TEMECULA & MISSION VIEJO, CA June 3 - 10, 2013

Im so excited to hopefully be getting caught up on our last 2 months of travels...and maybe with my NEW little black Verizon Hotspot box, I won't be as delayed with posting as we go.  Oh, how much fun it would be to be current rather than retelling our story from weeks ago. I finally got so frustrated with our lack of wifi as we travel, it was driving me nuts!  We decided to get us updated with a stronger hotspot while we were near Coos Bay, OR.  Several months ago I had tried making my phone a hotspot but that just didn't seem to be working, never enough of a strong signal.  Since that was with ATT we looked into trying another server and decided to give Verizon a shot.  So far so good. Now I'm on a mission to get this caught up and stay that way, guess we'll just have to see how this goes. My apologies to those of you that follow this and are getting inundated with posts...but another couple and I'll be back to regular posting.  Hooray!!!!

So now...back in time to early June and our first week back in CA. We stayed in Temecula this time at The Pachanga Casino RV Resort. We've never used the rv parking available at casinos before, some offer free parking, some have a parking lot with hook ups but this one was a real RV Resort, so nice!!! Away from the casino we had a grassy site, full hook ups and a beautiful pool and jacuzzi to use, all at our 50% off with Passport America membership. The discount was only good for nights M-TH so we took advantage of it for those 4 nights.  It was a perfect location for visiting our friends Rick and Sue Reichel who had moved to Temecula a year ago and we so wanted to see their new place.

We also were only a few miles away from our nephew, Harry III, or as we've always called him, Little Harry, my brother was always Big Harry.  Harry and his wife, Kimberly, live in a beautiful wooded area of Fallbrook.  Just a couple of years ago they adopted a handsome 5 year old from Ethiopia, Abraham. They also bought a lovely fixer upper with an amazing yard and are busy with bringing it back to its beauty. The yard is full of fruit trees and for the first time we tasted mulberries. A yummy and yet so different looking berry that hangs from a tree. We had dinner together the first night then met up the next day for a bike ride all morning.  So fun!

After dinner Paul and Little Harry got into a discussion about the fireplace in the house and after Pk did a little investing he showed Harry that it was a real fireplace, not just a small gas burning one. Here they are deep in the discussion.  

 The weather was perfect for biking

Our visit was so short but the 3 of them were leaving the next morning for a 3 day "walk about".  Harry had planned a 3 day walking trip along some San Diego beaches with hotel stays nearby each night.  The total distance they were walking was about 16 miles. Such an adventure!

The days we were there we also got to spend some great time with Sue and Rick, checking out cute Old Town Temecula, doing a little shopping and lots of wine tasting. What fun to have friends that belong to 3 different wine clubs! We spent the late afternoons driving out to their favorite wineries to sit in the sun and enjoy some wonderful summer wines.

 Since we needed to find a stay for Friday night I decided to give a try to another new camping offer...Harvest Hosts.  I joined several months ago, but hadn't used the membership which allows a free night's camping in a participating winery or small farm.  I called Falkner Winery right outside of Temecula to see if it was available and we were welcomed to stay that Friday night, June 7th.  We drove out and parked right on the edge of the vineyard. Wonderful! The parking is free with the only commitment is to visit their gift shop or restaurant to purchase something in exchange. Wow, that's not hard to do!

 June 7th just also happened to be our 2nd Anniversary of our traveling lifestyle, and to celebrate we enjoyed an absolutely fabulous lunch at The Pinnacle, the winery's award winning restaurant.

Later that afternoon, Rick and Sue joined us at our private"campsite" for sunset with wine and appetizers. The winery was hosting a wedding that evening, so the gates were open late. Though we could hear the music from the party it was so mellow and by 11pm the parking lot was empty and we had the place all to ourselves! Pretty interesting. 

 Saturday morning we were headed to Fullerton and then to Mission Viejo area to visit out niece, Rachele and her daughters.  We parked the MH at the Fullerton Elks parking area, with the wonderful hilltop view and had time to visit The Richard Nixon Presidential Library nearby Yorba Linda. Ive made it a goal to see as many of the Presidential Libraries as we travel, I love the history of it all. The grounds include exhibitions with vintage campaign films and news footage, President Nixon 's helicopter, his birthplace and burial site.

He was born January 9, 1913, in this house which his father built in 1912. The Nixon family lived in this house until 1922 when they moved to Wittier, CA.

 When we got back to Fullerton I found a great jazz club for us for an evening of fantastic music at Steamers Jazz. The show started at 8 and we stayed for both sets not getting home until close to 1AM  What a find!  A great local jazz vocalist and her quartet played...just wish I would have written her name down. If

Sunday we drove to Laguna Beach to visit with cousin Becky and meet her new little doll baby, Sophia.  A wonderful visit with Becky and Barry, before going down to Mission Viejo to watch an International Swim Competition our great niece, Brooke was competing in.

A big surprise for me was to see my former sister in law, Beverly...I don't think we hadn't seen each other in about 30 years or more!

 Then on to dinner with Rachele and her daughters, Paige and Brooke. We had a great visit but way too short! It was so good to spend time with the three of them, what beautiful women! I cant wait to see them again.