Lake Elsinore

OK, so let's learn something about the Pacific Coast here: it's foggy!!


Coastal fog, Laguna Beach.

We are sick of waking up every morning to a view of fog, and waiting around for it to clear by afternoon!! Some afternoons it does clear enough, up where we live to allow us to sunbathe, but forget about going down to the beach. So today we headed inland, to Lake Elsinore. Quite a picturesque drive over the hills (2000ft) and down into the lake valley.

On our way up, I was starving (after an earlier swim at the pool) so we stopped here for a sandwich:

The woman took such pride (and time!) in making my sandwich that Aidan was beginning to  remember various films he had seen where the wife disappeared mysteriously in a back country road!! It was an amazing sandwich, made in a croissant (common here) with baked ham,  Meunster cheese, mustard, romaine lettuce, salad, accompanied by potato salad, fruit & a biscuit!! And the 'store' was quaint - just like you'd expect to find in the backwoods. There was a bikers' cafe across the road, called Hell's Kitchen!

There are camp-grounds/recreational areas along the shore of the lake, and we pulled into one. The payback for clear blue skies was the soaring temperature! We didn't actually take note of it when we arrived, but when we got back into the car at 6.30pm it had cooled to 92F!!! Still, we wanted sun and heat - and we got it. The lake shore was quiet (Maybe because high school was open today! Can you believe it? We saw all the kids coming out at 3pm, not looking happy!) And one mom advertising that she would pick up students if parents needed it - with a big poster, in the middle of the traffic!!
But I digress!!
Here are a few views of the lake:

The ducks were happily foraging around the shore:

We had just enough time(!) to visit the Lake Elsinore Outlet centre on our way home. Well, you see they have Dress Barn and Guess - so essential for "career wear", as they call it here!