View of Santa Rosa Plateau from La Cresta

Elly and I went for a ride up to La Cresta today, this is a typical view you get riding around up there.

 Since we we hungry, we decided to stop for lunch at the Annual La Cresta Garden Tour Party. We didn't go on the tour of the gardens of at least 5 homes in this exclusive are, but the party was free. We took a back road home through La Cresta and came upon this view.  This is a large panorama. Click on the image below to make it bigger, when the picture shows up, click it again to make it real big! Then use the bottom & side scroll bars to move around the picture.

Fast Food in California

One of the first things we noticed when we came out to California in October was the preponderance on fast food establishments in Riverside, where we were staying with Elly's cousin.  We often commented to each other, "doesn't anybody cook out here?"  It seems that nobody really does cook.  Everyone eats out and they eat "Fast Food"

We have the usual food places that we have back east: McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC/Taco Bell, Jack-in-the-the Box, Long John Silvers, Subway and Denny's.  They have Starbucks, but no Dunkin' Donuts yet. They also don't see to have to other doughnut chains like Dippin' Donuts or Honeydew Donuts. But there also are a lot of chains that we never heard about or seen before we came to California.  Here is a rundown of the most common ones we see.

 IN-N-OUT Burger

(click here for Menu) (click here for Wipedia Entry).

This was the first & only fast food restaurant we have tried in SoCal.  They make great hamburgers.  You can see my report in one of my October blog entries.  The hamburgers with just lettuce & tomatoes reminds Elly of the hamburgers that you still can get at the Fairfield Duchess Restaurant.

In addition to the "normal" menu that you see above, they have a "secret menu" that everyone knows about but is not displayed or even mention anywhere at the restaurant.  The Secret menu can be seen here.  Some of the items are "heart attack capable."  Speaking of heart attacks, there is another restaurant out here called the Heart Attack Grill where the waitresses are dressed as nurses and the patrons are given hospital johnnies as bibs.  In the news this week, they said that the Heart Attack Grill recently claimed its second victim with the "Double Bypass Burger".  You can read about it here. 

Carl's Jr.

 (Click here for Menu) (click here for Wikipedia Entry)

Carl's Jr is the 5th largest fast food chain in the US.  They always advertise that their breakfast biscuit is a freshly made "Made From Scratch Biscuit."  They have even trademarked this "Made From Scratch Biscuit." name.

El Pollo Loco 

(click here for Menu) (click here for Wipedia Entry).


These seem be everywhere and very popular.  It means "crazy chicken" on Spanish.

Del Taco 

(Click here for Menu) (click here for Wikipedia Entry)

These seem to be the West Coast version of Taco Bell. They too are everywhere.

 Wienerschnitzel

 (Click here for Menu) (click here for Wikipedia Entry)

This place is famous for that well know "delicacy": The Corn Dog!

Juice It Up

(Click here for Menu)

According to their website: "Juice It Up! is a franchised smoothie and juice bar chain that specializes in blended-to-order fresh fruit smoothies, fresh-squeezed juices and other beverages served in a relaxed, family-friendly environment. Juice It Up! combines fruit, proprietary fruit juices, non-fat yogurt, sherbet and nutritional and vitamin supplements to create smoothies that are consistently voted “best tasting” in blind taste tests among the top smoothie and juice bar chains."

Farmer Boys Restaurant

 (Click here for Menu) (click here for Wikipedia Entry)

Farmer Boys is a local Riverside County fast food chain almost like a cross between MacDonalds and Fridays. 

That's about it for now.  Maybe we will try one of these if we a re real hungry and desperate1

Making Dad's Beef Jerky

Beef jerky is expensive if you like it and want to eat a lot of it.  Even out here in California, the good beef jerky is about $24 per pound.  Dad has a great recipe for homemade beef jerky.  He has perfected his recipe with years of trials and error. He says that we still wants it a little hotter.  We found this great spice store in Old Town Temecula called The Spice Merchants that sells hundreds of spices.

