More family time......

 7:01 am - Friday - March 5th - Riverside, CA - 44° F, 82% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the east....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 79° F.  On this date in 2012 we were having lunch at a restaurant on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX......↴

Thursday was our full last day here in Riverside, CA.  I still woke up too early, and was typing my latest blog post before 7 am.  The temp was up from Wednesday to the high 60's, but it was still chilly outside early morning, and by late afternoon it had dipped back into the 50's again.  I was feeling a little punk from the effects of 3 days of exposure to whatever is in the air that is making me sneeze a lot, and blow my nose A LOT.  Post nasal drip was taking its toll on my throat, and I had a headache from all of that (I feel much better this morning).  

I only had two small projects which needed my attention before we depart Riverside on Friday.....number 1 was to remove the chrome receiver hitch blanks from the two outside receivers at the back of the coach as they had totally rusted out, and looked terrible....yup, another casualty of Coastal Oregon.  They've been in there for 12 years, and they were rusted in place.  It took a little persuasion with a hand sledge to get them to budge, but budge they did.  I replaced them with rubber blanks, which I should have done a long time ago.  Number 2 was to clean my solar panels so they will be more effective if we choose to dry camp in a Walmart on the way home.  Once those two tasks were complete I collapsed into my recliner to take a nap.....allergies really knock me out!

What the receiver blanks look like....I threw away the 

old ones before I took a picture

The new rubber blanks

My brother Philip and his wife Jeannie were scheduled to come out to see us before we leave, so we made arrangements with them to come about 5 pm to join my daughter Sharon, her husband Rod, and son Brayden for Mexican takeout from Tio's Tacos in Riverside.  We were going to go out, but the place where we wanted to go does not take reservations, and with a large group (7) we might have to wait a long time for a table, so we decided to eat in.  Rob and Sharon brought two bundles of wood for a fire to keep us warm while we ate....

.....after dinner we roasted marshmallows over the fire.  We talked and laughed for 3 hours, before we said 'our until next times' around 8 pm.  

Our stay here in Riverside has been filled with a lot of family time, and for that we are eternally grateful.....time to head back to Coastal Oregon.......thanks for stopping by!

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One on one.......

 6:51 am - Thursday - March 4th - Riverside, CA - 42° F, 92% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 67° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were treated to a sunset flight by our friend Elliott Walsh near Townsend, GA....you can see our Newell near the hangar.....↴

....we met Elliott and his wife, Ann, at Cedar Key, FL a few weeks before, and they offered us courtesy parking near their home, which is located in one of those 'fly in' housing developments.  Everyone who lives there has an airplane.  We parked next to, and plugged into the hangar of one of their neighbors while we were there.

I'm still getting used to being back in the Pacific Time Zone.....the sun comes up earlier, and I have been waking up way too early.  We will barely get back to Seal Rock, OR when we are treated to another round of Daylight Savings Time, and I will have to readjust all over again.  A cold front blew through SoCal Tuesday night, and all day Wednesday.  

The temps didn't get out of the 50's Wednesday, and we had a couple of hours of rain to boot.  We haven't experienced rain for over three weeks now, and our first exposure after all that time happens in SoCal....go figure.

Before the rain came I managed to clean off the back of the Newell from the roofline down to the bumper.  When we left Tom and Darlene's home to drive that 1 mile of dirt road back to pavement the back of the Newell got covered with dust.  At least when the rain came it was clean.

My son Chris, and his wife Rochelle arrived around 11:30 am to pick us up for lunch.  Chris and Rochelle are a lot like us in that they prefer one on one time with us, and when we see them it is usually like that.  There is only one local restaurant we could find offering 'dine in' service, and the was El Torrito over at the Riverside Plaza.  Pretty much every other restaurant in town offers only takeout and outdoor dining.....not a good plan for a rainy afternoon.  Just as we arrived at El Torrito the skies really opened up.....

....we were seated within 10 minutes, and the conversation flowed steadily.  While we ate, the rain coninued.  The food was great, but the company was spectacular.  We have felt like Rochelle is one of our kids for years, and that she happens to be married to our oldest son is a bonus.  Together they remind me of TLE and I when we were young.  Their two kids are grown, and now they are enjoying their time together, just as TLE and I have been for the last 17 years.  It makes us happy to see them so happy together.  By the time we exited the restaurant a little before 2 pm the rain had ceased.  They had us back home by 2 pm where Rochelle took another 'usie'......

.....after we bid our adieus I settled into my recliner and took a deliciously long nap while TLE read. Life is good....thank you Chris and Rochelle for a wonderful afternoon!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Walking Tour of Rancho Jurupa

Sunday, February 14, 2010 - 9:00am

Decided to do a walking video tour of the park for those who may be interested. This is really a great regional park, and the layout and amenities show a lot of thought. Below if a view looking north from site 201 toward Mt. Baldy....still a lot of snow. Just below you can see the little kiddie water park in the right center of the picture.

Mt. Baldy in the distance, and the kiddie water park on the foreground

Just before the kiosk

"Gopher Hole" miniature golf course

Looking west along Cottonwood Drive

Walking Tour Video....enjoy!

Sunday - Noon to 2:30pm

Later, around Noon, we took a ride into the City of Riverside to their old town area. They have a nice promenade area which they have closed off to pedestrian traffic only. There are also a lot of churches on Mission Inn Blvd., as well as the historic Mission Inn. Here are a few pictures we took of the area.

Civic Auditorium

One of many churches

Universalist Unitarian Church

One of the towers at the Mission Inn

Mission Inn Valet Entrance

Valet Exit

Historic Fox Theater

Elaine in front of the box office

Southside of the Fox Theater along Mission Inn Blvd

Some of the restoration detail just above the box office

Cool stone bridge over Mission Blvd...note beginning of elevated walkway on left

Looking west on Mission Blvd. from stone bridge shown in previous photo

Video of ride along elevated walkway

Entrance to Mt. Rubidoux hiking trail

We didn't get a chance to take the hike up to the top of Mt. Rubidoux....Elaine had a head cold this weekend and just wasn't up to it....I'm glad she joined me for the bike ride! Above is the ornate entrace to the hiking trail that takes one to the top of Mt. Rubidoux....next time!

End of another great day!!

We had a great weekend.....I read a book, and took care of a lot of little maintenance issues. BBQ'd chicken one night and salmon last night. We will return to this park. Less than 15 minutes from home, but it felt like we left the State!

Thanks for following our adventures!