4th of July Holiday Week

After we socialized with our financial counselor we went for a drive and checked out a couple of other RV campgrounds, Lake Skinner, and Vail Lake. Both these parks are more our speed, where Pechanga is an RV Resort, they are campgrounds. Lake Skinner is a Corp of Engineer Project campground, and Vail lake is owned by KOA now. Lake Skinner is good for you boaters and fishing types, but you cannot swim there, it is a water source for residences in the area. Vail Lake has multiple sections to choose from, ranging from 50 amp full hook up, to primitive, which has nothing but a camp site. KOA has plans to add more amenities to the campground.

Wednesday the 3rd rolled around and we did NOTHING but vegetate.

We kept the 4th quiet too, except for evening fireworks provided by Pechanga. It was a short show, but nicely done.

Just some of the show. It worked out perfect for us, another RV had their flag flying, and it showed up in the middle of the fireworks. When the show ended we called it a night. 5 July we leave for Santee Lakes and stay to retirement.






Here we are ready to hit the trail. We drove all the way over to the overflow parking lot (300 ft. away), and went to lunch before we left for Santee Lakes. While we were eating lunch this gentleman in a red car was struggling with changing his flat, and no one would assist him. I told Carol that I couldn't sit and eat my lunch while he was struggling with this flat tire, so I went out to help him. Nice man from Mira Mesa area, a Marine veteran, just trying to get back home. We did get his temporary spare on, and him on his way. It made me feel good, and my burrito tasted a lot better.

The other advantage to assisting him was that it ate up a little more time so that we wouldn't arrive at Santee Lakes too early.


We made it in fine time, despite some questionable drivers. Here is our home in it's new location for the next three months for sure. This is my last entry for awhile.

Good night. May your days be pleasant, your nights be more pleasant.

It's Not all about Wine

  Monday July 1st's adventures started out at Richie's Diner. Richie's is a chain diner that doesn't taste like it. We start here because the next leg of this trip was to a distilling facility. So... you ask your self, what did Matt and Carol have for lunch today?

We started out with drinks, I had a Pomegranate Lemonade, Carol had a Cappuccino Milk Shake. If you look at the photo on the right, you'll notice onion rings in the background, that is half the order. The order was six gigantic rings wrapped in a heavy tempura batter. I like my onion rings, but I could not finish them without Carol's help. The main courses came out next. Carol had the Sourdough Burger, freshly made, with grilled onions and fries. The burger was good, and she was able to taste the sourdough flavor of the bread. I had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and cream corn. Everything on my plate, except for the bread, was made that day. The meatloaf was made from turkey meat, and had bell peppers and onions running through it. You're probably thinking it was dry, you would be wrong, it didn't need the brown gravy that was slather on it and the potatoes. The mashed potatoes were real potatoes whipped  smooth. For me the sweet cream corn was the star. They used sweet corn, and made their own cream sauce. The cream sauce was thick, and had a sweet flavor. My guess was they used heavy cream with some sugar, then stirred in the corn during the cooking process. I would have been happy with just a pint of the sweet cream corn.

Can you see our next stop? It's right in front of you. If you stare intently at the first blue pillar you can see it, that's right, Kalifornia Distillers. Let's go inside. These folks have been in operation since 2013. Currently they distill six forms of spirits, they are considered moonshine. I am going to back track a bit regarding this distillery, they are family owned. The family had been making illegal moonshine for over 200 years in Ireland and America, until they went legit in 2013. Their product is in such demand that they are currently looking at expanding their operations to another location with a larger facility. If you come for the tasting they will start off with their highest percent alcohol, and work to their lower, after that you receive two cocktails (of your choice) made from their products. They produce an Unaged moonshine which is 50% alcohol content, Bourbon 40% alcohol content, Vodka 40% content, Apple Pie, Peach Pie, and Lemonade moonshines, all at 22.5% alcohol content.

These products were nothing like moonshine I had ever tried before.  If you have ever tried bad moonshine, you know it is like drinking acetone. Their products were very smooth and did not have that burn going down. Yes, for those wondering, we did take those four bottles home, just never know when one will get back this way. It was a relaxing couple of hours.

We took our lunch leftovers (from the diner) and went home for the night.


       

More Wining

Friday we took a day of rest, after all, we are practicing retirement. Now Saturday is another story. It was a four stage day, wine tasting, lunch, music, and finally, tequila tasting.
   We spent the day at Mt. Palomar Winery. During the morning hours, after 10:00 am, we effectively entertained their wine list. We found that our tastes leaned towards their sweet wines which lead us to buying a bottle dessert wine, and a bottle of Port. One thing we did like about this winery is the fact that their Port wine comes in a full size bottle like the rest of their wines.

This winery has it all, so we stepped over to the Bistro located on site to enjoy lunch. We started off with Truffle Oil and Parmesan Fries. As you can see the potion was large, the Parmesan was both shaved and powered. The fact that the grease was draining to the paper kept the fries crunchy. Next was our entrees, Carol had a chicken breast sandwich on Ciabatta bun, normally these buns are an endeavor with a knife, hammer, and the conviction to finish the sandwich, this one was soft and enjoyably eatable . I had a meatball sandwich on a toasted french roll, the bread did not overwhelm the sandwich like buns can do. The sauce was not overpowering and was enough to compliment the six meatballs loaded on the sandwich. We both enjoyed their Honey Apple Coleslaw. The sauce on the slaw was a typical sauce, but the apple slivers made it fantastic, I liked it so much that I finished it before diving into my sandwich. Lunch was a great break between tastings. After lunch we sat and enjoyed the music.

The band of the day this Saturday was a local band called "Shooting 4 Tuesday". They were a nice band that played '60's to current.
We relaxed to their meeting while waiting for the tequila tasting session.

We had the opportunity to taste five varieties of Asombroso Tequila, ranging from first product, to a very expensive level. Some folks have possibly seen this tequila while out at their favorite watering hole. The person doing the demonstration told us that shots of this tequila range from $25.00 to $150.00. The most expensive bottle (hand blown) goes for over $1,100.00 and comes in a handmade humidor. Of course, during this tasting, we could buy a bottle for only $600.00, or we could buy two bottles of the cheaper stuff for $80.00 a bottle. We declined and decided to sit and enjoy a glass of wine, compliments of joining the wine club.

We came home and finished our lunch leftovers and watched TV.