Inside the Temecula Spice Store

  Last time we were there I asked for their hottest pepper spice.  I bought an ounce of Habanero Pepper Powder. The powder is hot!  But the real hot pepper is the Ghost Pepper also known as "Bhut Jolokai".  It has a Scoville Pepper Heat rating of over 1 million. It is certified by the Guiness Book of World records as the hottest pepper in the world!  You can read about this pepper here on Wikipedia.

Pepper Heat Index. Easier to read if you click on this picture

 They were all out of Ghost Pepper powder, but I bought some Ghost Pepper Sea Salt to add to some of out other recipes.  I will check the store again next time we are in Temecula.


I made some jerky using the new Habanero Powder.  I changed the recipe substituting 1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper and 1/4 tsp of Habanero Power for the original amount of Cayenne Pepper in Dad's recipe.  The meat is vacuum packed using a Food Saver Vacuum Container like these, and using the vacuum machine that sucks the air from the container.

Beef Jerky in Container

Food Saver Vacuum Containers

Rather than placing the meat & sauce in a zip log bag for two days, the vacuum container does the work in three hours.  It actually makes the juice permeate the meat, so that there is very little juice remaining at all. 

Hardly any juice left over!

The, I put all the meat in a American Harvest Snackmaster Dehydrator with 4 sections for about 6-7 hours set at the meat setting 145 degrees.  

Jerky Cooking in Dehydrator

American Harvest Dehydrator set at Meat Setting

 After about 6-7 hours (depending on the thickness of the meat) you have homemade beef jerky, yum!  It is a little hotter than the normal recipe and I also like the way the pepper powder seems to coat the jerky.  Its too hot for Elly though.  I promised here that I will make some mild jerky for here, possibly by eliminating the cayenne pepper powder altogether.

Jerky all done!

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

Riverside County is orange country, not to be confused with Orange County.  Oranges and other citrus fruits are ubiquitous, inexpensive and delicious.  We can pick up peelable navel oranges for 5 pounds for one  dollar.
 

Navel Oranges 5 lbs for $1

   At this price we can "waste" them to make fresh squeezed orange juice daily. Navel oranges are real sweet and ripe and make a great orange juice.  Up in the City of Riverside, not to be confused with Riverside County, there are many roadside orange stands that also sell fresh squeezed orange juice by the half-gallon and gallon.

Our Hamilton Beach Orange Reamer

At  recent yard sale we bought this 1970's Hamilton Beach Orange Juicer for a few bucks.  It works automatically when you press down with the orange.  It even catches the seeds and pulp and also has a spout to pour the orange juice into a glass.  Now we can have fresh squeezed orange juice every morning. What a treat! After searching online  I came across a video of a guy who says "don't use the reamers, get an orange press instead."   He says that you get bitterness from the rind if you use the reamers.

A Citrus Press

We haven't had that problem with our reamer, but we will keep our eyes open for an orange press at the yard sales.  I am sure we will find one!

La Cresta & De Luz

To the west of Murrieta & Temecula are two mountainous communities call La Cresta & De Luz.  La Cresta is home to the Santa Rosa Plateau that I talked about in some of my previous entries.  You have to drive through La Cresta to get to Tenaja Falls.  The homes that tower over the Bear Creek Community where we live are located in La Cresta.  You can see them very clearly on the hills above the community, but you have to go up and around through La Cresta to get to them (its about a 15 minute drive).

Today we went to two yards sales, one in La Crest and one in De Luz.  The La Cresta sale was in a 2 million dollar house with a fantastic mountain view.  Elly bought a table runner for the dining room table, but most of the good furniture was already sold.  It was apparent that the people that live in these houses up on the hill may have money, but in our opinion they have little in terms of decorating style or taste.  The decor in most of the houses that we have seen so far is right out of the Pottery Barn or Pier 1 catalogs.  Everything is stamped "Made in China" with no real antiques or furniture of any quality.  Its very disappointing!

