was a good thing they fed me after that.


The next day, I decided that I should make sure to exercise a little while I was sight-seeing, so we went to Peninsula State Park and did some hiking around. One of the highlights of the park is Eagle Tower, which is 75' tall and lets you see beautiful views of Eagle Harbor. I made sure to take lots of pictures to prove that I did exercise, as my figure is not proving anything these days.

Here is the view of the tower from the bottom, and me halfway up:




It is a long climb for a little bear!







Here I am at the top -- the view was beautiful!And then to add to the fun factor, I decided I was tired of walking. Every now and then I am adventurous -- so I took the fast way down off of the Tower and jumped down to a friend! Wahoo!!!!
More adventures to come soon!

Guess Where I Am?

This is a mystery post... let's see who can guess where I am traveling this week? After a plane trip and spending most of the day smooshed into small space, I unwound with friends and a beer. Not just any beer, mind you, but a special beer that a Bear can only get in this wonderful state I am traveling in. I know I'm originally a California Bear, but this state is growing on me.
More pictures to come from the week ahead...so who knows where I am?!

Hollywood Bowl

Last night I went to one of the historic landmarks of the Los Angeles area -- the Hollywood Bowl! It was a gorgeous night, clear and mild, and you can see the Hollywood sign in the background of my picture -- just over the Bowl. We enjoyed some wine and chocolate, as picnicking is the thing to do. I should have remembered to bring some Hunny! The concert was "The Art of Song" and it featured the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, Michael Feinstein and Jewel. Michael Feinstein sang a lot of classics, and Jewel sang a lot of her older songs with the orchestral accompaniment, which was different and nice.

At the end of her set, Jewel sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and they made the Bowl into a rainbow, which was very pretty! The other icing on the cake was fireworks at the end of the night!

San Francisco!

Sometimes a bear just needs a nice long weekend getaway... so this past weekend I headed up North on a commuter flight to San Francisco to see my friend Katie & see her new city. The San Francisco area is beautiful -- lots to see and do! Here I am at her place in Sausalito -- I love all the houses stacked up into the hills. I should have done some walking up and down the steep streets, but as you can tell from my physique, my little legs get tired too quickly carrying around my body!


Instead of exercising, I did what Poohs do best -- I indulged! We drove out to Sonoma Wine Country on Saturday and enjoyed some samples. I was hoping for a honey wine, but no such luck. I did get a little crazy -- Katie had to talk some sense into me.

On Sunday, we took the ferry to Downtown Sausalito and did some serious walking around the piers, Fisherman's Wharf and headed to one of my most priority destinations... Ghiradelli Square! I had eaten too much sourdough bread at Boudin and could only nibble on some chocolates, though. Next time I go, I'll get the big ice cream sundae...I wonder if they would put hunny on top for me?! That would be fantastic!

One of the nicest parts of my travels is seeing new places and things, but I also like getting to meet nice new people. On the ferry, I met Paul & Carmen on the way to San Francisco, and then we met again on the way home! I told Paul all about my day -- he was very interested in where I had gone. I even got this nice picture of the 3 of us to remember them by -- and I told them about my awesome blog. I hope they enjoy reading about my adventures too!

I'm ready for my closeup!

I see you there. Hi. If you were here, I'd give you a hug.

Incognito!

Today I felt like I was being followed... do you think that the paparazzi could be onto me? After all, I do have this blog and who knows how many fans I might have? At one point I tried to blend in more -- but I think I still stick out.

What do you think? Do the shades help?

I could really be a beach bum!

I decided I needed some beach time this weekend, so I caught a ride to Carlsbad, CA and watched the hunnies on the beach. Get it, Hunnies?! Ha, I'm so funny -- I crack myself up!

I had to be a little careful of where I hung out though -- I think some people tried to get me into their volleyball game -- as the ball! That is not what I meant when I said I need to get more exercise this year!

Next time, I need to remember to wear my shades -- it's bright at the beach and I already have little eyes.

Minnesota friends

This weekend I decided to go connect with my Midwestern bear friends. On the way to Minneapolis, I got stuck in Denver and watched the rain storm turn into a snowstorm! Now, I'm a California bear and I'm not used to hearing thunder and seeing pouring rain... and I've never seen snow before!



When I finally got to Minnesota, I reconnected with my friend the Minnesota Moose. He invited me to climb up in his antlers, but I couldn't get up the nerve -- he's so tall! I was worried I would never get down again! Instead, I spent more time reconnecting with my bear cousins -- they didn't have any hunny to share with me, but I did get a ride on his head to stay out of the way of the tourists and airport people!

Viva Las Vegas!

