In The Valley of the Pechango

February 4th, 2014

Have you ever heard of the Pechango Indian tribe? I hadn't either but they are apparently in great shape, considering they own and operate one of the largest and ritziest casinos in California. And in a growing trend with new casinos, they have included an RV park on their grounds with full "hook-ups" (that's 50 amps of electricity, water, sewer and cable television.) This particular RV park was voted the best in the nation according to the readers of Motorhome Magazine, supplanting the revered Fort Wilderness at Disney World. While it IS very nice, I'll take The Magic Kingdom over losing my money to armless one-armed bandits any day.

Maureen, Brian and Maureen's beau Larry came down for a visit over the weekend to eat, gamble and relax. Brian became our first overnight guest giving us a chance to set-up our overhead bunk (the one that we drove out here with that was stuck in the half descended position allowing us to bash our heads continually into it.) I took him up to Lake Skinner to the scene of the coyote attack, through the vineyards of Temecula's wine country and we ended up having lunch at our favorite restaurant ("Would you like some ketchup with your fries?") Speaking of Lake Skinner, here's a few pictures I forgot to include:

Maureen and Mary Ellen enjoying the mountain air

Herself bringing up the rear

The RV park at Pechango has all the amenities that every respectable high-end RV park has: paved roads, cement sites and grass between you and your neighbor, as well as enough width to park your "toad" ( a little RV insider lingo - the vehicle you have towed..."toad"...get it?) See for yourself:

A view down our street - we're at the very end

Baby, our toad and Brian's motorcycle out front

The view from our little sitting area behind the RV

Is it just me or is Mary Ellen looking more relaxed and radiant?

As you can see in the background, the mountains are like all the others in southern California - treeless, lots of exposed boulders and covered with scrub bushes with not a real tree in sight. One of our more hilarious California memories was when we first arrived at San Bernadino National Forest...and as far as the eye could see, not a tree in sight. The most surprising aspects of inland southern California are the height of the mountains, the lack of trees and the predominant color - brown. In the northeast (at least for most of the year) the color we most associate with the landscape is green. Out here it's parched brown, with a little gray thrown in for contrast.

If we can get ourselves up in time tomorrow, it's on to San Diego.