Southern California Advantages

As my previous posts show, we spent early Saturday morning in Newport Harbor buying a sailboat, and about an hour and half to two hours later we were up in Lake Arrowhead. From sea to 6000 foot elevation, from saltwater to snow, for a short little break from the routine.

The village in Lake Arrowhead was relatively quiet much to my surprise, but perhaps because route 18 was closed or that the weather was a little cloudy/misty/rainy contributed to the lack of crowds. We checked out a few shops and then stopped in at Woody's for lunch - salad/soup bar for Carolyn and burger and fries for me. The booths are constructed as if from the old-style ChrisCraft wooden speed boats with table tops of inlaid wood and the restaurant has nice views of the lake.

After lunch we checked out a few of the outlet shops (Bass, Jockey) and picked up a few items before heading over to our B&B, Fleur de Lac, to check in. We had a very cozy room (thus the cheapest) with a double (or queen) bed tucked up against the wall and under a bit of a dormer. The great room off the reception area was furnished with leather couches and chairs and stocked with games, CDs, books and wine or sodas for an afternoon repast. After a much deserved nap, we found ourselves back there to sample the wine and peruse the menus from local establishments as we contemplated dinner.

Several places were either too far or required reservations, Carolyn didn't want Mexican, so we ended up back at Woody's for our second meal of the day. Carolyn went with a seafood dish while I had a filet mignon stroganoff preceded by the salad bar. Neither of us could finish all that was served, but it all was good.

Sunday we awoke to a sunny, white cloud enhanced day. The sky was just brilliant. Breakfast served by the Inn's hostess was a creme brulee type french toast which was entirely decadent and may find its way into Carolyn's repartee! We then checked out and drove around the mountains a bit enjoying the snow and scenery.

Heading home in the early afternoon, I suggested we check out The Preserve at Chino, which is the master-planned community in former dairy lands the Lewis Operating Corp. is constructing. We visited the 15,000 sq. ft. Parkhouse which acts as both the information center and the community association center, then we walked three of the five models complexes currently building on the site. I think all of the nine models we walked were over 3,000 sq. ft. and at most were on 6,000 sq. ft. lots and were priced at $630,000 and up. There were some interesting designs or rooms, but I wasn't bowled over by any in particular, and I did find the pungent smell of nearby dairies a little overwhelming.

Home again around 4 p.m., we found out about an important church service to be held at 5 via e-mail (more on that later) so we hurried down to San Clemente and afterwards enjoyed In N Out for dinner before getting home to relax.