We enjoyed a leisurely morning at Emerald Desert, then we packed up, hitched up and headed out.  We are going to Pala Casino RV Resort, about 10 miles south of Temecula.  On Friday the monthly rally of the South Coast Airstream Club will commence.  We are simply arriving a little early…

We could take the freeway from Palm Desert to Pala (the 10 to the 60 to the 215 to the 15) for a trip of about 125 miles and 1 hour 45 minutes.  OR we could take surface roads and travel 75 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes.  The only slight hesitation is that surface roads take us from the desert floor up the “Palms to Pines” highway, which climbs up about 4,000 feet in a few short miles of narrow, curvy roads… But, we are adventurous, we have a strong tow vehicle, and we were not even scared off by the “Chains may be required at any time” signs.  We took the drive and climbed the mountain.  There was little traffic and several turn-outs allowed us to let the few hurrying cars by… Soon we reached the plateau, where snow was visible off the roads but not on them.  The land here is quite barren and bleak, but still a very interesting drive.

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We wound our way through Aquanga, Anza, and Sage, finally arriving in Temecula, and then driving down a steep canyon for the last 10 miles into Pala.  Soon we were in, connected, and paid for…

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Pala has large concrete sites, grass separating the sites, and it is very clean.  The day was clear and sunny but still cold by our standards.

Soon friends arrived; happy hours ensued. We decided to drive to Temecula for a visit to a great little Italian restaurant – Gourmet Italiano.  We had been here before and we enjoyed a lovely dinner.  Upon returning to the RV park we enjoyed another bottle of wine as we stayed inside, out of the cold…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…