Temecula, California

Good morning, my friends. The day got off to an exciting start yesterday. Finally, finally, finally, we got some action at our seed feeder when several house finches showed up to our table.

They would like to have driven the kitties absolutely INSANE!

So, we left them with birds entertaining them, and headed out for our planned excursion to Temecula.

As you can see from the sign above, Temecula was established in 1859. During the mid-1800s, the Butterfield Overland Mail company contracted with the federal government to deliver mail and goods. Temecula was one of the stops along the Butterfield Stage route which followed the Southern Emigrant Trail. The Butterfield Overland Trail is now a National Historic Trail. You can see the route at that link I've given you. The first stage, eastbound from San Francisco, stopped for a change of horses at Temecula probably during the night of September 18, 1858. 

We found parking in a free public lot with no problems. On a wall facing us was a huge mural that looked very realistic. We both looked twice at it. It appeared three dimensional. To the left was shown this steam locomotive.

In the middle, this train stop.

And then, looking the rest of the length to the right, a depiction of what the area might have looked like at the time.

The main drag through town is Old US 395. Old Highway 395 refers to the original path of U.S. Route 395, a historic north-south corridor known as the "Three Flags Highway," linking Mexico to Canada. Since we left the area in 1975, segments have been replaced by I-15 and California SR 163. Those areas are now marked as "Historic Route 395," showcasing parts of the old alignment through scenic, less populated areas. Temecula likes to call this the "historic" downtown area, but we can tell you that these are modern structures, built to look old. Looking south, it looks like this:

It's a busy road, and hard to get very good pictures. This is the view looking to the north.

We had three reasons for stopping: First and foremost...fudge. And there's the fudge place right across the street! We'll come back for that. Keep walking, my friends. The time is nigh.

Second, we just wanted to get some exercise by walking up and down the main drag and snooping some of the shops. Third, I was on the hunt for a shot glass. (I already have a refrigerator magnet from Temecula.)

We passed by a restaurant where we'd eaten on previous visits. It was lunch time by then, and so we stopped in for some lunch. Outside, this "medallion" was inlaid into the sidewalk. It was a little larger than a manhole cover.

Mike selected the Double Prime Smash Burger.

It came with the name of the restaurant, 1909, branded into the brioche bun.

I chose the Sun-dried Tomato Portobello Burger. I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm often choosing the vegetarian option on the menu.

It was one of those sandwiches that disassembles itself as soon as you pick it up. It tasted good, but it was messy.

After lunch, we went on the hunt for a shot glass and some fudge. Approaching the fudge place...what?!? Chocolate Covered Bacon? Really? Well, if that doesn't get you through the door, maybe the fudge will.

Like so many fudge shops, if we chose five pieces, we got the sixth one for free. I can't actually remember what we selected.

The piece in the upper left is orange cream. In the lower right is raspberry chocolate. There was also a Vanilla Butterfinger piece and a Toffee Heath piece. I believe the one in the upper right is Maple Pecan, and I can't remember the last one. When we got back to the RV, we had our afternoon cups of espresso and selected one piece, cutting it into fourths for sharing. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Also, I found a shot glass. This one simply has the outline of the state of California on it. I wanted one that said Temecula, but those were all square-shaped. And I'm snooty about my shot glasses. I only choose the ones shaped like this one. (I use egg cartons for a non-breakable storage option. The round ones are the only ones that fit.

And that was our day in Temecula. We headed back to the RV and took naps. 

After that we relaxed for the rest of the day. I finished off the 20th of 21 embroidered sections for the Raggedy & Friends project. I'll start on the final one today. 

It rained a little last night. There's no rain in today's forecast, however. We talked a little about whether we want to continue with our to-do list of hikes and attractions, or whether we wanted a day off. We opted to stay at the RV today. I'm going to do some sewing. Mike has some things to work on, and he'll probably ride his bike. 

As for sewing, in a previous post, I said I was going to work on the remaining blocks for the Gumballs project. Instead, I'm going to start sewing together the blocks for the Raggedy project. I'm far enough along with the embroidered sections that I can probably have the last one finished before I'm ready to sew the last block together.

So a day of rest is sounding good about now. We have another week here in Escondido before we move along to Boulder City, Nevada. There are still two hikes and a visit to a botanical garden on our list. I suggest y'all rest up too. We'll have time for at least one of those next week, and so you'll want to be ready to go when the day comes.