Life @ Three Pines Lodge & Cabins in Big Bear Lake, California

“Blogging the Life of an Innkeeper in Big Bear Lake, California, located at 7000′ in the mountains of the San Bernardino National Forest.”

Guests often marvel at how lucky we are to live and work in such a beautiful place, and they are right. But what they don’t realize is how challenging it can be to make a buck in a small hospitality business, in a unique mountain environment, in California.

Sometimes on really bad days I question if this mountain innkeeper lifestyle is worth it. And I think it would be much easier working for the Man 60 hours a week in an Orange County cubicle. It probably would. But then I remember those moments, those moments that make it all worthwhile. Moments like standing outside in the middle of a storm at midnight, listening to the silence of the snow as it falls in huge flakes from the sky. Moments like lunch-time mountain bike rides with forever views and single track all the way home. Then I remember why I put up with it all.

“Living the Dream” is what some people up here call it. “Living, Loving, and Innkeeping at 7000 feet” is what I call it. I’ll be curious to see what other’s call it. Won’t you let me know?