I know it’s been awhile since my last post. I’ve been knocked down with a bad cold playing havoc with my congested sinuses and ears. I flew to Columbus, OH to visit family and came back with a souvenir of Day Care germs from my grandson, Oliver. It doesn’t take long for the immune system to lose its mojo! So, I will resume where I left off…

It’s 70 degrees outside on January 12th. The sun shines through clear blue skies… a perfect day to take you to my favorite places in Lake Elsinore!

First of all, here is where we live.

Our site is awesome. We live on the end of the road beside and under pecan trees.

I also have an indoor and outdoor nature collection. The centerpiece on our picnic table is nature made with my glue gun.

Debi and Dennis from New Mexico are parked behind us. So far we are the minority of non-Californian residents. The Flannigans from Mississippi left the first of the year. New neighbors from Arizona just moved in across the street. The lake is at the end of our street. Jeff takes the dogs for a morning and evening walk along its shores. Sometimes I accompany them.

Once a week, give or take a few days, we wash our clothes at one of the local lavanderias, Suds-R-Us.

I enjoy my laundry outing. It takes a little over an hour to wash, dry, and fold all our clothes. Sometimes I get the 2 washing machines going and drive over to Java Hut and order a hot chai tea latte with espresso and no whipped cream. Yum!

Java (the) Hut is a drive thru or walk up coffee shop. Customers get a card and after 10 orders the 11th drink is on the house. Tuesday is double punch day, so one carry-out equals 2 orders on your card. They even have toasted “everything” bagels served with cream cheese! Now, that makes laundry day absolutely delicious!

Sometimes I vacuum out the car and wipe down the inside while the clothes wash. Then, when the clothes are in the dryer, I return to take the car through the automated wash.

For 6-8 dollars most of the bird poop is removed! Oh, did I not mention that we live under a pecan tree? And pecan trees mean birds, in our case crows, and birds mean poop all over the car!

Of course, right now, the trees no longer have leaves.

But for all of us who buy shelled pecans in the grocery store, this is the real nut, unshelled from the tree…

Everyday local folks bring sacks to scavenge for pecans along Riverside Drive, just across the fence from us.

Speaking of grocery stores, Albertson’s is where we shop. The prices are higher than in Cincinnati, unfortunately. The nearest Krogers affiliated store is in Murietta, about a 35 minute drive away.

Liquor stores are also prevalent out West. My fav wine-run store has no name. But since this store has been broken into twice now, I am a loyal wine customer of this Russian lady’s business. (We don’t know if her accent is Russian or not, but we like her!)

Another icon business here is Vista Donuts.

They’ve been around for over 20 years. The store opens at 3 AM everyday and the homemade donuts are delicious! They also prepare a hearty ham and cheese croissant which I have yet to try. Another “must try” is their Milk Green Tea Boba.

My favorite local walk starts outside of our RV along Riverside Drive and up Lincoln Street past Machado Street and Grand Avenue. I take this route till it dead ends and then I turn around and walk back. Lincoln Street is all uphill north of Machado and provides a good walking workout!

A hidden treasure of a walking workout with incredible views of Lake Elsinore is the steps connecting Lincoln Street to McVicker Canyon Park Road. This up and down calf and hamstring screaming hike runs parallel to Sunswept Drive.

So… this is where we are hunkering down for the winter months! When Spring rounds the corner we plan to head East to visit family and friends.