Diary for Harry and Judy's RV Trip


Day 31-June 25, 2016-To Temecula Wine Valley

2016-06-25

Day 31-June 25, 2016-To Temecula Wine Valley

Drove 70 miles in 1-3/4 hours.

Temp went from 109 when we left Palm Springs at 10:00 AM to 73 at 9:00 PM in Temecula.

This is more like it.  We actually watched the temperature go down as we were driving west on I-10 to Route 79 through San Jacinto and Hemet to Winchester, CA.  We passed some farms and produce trucks with onions and watermelons and saw real grass. We passed two pretty vineyards right before the entrance to the park. The campground is in the Lake Skinner Recreational Area, operated by Riverside County.  After entering the park we drove through 3 miles of nothing but gorgeous mountains and grasses and what looked like dried flowers on the side of the road.  I found out they’re California Buckwheat and are used to help with soil erosion.  They said they’re usually white and pink but are dried out because of the drought.  We got here before noon, set up, had lunch and went exploring.  Seems there are 44 vineyards in this area, all of them busy today with weddings, entertainment, limo tours and people out for a good time.  There are more vineyards in the making with “Open Soon” signs.  We stopped at Doffo Winery where they were setting up for a wedding.  Huge slabs of ribs were being BBQ’d outside in a makeshift smoker.  This winery prides itself on its collection of antique motorcycles, some of which were hanging on the walls.  We looked at their tasting menu, decided we’d never spend as much on a bottle of wine as what they wanted so why bother to taste it and left.  From there we went to Wilson Creek Vineyards.  The parking lot is so big they have a shuttle take you to the tasting room.  Lots of people milling about outside, lots of seating areas if you want to have a glass of wine, beautiful fountains and flowers and nice walkways for a stroll through seventy acres of vineyards.  Inside was crazy busy and noisy even though they said it was slow.  We saw at least 3 tasting bars and found a spot at one.  We split a tasting of five but I think Julie, the pourer liked us because she ended up giving us tastes of 13 and at the end even gave us another glass so we didn’t have to split it.  Needless to say, that was our last winery for the day.  Every winery we passed after that looked just as busy.  We found out later that The Bacon Bros. were playing this afternoon at one of the wineries and there were at least three weddings. We drove about 20 minutes to Old Town Temecula, a funky western town with wood plank sidewalks, old buildings, restaurants, nice olive oil and vinegar shops, street performers and, of course, gift shops.  Very windy, it felt great!  We walked around for a while and poked in the shops then decided to drive another 20 minutes to Pechanga Resort and Casino, the largest casino in the Western US.  This place is huge.  It has eleven restaurants and over 3500 slot machines. Terry Fator was here tonight so again the crowds were outrageous.  The campground at this casino was our first choice for this area but they said they had no room Sat. night so we booked Lake Skinner.  They later called and said they had a cancellation but I’m glad we stayed at Lake Skinner.  It’s quieter, closer to the vineyards and much prettier.  There are even some shade trees. We played and lost our $20 then got lost trying to get out.  The place is huge!  And they’re adding on.  Came back to the RV for dinner, sat outside at a campfire (yes, it’s cool enough for a campfire) with our neighbors, John and Lynn.  The stars here are amazing, we’re far enough away from the city lights to really see them.