Boulder Bay Store

Cute little store has a little bit of last min things even has beer and liquor, 2 min walk from where we stayed at cabins4less.

On Sunday morning I fishtailed on Cienega Road and Big Bear Boulevard driving just 7mph. After half a mile my boyfriend and I pulled over at the first «We Sell Chains» sign we saw, did a Sign of the Cross, and walked into Boulder Bay Store.

I went up to the gentleman – I’ll call him Mr. Gruff – at the cash register and explained that I desperately needed to buy cables for my low-​profile tires to get down the mountain. After an exchange of my tire numbers and about 5 minutes of flipping through a catalog Mr. Gruff sarcastically said, «Good luck finding those!» I gently told him that there’s no way I could drive my car from where it was parked out front until either (A) the snow melted or (B) I had cables, so he gave us the number of another place in town to call.
At this point the owner of Boulder Bay Store was involved in the conversation, and my boyfriend and I were being chastised for our poor decision to bring my car on our trip to Big Bear.
My boyfriend called the place that Mr. Gruff suggested (Napa Auto Parts) and confirmed that they had cables to fit my tires. We thanked Mr. Gruff and the owner (Bill) for their help and left the store.
At this point Bill followed us outside.
«You can’t take your car to Napa to get the cables.»
«Definitely not, but we’ll take a cab.»
«You can expect to wait at least 30 minutes for a cab.»
«Well, we don’t have a choice but to wait. My car can’t be safely driven in these road conditions as-​is.»
And then… a change of heart! Bill offered to give my boyfriend a ride in his 2-​seater pick-​up truck to Napa and back to buy the cables. To say that we were shocked and incredibly thankful is a huge understatement. (Later, my boyfriend told me Bill mentioned that he was pleased with the way we were handling our situation because others in the same position usually just risk driving with inappropriately equipped vehicles.) Off they went to Napa.
For the half hour that my boyfriend was gone I had the experience of sitting within my car’s tinted windows, undetected, listening to Mr. Gruff describe to a random customer in the parking lot how some «asshole city kids» (i.e., my boyfriend and I) brought an improper vehicle up the mountain and were now in a bind.
My boyfriend returned with the cables, I paid a stranger to install the cables on my tires, and ultimately my rear wheels were aesthetically ruined by the cables… but we did make it safely down the mountain and back to San Diego.
A lesson learned, but nevertheless I’m grateful for Bill and the time and money he saved us. We thanked him, and he wouldn’t accept our tip.

Cashier was friendly, which was nice, since I was chagrined to be paying $ 9 for bread and ham. But it was a small price to pay for having a spontaneous and leisurely picnic by the lake. The fridge in the store has live bait and I kept wanting to open the jars and look at it but there was a sign to the contrary. There’s another sign saying there are deli sandwiches made fresh but I didn’t see any. Location is good though since it’s right next to the lake where families picnic and there’s parking available.