rocks on hwy 174We left Dana Point and the coast on Thursday, a week into our holiday.  I am already starting to lose track of the calendar.  We decided to take the scenic route, Hwy 174, which winds over high passages and several peaks and gorges.  We looked down at the beauty of Lake Elsinore, a community built around a large fresh water lake that seemed to be used entirely for recreation.

snow on top
I told you there is snow on some of the peaks.  We were close enough to see it here on Santa Rosa Monument.

From there, we arrived in Hemet, a larger town, where we shopped for our food supplies.  We stopped at a 0.99 Dollar Store to look for a patio mat and found a terrific deal on fruit and veggies.  I was amazed at what I bought for $11. As for the mat, well the only ones I can find are 5 X 7 and I don’t think we can fit that into the inside of our camper without constantly tripping over it.  I’ll keep looking…

lizard
Can you spot the lizard?

We drove on looking for a place to stop for a picnic lunch. We came upon an entrance to a state park that looked like a good stopping area.  The entrance was full of sand as if they had experienced strong rains and mudslides recently and hadn’t finished cleaning the road up.  We stopped anyway and ate a quick lunch then continued east.

Our next stop was a vista point that overlooked the Palm Springs area.  At first, I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at from up high. You see this large green area and then realize how this was a man made oasis.  It’s pretty spectacular though.

hwy 174 desert
The desert begins

We quickly found our RV resort and were able to get a spot right in front of the pool.  You can bet it didn’t take us long to go for a swim, even before we set up for the evening.  We were invited to join friends for a cocktail but the water beckoned more strongly.  So we had a light dinner and just enjoyed the hot showers and catching up with our mail after a few days with no wifi.