Day for an Outing, More Park Exploring, Unbelievable Sights, Idyllwild

Wednesday, Feb. 8^th, hump day, brought warmer temperatures and sunshine for the most part. Yay! We actually slept in until 7:15 this morning so woke well rested. First thing I noticed was I was feeling a little nauseous while making the bed.

I soon realized why. Yesterday, I managed to get through the day without hardly drinking any water. This affects me, I know it, so I can only blame myself. I drank tea, coffee, and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, but little water in the afternoon, no water with dinner, as usual, and no water before bed as is my habit, especially after imbibing.

And the first signs of spring here

The feeling soon passed while sitting with my tea and I was good to go. Lesson learned, again. We caught up on blog posts and I posted mine before 9. Then I felt like I needed to grasp the day and go for a walk. I took Bill’s little camera this time and headed out. 

Still intrigued by this 'octopus' tent

It was so nice to see the sun through the trees and see the puddles from the last two days disappearing. 

I made my way up to the Lounge with 2 books we had read. While there, of course I had to stop and check out the jigsaw I started yesterday. No one else had contributed! Oh well, I’ll do it myself. I actually only stayed 10 minutes but managed to contribute more to this puzzle.

Bill and I had decided that we would relax this morning, have our breakfast and then head further up the mountain to Idyllwild. First we all walked up to the Members Admin  office to renew our sticker for our stay here.

We have to renew our time here, they work on a
week to week basis

Bill, Clemson and I headed out around 1:00. The drive was about 17 miles and it was another mind-blowing scenic one.

Look who flew to the tree outside our window!

It is something else when you look out the window and see that the white fluffy clouds are floating across the tops of the mountains AND you are driving above the clouds! I tried to get pictures but as I’ve said before, no justice was done to the views I experienced.

Above the mountains, above the clouds

I think Bill actually enjoyed this drive today

We first came to Pine Cove, a little burb just 3 miles before Idyllwild. Bill pulled into their gas station to fill the truck up with diesel. The price was 2.89/gal. and we were pleased we stopped there because when we arrived at our destination, the Shell and Chevron stations price was 3.09/gal.

We drove around Idyllwild first, my jaw open at the beautiful little town. The mountain climb brought us to an elevation of 6000’ but Idyllwild was settled around 5300’. It dawned on me that at home I had changed from my jeans and runners into flats and shorts because of the warm temp at the park. Not remembering that we were climbing in elevation. It was around 62F. 

Soon enough it became clear that perhaps I’d erred as I was seeing the snow not only on those San Jacinto mountains up there………..but here it was on the rocks and hills and roads all around us. The temperature had dropped to 54F by the time we reached town.

Yes, that is snow along the roadside

Funny though, I wasn’t cold at all as we walked around oohing and awing at the locally owned shops and restaurants. The streets run from every direction, it seems, with stop signs conveniently placed for safety and smooth transition. It is indeed a touristy town and I fell in love with its uniqueness.

Buildings with character

I  don't think I'll consider buying property here, as quaint as
it is. The prices are a little out of my range.

Bill had Clemson so as he walked along the sidewalks, I popped into the shops to explore. I purchased some greeting cards and few post cards but that was it. Prices were high, as usual for this type of village, and I wasn’t expecting any different. 

Brenda would love this shop

Windchimes

Bill and Clemson on the upper deck

My sister Wendy would enjoy this place, I think

Tables were set up so you could walk in and paint your
choice of pottery

                                                                                                                                                   

Sorry, Wendy, no more yarn for you!

This is a lovely place to visit, if you haven’t, and by the way, I wasn’t the only one in shorts!

Not everything in the town was beautiful.
this is actually a pile of snow!

When we’d had our fill, an hour and a half later, we headed back down the steep twisting incline to the park. 

We stopped at a turnoff on the way down for pictures

Unfortunately, the trees were too high for very good shots

Just in time for Happy Hour! The sun was warm as we sat outside with our books, sharing the time quietly together.

 We came inside for leftovers from last night and watched Hunted, a reality show we have enjoyed this season. My biggest surprise was when I looked out the window and saw a beautiful sunset. Usually it is too low for me to catch in the evening so I was inspired to grab my camera.

I hope your day was great as well. Feel free to comment if you choose and thank you for reading today.