 
Next we went to a yard sale in De Luz.  This is where most of the avocados are grown.  There are avocados trees and farms everywhere.  We like the ride to De Luz because the road literally "drops off" the face of the Santa Rosa Plateau and the view of the valley below is unbelievable.

Terrain View showing where the road drops off the plateau

We tried to make a video as we we traveling down this road, but it really doesn't do it justice.

 

 Google maps got the address wrong, but that was OK Where we ended up was a road that had a great vantage point of the valley so I too a panoramic photo.  Click on the photo below to see it in full size. 

Panoramic of De Luz (Click photo to enlarge)

 The yard sale was at a house that was on top of this hill. Their driveway was real steep.  You could never have a driveway like that in New England due to the snow.  These people has a 360 degree view from their house. They were real nice and we spent about 45 minutes just chatting with them. They were from Missouri and moved there about 19 years ago.  They are looking to downsize and move into a smaller house because the upkeep on their land is too much for them now.  We bought a few items, some pink grapefruits that grow on their land and a few large cactus for our patio.

After our yard sale adventures we went swimming in the condo pool.  Oh, it was over 95 degrees here during the day, but as usual it cooled off with the usual breeze in the evening just in time for sleeping.

Tenaja Falls

Today we decided to go see Tenaja Falls. Since it is only about 15 miles from our house, we decided to get in our usual 2 mile walk at the falls trails.  Also it was such a nice day, the short ride out to the trail head was sure to be beautiful.  As we crossed over the Cleveland National Forest Boundary, there were many desert flowers in bloom from the recent rains.  Here is one that I think is called a "Desert Candle".

Desert Candle

The road to the trail head is a one lane road.  You have to pull off the road in a turn-out of you see another car coming down the road.  Below is a video Elly made during our ride today, showing a good example of the narrowness of the road.  At the end of the video you can see one of the "turn-outs".

The views of the valley from the single lane road are spectacular, but the I couldn't enjoy the views too much because I had to keep my eyes on the very narrow and winding road!

Cleveland National Forest Valley

Some unlucky person, many years ago, must have been watching the scenery instead of the road. There was this old rusted out shell of a car over the side of the embankment.  This was the second car we saw in this same condition on this trip out to the falls.

Old Rusted Car down the Embankment

At the trail head, there is a small parking lot.  In order to park at the trail head, you must have a special High Impact Parking Permit.  If you get caught parking there without this permit, it is a $400 fine.  We have the permit. You can't see the falls from the trail head. It is a .7 mile walk uphill to the falls, of course it is .7 miles back downhill.  Here is a picture that Elly took of me on the trail.

 As you walk up the trail, the falls eventually come into view.  The first question everyone you pass on the trail  is "is there any water at the falls?"  Its been so dry this winter, there is a possibility that the falls would be dry!  As luck would have it, and thanks to the recent rain, there was water, but not a lot.  It was more like a small stream rather than a raging river!  Nevertheless, it was gorgeous and worth the trip.

Tenaja Falls from halfway up the trail

More Joshua Tree

San just sent me some photos from her camera. I am in some of the pictures since I wasn't taking them.

Climbing on the Rocks. Trying to Find a Way Out of Our Predicament

Resting after We Found Our Way Back to the Trail

Resting with Mike on Top of the Rocks

Jasmine Riding a Stone Turtle

More - Can't Get There From Here

I thought it couldn't get much screwier (if that's a word).  I thought is was me and that I would just have to get used to the parking lot entrances and exits. I though that once I got used to the mountains being in the way,  I would be OK.   But NOOOOOO!

