Vacation 2023, Lake Arrowhead, CA

Lake Arrowhead, CA

Part 1

Hello Friend! Welcome back! I’m glad you’re here!

I have returned from my vacation to Lake Arrowhead, California. It was my first visit to this beautiful place! So back in January when I was starting to plan the vacation for this year, I really wanted to get away from the city with all the traffic and the noise and the heat. I just wanted to be away from all of it. I spent my teen years in Michigan and I was missing the green and water that is just everywhere in the mitten state, so I thought it would be a great idea to visit the national parks nearby like Yosemite. But unfortunately, I learned that people plan vacations to the huge national parks at least a year in advance and all of the cabins and accommodations that worked for us were completely booked out. So we had to figure something else out. We were bouncing different ideas around for a while, then one day at work, I was just chatting vacation ideas with a coworker and she mentioned that she just came back from her cabin in Lake Arrowhead. I hadn’t heard of the place so I was interested in hearing more. She told me all about it and after a bit of research and discussion with my partner, we were sold. We even got to rent out my coworker’s cabin and help support her side hustle too! The best part of it all was that we were allowed to bring our dogs.

From where I live in Los Angeles, the drive was only 1 hour and 45 minutes. The majority of it was on highway but after you get through San Bernardino, it’s a windy ride up a very large mountain range in the San Bernadino Mountains. Lake Arrowhead is a man-made lake nestled at the top of the mountain. On your way up the mountain, there are several turn outs for slower drivers to allow faster vehicles to pass by and also turnouts for people to take photos. The view is spectacular all the way up the mountain. Unfortunately I had a dog in my lap having a mild panic attack at seeing mountain views through the front window and was consistently trying to keep her from pacing back and forth across mine and my partner’s laps. Her brother was in the back seat and he would have not tolerated her in the slightest, plus I was carsick from the hairpin turns and my dog stepping on my stomach constantly. So I don’t have any photos of the view. However, you can look through other’s photos here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33009-d110160-Reviews-Rim_of_the_World_Highway-San_Bernardino_California.html

Rim of the World Highway - By Jan Or 2017

We arrived at my coworker’s cabin. It’s a beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bathroom cottage. The driveway holds about 1 car, and the house is down a set of stairs. Because the house itself is away from the street, there’s a lovely front patio with a dining table and chairs and a grille off the side. The door just has a code that you punch in, and that is the code you use for the length of your stay. The cottage itself was clean and updated and very beautiful, There is a gas fireplace and a sectional sofa in the living room and a smart tv. Behind it is a large dining table and chairs, across is an updated kitchen and bar countertop. The ground floor has a guest room and a bathroom just past the kitchen, Upstairs had 2 more bedroom and a bathroom in between. The master bedroom was so spacious and charming and had amazing views of the forest. There was also a large back deck with cushioned outdoor furniture. You got a glimpse of the space in my last post! https://www.travelempath.com/blog/is-travel-a-band-aid-for-difficult-feelings

What was also great was there was central A/C and heating. This was such an asset for this cabin because we arrived in the middle of a heat wave and by the end of the week it was getting cold enough at night to warrant turning on the heat.

We were also just a 6-minute drive from Lake Arrowhead Village. It’s this adorable but also very lively and mid-sized shopping area that serves as a one-stop shop for the majority of the community’s needs but also contains its fair share of unique touristy shopping too. I want to give the village the review it deserves, so I will go more in-depth in my next post!

Lake Arrowhead Village

If you are interested in visiting Lake Arrowhead, I would definitely consider renting this cabin! It gave us the privacy that we wanted and a nice calm and quiet space for our dogs to ride out the most stressful time of year of them. (Our Corgi is very sensitive to fireworks,) Here is a link to the rental in case you are interested!

https://www.vacasa.com/unit/84082

Want more travel? Check out this other travel post! https://www.travelempath.com/blog/4-steps-to-get-started-planning-your-next-trip