I have to say that Las Vegas is a little too fast-paced for this Pooh bear. I felt intimidated by the blackjack and craps tables, plus there was the problem that I couldn't see onto the table from the seats without sitting ON the table -- darn being short -- and in Vegas, they get picky about you sitting on the table and being all close to the cards and dice and things. I would have loved an action shot of me winning the Vegas jackpot, but it didn't quite happen on this trip -- though I did meet this very nice jester at Harrah's!

I enjoyed going to the buffets also -- though in Las Vegas, there is more butter and jam on the breakfast bar than hunny. I had to look very carefully to find it and get my fix! I also had one of those big yard-long frozen drinks, whee!!

After all of that food, I had to do some walking on the Strip to work off those extra calories. Sometimes I needed a friend to hold my hand so I didn't go tottering off into traffic after those drinks! There is really no better place to walk and see the sights and people watch than Las Vegas -- next time I go back, I'll have to remember my camera when I have that drink and show you my other favorite spots!

Spring Training in Phoenix!

This past weekend I went over to Phoenix, Arizona to see some Spring Training baseball! Here I am, cheering on my hometown of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim! They played against the Brewers on Saturday, but they couldn't beat the Brew Crew. I also got to see the Sausage Race in person for the first time -- some day, I'd love to meet one of the Racing Sausages in real life. They are so tall, it would make me look skinny just by association!

Aside from my every day adventures, I'm planning a trip over to Las Vegas later this month too. Thanks for reading my blog and seeing what I'm up to!

Cancun, Mexico!

Well, I am officially an International Bear of Adventure now! I traveled to Cancun Mexico this past week, for a wedding celebration and a lot of other fun throughout the long weekend. The best part was that the Mexican authorities didn't stop me at the border -- as you see, I've misplaced my passport on other travels. I wonder how you say "Rogue Bear" in Spanish?



Anyway, I tried to blend in with the natives by trying on their local hat, the sombrero. How do I look?







I also enjoyed the local foods -- I sampled the paella from my friend Ben, and also had a drink (or 8, I forget?) on the beach. I even learned some Spanish for that : Mas cervezas, por favor! The shades help me stay incognito and posh looking, don't you think?



Now, I realized that if I just sat around and drank on the beach and ate all kinds of wonderful Mexican food, I would just get fatter and rounder...which would make it hard to stay fit for travel! So I did take a day trip down to the ruins at Tulum where I hiked around to work off all of those wonderful empanadas and camarones and margaritas!










Ole! Mexico was a wonderful place to visit... when I get my hunny money saved up again, we'll have to see where my next adventure takes me!

I think I am a babe magnet.

Girls just can't keep their hands off of me. Apparently I am very cute and huggable and even sometimes, smoochable!

Don't tell their husbands, OK? I like the attention.

Happy New Year!

Greetings, blog friends! I celebrated New Year's Eve with friends, old & new -- but it's been a few days since I've had time to get on the computer and leave a note about it. Here I am with my old friend Katie, who loves to make faces... and my new little friend Alex, who was good at hugging and making us dance!
I had fun playing "Apples to Apples", though I couldn't hold the cards with my stubby little arms so I just had to watch. I did enjoy some champagne while I watched... here you can see my other friend Erin, and again, Katie is making faces. She makes me laugh!

Of course, no New Year's Eve would be complete without making some resolutions for the New Year. Here are mine for 2009:

1. Lose some weight. Only one jar of hunny per day. Remember to exercise in lots of fun ways.
   
2. Keep traveling. Don't be afraid to try new things.
3. Make new friends and spread joy and love. And hunny.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Chicago!

Today I traveled to Chicago, Illinois to visit my friend Katie for her birthday. From Waukegan, we took the Metra downtown to avoid traffic & parking headaches. Here I am riding the train -- whee! I couldn't quite see out the window, though -- I think they need booster seats.

I try to make new friends wherever I go. Today I met this cat Lucy in Bucktown and I tried to be friends with her, but she just was not in the mood. Turns out that Lucy is actually short for Lucifer -- what a mean kitty! I am not used to not being well-liked. :(

To distract me from feeling sad, Martha packed me up in her coat and we all walked to Zen Noodles in Wicker Park. It was a little cold and windy, but the sun was out and it felt good to get some exercise after sitting on the train. Katie ordered all sorts of maki and Martha got a funnily-named dish of Bamee Wonton with these delicious little pork dumplings! I didn't see any kind of hunny sushi on the menu -- I wonder if that kind of thing exists for Pooh Bears?

One last Chicago picture for today -- here I am at the train station with the Sears Tower and part of the Chicago skyline in the background. I was starting to think about all of the fun places I could go see in this city -- and then the train came and ended my adventure for the day!