Today we went to an estate sale here in Murrieta (only about 3 miles from our house).  On the way to the estate sale, Elly wanted to drive by a house that our realtor told us about.  Since it was off Adams Ave, and I know where Adams Ave is (its one of the main streets in town that are named after the presidents),  I decided not to use the GPS.  Well, I went down Nutmeg St, turned left onto Adams, went about 1/2 mile, DEAD END! ("No Outlet" as they call them out here).  I know Adams Ave is longer than this, I can see the rest of Adams Ave. through the steel bar wall.  But I can't get there from here.  Pulled out the GPS and I had to go around down other streets to get to the other non-contiguous part of Adams Ave. See below:

Segmented Adams Ave

Wait it gets better!.  The estate sale was off of Guava St.  OK, I know where Guava St. is. I use it as the back way to get to Walmart.  Piece of cake!.  But NOOOOO!  Guava St end in a pile of dirt.  Pull out the GPS to see that you have to go around on other streets to get to the other end of Guava.  This is ridiculous!  See below.

Guava Street with a River and a Pile of Dirt

At least the route between the two sections of the same road in each of these cases is short and not a big problem.  Down in Temecula there is a road called North General Kearny Road.  If by chance you take the wrong segment looking for an address, the route to the other piece of this road will take you at least 15 minutes because of the traffic and the "hill that is in the way"!.

I think California has totally redefined "can't get there from here"!

Stop Bugging Me!

Flying insects seem to everywhere in New England.  The No-See-Ums and May Flies in the spring make being outdoors in the daytime unbearable at times.  Outdoor evenings in the summertime are cut short at dusk as the mosquitoes emerge and start to carry you away.  Horse flies and deer ticks also disrupt a pleasant summer day.

In Florida it seems that have so may flying insects that one must build a screen house over you pool if you want to enjoy it.  There are two places that we have been to that seem to have less bugs than where we lived in New England, the Great Smoky Mountain and here in Southern California.  In both places one could go hiking in the forests and not get eaten alive by the insects.

We have asked our neighbors about any insects that may appear during the summer months that might impact spending evening outdoors on our patio by the pond.  There response was that they are no insects like we have back in New England!  We are starting to like this place more & more each day!

But there are insects here, just none that have bothered us yet.  You can check out the bugs of Southern California here.

Joshua Tree Rocks!

A Joshua Tree

Today we took a trip out to Joshua Tree National Park with San, Mike & Jasmine.  Check out our previous hiking entry from the Santa Rosa Plateau.    It is located in the high desert northwest of Palm Springs.  It is named after the Joshua Trees which grow there.  You can find out more about the Joshua Trees here.














  It took us about 1 hr 45 mins to get there.  We were supposed to meet San & Mike at the visitors center, but on the highway on our way, they just happened to pull up behind us!  They passed and we followed them to the Vistors Center, left our car and went the remaining 5-6 miles to the park.

How to get to Joshua Tree from Murrieta

More Joshua Trees

We decide to stop & hike at the Hidden Valley hiking area.  Hidden Valley is an enclosed valley,  that had an opening blasted years ago to allow access to the valley.  It was presumably used by horse thieves to escape the law in the early days of the west. Hidden Valley has a one mile hiking loop, but we spent most of our time climbing among the rocks.

Hidden Valley

Elly, San, Jasmine & Mike taking a Water Break

 After hiking and climbing we had a picnic lunch and then went for another small hike among the boulders.  They were huge!

People climbing on a large rock

Elly in front of a large rock formation

Before we left, we took a ride to the a Viewpoint in the park.  From this vantage point you can overlook the entire Coachella Valley.  This is a similar view that we had back in October when we took the tram to to top of the mountain, but now we were on the opposite side of the valley.

The View Point Parking Area

View of the Valley with Mt San Jacinto in the background

We had a fantastic time! Joshua Tree National park is a remarkable place and we must really thank San & Mike for sharing one of their favorite Southern California places with us.

Mt San Jacinto from the highway on the way home



Elly took this video of the Palm Springs Windmills on the way home.

Steve's New Toy

With the 12-14 ft ceilings in the condo, I decided to try may hand at a remote control indoor helicopter.  Here's what I can do so far. Not too good at it yet.

