This is Part 2 of our trip to Murrieta and Temecula last weekend. Most of the funny stuff happened in Part 1. Although Part 2 isn’t full of funny stuff, I promise it’ll be super informative!! Well, almost. Maybe just a wee bit informative, with some pretty pics.
This past Saturday afternoon, after Mark’s second bike race of the weekend, we had free time to go out and explore Murrieta and Temecula. From what I can tell, there’s not much exploring to be done in Murrieta. It’s just a really small place. However, they seem to have at least a couple of great little places to eat.
The day before, we’d had that amazing pizza at The Mill. And on this Saturday afternoon, we grabbed lunch at this hole-in-the-wall bbq place that was across the parking lot from The Mill. I never even noticed the name of it. I’d make a horrible travel writer.
Now, if you go to Murrieta, you have to go to this bbq place. Just ask someone where The Mill (restaurant) is, find it, then look across the parking lot, ’till you see the smoke coming out of their meat cooker (big bbq thingy outside of their place).
Mark and I both ordered sliders, and they were delicious. That is probably the first and last time you will ever hear me say that about bbq. Meat’s not usually my thing.
But, here’s a warning….Their sliders are unlike normal sliders. Their sliders are huge, big thick packed-with-meat sized monsters! We made the mistake of getting the combo plates which included two sliders each, and a side each. I was shocked when I saw how gigantic they were. I intended to eat one and save the other for dinner. But, I couldn’t stop eating, and I ate both. We also polished off our sides of potato salad (good stuff!) and baked beans (equally delicious!). Quite gluttonous. Don’t make the same mistake!!
With lunch behind us, we took off for Temecula.
Our first stop was to do some reconnaissance at the Pechanga RV Resort, which is adjacent to the Pechanga Casino. We did a drive-through, and it looked like a very nice, clean, very well kept RV park, complete with a nice sized fenced in grassy dog play area. If you’re looking for an RV park with hook-ups, and a pool, laundry, etc., this would be a nice place to stay. If you’re just looking for a free place to park for the night and don’t need hook-ups, you might just want to dry camp in the parking lot of the casino.
Reconnaissance mission complete, we headed off to check out the wineries in the area. The first winery we stopped at was Alex’s Red Barn. But we didn’t stay. We peeked inside the barn and it was kind of dead inside. So we drove across the street to the Longshadow Ranch.
Longshadow Ranch was a great find. The property was pretty, the place was alive with wine lovers, and they had four big beautiful horses (not sure what kind they were) on the property that you could pet. Sweet things!
Drinking and driving don’t mix, and so we shared one tasting. $16 for 5 samples. The wine wasn’t fabulous, and we didn’t buy any bottles, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The bartenders were nice, and the other patrons were completely amusing. There were at least three bachelorette parties going on, and those young ladies knew how to have a good time. I was relieved to see that they had all hired limos and private busses to drive them around.
We hit the road again, and headed northeast to check out Lake Skinner Recreation Area. Good choice. The two miles of flat winding road from the ranger station to the campgrounds and lake, were very scenic. And we were there right before sun set, so the light was spectacular.
The campground itself was huge. The whole place was jam-packed with families and kids. We decided we’d have to come back and glamp sometime soon, but that it’d have to be during the week when the rest of these peeps were at work or at school.
Sunset @ Skinner Lake. You can just get a peek of the lake in the distance
We headed out of the park, and back towards Temecula, where we’d planned to get a bite to eat. This also turned out to be a good thing. Temecula was pulsing with energy. Not sure if that’s normal for that town or not, but it was a “happening” place that evening.
The Rod Run (hot rod show) had taken place that day and all of the hot rod owners were still hanging around town. The entire old town was teeming with the coolest cars and trucks you’ve ever seen! Many of them were parked on the street, and many of them were enjoying cruising back and forth on the main drag. We loved seeing them all, each one more beautiful and more cooler than the last!
Having had enough adventures for one day, we drove back to Murrieta. We parked off of the side of the road, behind a couple other RV’s, where Sunday’s bike race would be starting. The end of a fun day! One more day to go!
Airstream Moho-A-Go-Go 