Which Way to Millinocket?

Every day or so I seem to be reminding myself or Elly of the old Bert & I comedy sketch "Which Way to Millinocket?", in which the old New England saying "Can't get there from here" or "cahn't get theyah from heeah" originated.  You can listen to this classic bit below:

Out here in California, this New England saying often rings true.  The Pacific Ocean and the beaches are only 22 miles from where we live, as the crow flies. It takes a little over an hour to get there without any traffic.  There's a big mountain in the way, and you either have to go over or around it.  The  preferred route is around it!

Palm Springs is 45 miles away, again as the crow flies.  But again there is a mountain range in the way, so it takes 1 1/2 hours to get there.  Again the preferred way is around the mountains, not over them.  This is always the case here.  Mountain ranges or  mountains are always in the way of a straight road.  Even the hills which are often as big or bigger than Mt Wachusett in Massachusetts get in the way, and they are everywhere!  So you CAN get there from here, just not easily!

The other problem we seem to be having is getting used to the 4 lane roads that seem to be all over Southern California.  The main streets in any town are 4 lanes, usually with a median between them.  They widen to 6 lines to allow for 2 left hand turn lanes!  If West Boylson, Mass. was in California, Rt 12 would be like Rt 9 in Framingham around Shoppers World.  Even in a small towns like Murrieta, once you pull into a group of stores to buy something, you can't just pull out a go home the opposite way.  You have to find the right way out of the parking lot that enables you to cross traffic and head the other way.  All the parking lots are connected, so we find ourselves driving around parking lots a lot trying to find a way home thinking to ourselves that "we can't get there from here!."

Google Maps is wonderful on my Motorola Xoom, but a lot of road construction has outpaced the ability of Google to keep updated.  Following the Google maps voice to get on the highway, I get into the left lane to turn onto the on-ramp for I-15.  But, low and behold, the overpass was recently changed (long before we got here) and now the on on-ramp in on the right.  Now I am four lanes away (2 plus the 2 left hand turn lanes) from where I need to be and "I can't get there from here".  Needless to say, even with the Google Maps, we make a lot of wrong turns and backtracking.  As we learn the area better, we shouldn't have to rely on Google so much. Oh well, it's part of the adventure!

Parties & Neighbors

At times we thought to ourselves that "nobody else but us lives here on the pond" because we hardly ever see anybody on their patios, except for one guy down the pond that sits on his deck every afternoon.  Last week, our neighbor across the pond called and invited us over for an impromptu wine drinking party.  About 10 other neighbors showed up and we finally met a few of the other people who lived here.  They were all really nice. Some have lived here for over 15 years and still love the place!  The neighbor that held the party move in 1 1/2 years ago and completely redecorated the place, it was gorgeous and amazing what she did inside.  Elly and her hit it off immediately and I am sure they will become good friends in the near future.

Last week the same neighbor taped an invitation to everyone's front door in our little community, called "Country Club Villas", inviting them to an open house.  Last night we went to the open house and found out that a lot of people really do live here!  Its just that they have busy lives also and for lack of a formal get together, they just wave to the neighbors.  The open house provided us an opportunity to meet everyone as well as for all the neighbors to meet each other.  A lot of them had never met before.
 

Open House Condo across the pond from us

I found it also curious that from the open house's patio, a lot of them had difficulty identifying where they lived just across the pond.  They had never seen their own condo from that perspective before.   A few couples we met have lived here for 25 years when the first phase was built (our condo was in the first phase) and are still here.  There was plenty of food, wine and dessert for everyone and even though there were a lot of people, I estimate around 50, there was plenty of room both inside and outside for all.  The weather cooperated, it was 80-85 degrees during the day and the evening cooled off just like it always does from the breeze that swoops in every afternoon making it a little chilly outside.  When we left around 8:00, it was warmer again because the breeze stops, like it always does.  The weather may get a little boring here, but Elly is not complaining!