Tuesday, January 2, 2024
Today is the 'Day After New Year's Day' and most people in the United States have to go back to work. However in New Zealand, it is a public holiday aimed at offering people a day to recover and relax after the busy festive season. This day is an opportunity for families, friends, and communities to slow down and take a breather after welcoming in the New Year. The importance of this holiday lies in promoting healthy work-life balance and fostering a stronger sense of wellbeing among New Zealanders.
While the Day After New Year's Day marks the end of the Christmas-New Year holiday in many countries, its roots can be traced back to the early British settlers who introduced the practice in the 19th century. New Zealand, as a former British colony, adopted this holiday as a way to honor the British tradition while also acknowledging the unique nature of the Kiwi culture.
It is a beautiful sunny day starting at 30 degrees as we make our way along CA Hwy 79 south from Descanso, California toward Menifee, California.
We will soon be passing by Alpine, which is 7 miles away and El Cajon, which is now 21 miles away.
El Cajon is now 9 miles away.
We can now see the city of El Cajon, California.
More road construction -- it seems to follow us everywhere we go.
We are following I-8 West.
Now junction I-15 North is just one mile away.
We will be taking Exit 7B toward I-15 North toward Riverside.
Temecula is now 13 miles away and Riverside is now 51 miles away.
We have just passed through Temecula, a city in southwestern Riverside County, California with a population of 110,003. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989. Temecula is bordered by the city of Murrieta to the north and the Pechanga Indian Reservation and San Diego County to the south.
We next followed I-215 north toward Riverside.
We are now 8 miles from Menifee, California. Before we drove to the campground, we first stopped at Taco Bell in Menifee for lunch (since we were quite a bit before 12 noon).
We then arrived at Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails in Menifee at 11:55 a.m. We were just in time for them to let us in so we could go look for a camping spot.
We got all registered and now the campsite hunting game is on.
After driving around looking at the areas that were our favorite spots by the man-made canals, we finally found one just perfect for us -- site #47. We will be here for the next 14 days.
See our beautiful view from our campsite.
After we got all set up, we had lunch, and then I went for a bike ride around the campground. I rode for about 40 minutes and 6.2 miles (see the Garmin GPS screenshots below).
Riding my bike makes me feel happy. Even when I'm not having a great day, getting on the saddle of my bike and cranking through the miles, always lifts my spirits.
And, we all know what it is like to feel bloated after celebrating and eating too much over the Christmas and New Year's holiday. Riding my bike helps me to feel like I am at least doing something to combat this feeling. I hope you enjoy the silly poem below:
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
The Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails in Menifee, California is really good about having activities scheduled every week for us to participate in. Shown below is the activity sheet for the week of January 3rd - January 7th.
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Today was sunny with a starting temperature of 40 degrees that would reach 60 degrees. The geese seem to love to gather on the shore right by our campsite (see below).
I rode my bike for 24 minutes and 2.8 miles (see Garmin GPS screenshot below). Most days while I like to ride my bike, Mel typically goes for a walk around the campground for anywhere from 6 to 7 miles.
At 3:00 p.m. at the South Lodge they are having a craft. Today, the activity is to make a friendship bracelet -- that coincides well with the "Back to the 80s" theme of the week.
The bracelet I made was so simple with just a few letter beads and some colored beads (see above).
Friday, January 5, 2024
Another sunny day at 45 degrees, which would reach 61 degrees in the afternoon. We left the campsite at 10:50 a.m. to run some errands in Menifee.
We made four stops today with our first stop at Circle K to get gas. Next we went to Kohls so I could look for a few clothing items I needed for the cruise we will be going on in February -- no luck though. We then went to Aldi's to get groceries and our last stop was at Panda Express for a two entrée dinner. We got back home agt 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Today we just hung around the campsite. It was sunny and 42 degrees in the morning, and it reached 65 degrees in the afternoon. I walked to the South Lounge to play candy bar bingo at 1:00 p.m. (Shown below are the two bingo cards I selected.)
We played several games -- but I did not win today! Shown below is how close I came on the last round of bingo -- blackout, so close but still not a winner.
For dinner tonight, Mel made me my favorite -- cheddar cheese, broccoli and chicken soup. So yummy!
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Another bright and sunny day with a temperature of 46 degrees in the morning and 68 degrees in the afternoon. The new activity sheet for the week of January 7th - January 13th is shown below.
I went up to the South Lodge at 10:00 a.m. for the planned activity -- dreamcatcher craft.
In some Native American and First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher is a handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web. It may also be decorated with sacred items such as certain feathers or beads. Traditionally, dreamcatchers are hung over a cradle or bed as protection. It originated in Anishinaabe culture as "the spider web charm" – a hoop with woven string meant to replicate a spider's web, and used as a protective charm for infants. Dream catchers were adopted in the Pan-Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and gained popularity as widely marketed "Native crafts items" in the 1980s.
Native American dream catchers were traditionally used to protect sleepers, especially children, from bad dreams, nightmares and evil spirits. Native Americans believed that at night the air was filled with dreams, both good and bad. It functions by filtering the good dreams from the bad dreams; it captures bad dreams and only allows good thoughts and dreams to enter the unconscious mind.
Above is the simple dreamcatcher I made in the craft activity session. Hopefully, it will chase away all the bad and contain the good, so we can continue to enjoy our travels.
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Today was an errand day. It was sunny and 40 degrees that would get to 65 degrees.
We left at 10:45 a.m. and made three stops. The first two stops were at Walmart and Albertsons in Murrieta, California for groceries. Our last stop was at Taco Bell in Menifee for cravings boxes and a couple reward specials -- a Nacho Bell Grande for only $1.09 and a Nacho Cheese Doritos Loco Taco for free.
When we got back to our campsite, a Menifee Police helicopter was circling and hovering overhead. They were on a manhunt -- and we could hear them saying on their loudspeakers "Please remain in your campers, do not come outside until we tell you that the coast is clear." The helicopter hovered over the entire campground from 2:45 p.m. until around 5:00 p.m. We were basically on lockdown. We heard later that they were trying to get a man who had stolen a car to surrender himself out of an abandoned house that connected to the campground. They were circling in the helicopter to make sure he didn't try to escape into the campground. Kind of a scary experience to say the least!
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Once again, we had a marvelous sunny day with the temperature ranging from 50 degrees to 60 degrees. Mel went for a walk today and I rode my bike around the campground for 27 minutes and 3.42 miles (see the Garmin GPS screenshots below).
For dinner tonight, we had fried catfish, and Mel also had brussel sprouts.
Friday, January 12, 2024
Today in the afternoon, Mel helped Randall Townsend (a friend that we had met earlier when our truck engine went out) replace the cooling unit in his double-wide refrigerator in his RV. Below are a few pictures I took while I was out riding my bike around the campground.
Randall went to get tacos for lunch, so Mel stopped to have a couple tacos with him.
So today I rode my bike for 43 minutes and 5.78 miles (see the Garmin GPS screenshots below).
Since Mel and Randall didn't get all finished with the cooling unit replacement on the refrigerator on Friday, they started back to work on it around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 13, 2024. They finished up the refrigerator repairs around 1:30 p.m.
Randall said he wanted to get us lunch so he drove into Menifee to the Stater Brothers grocery store. He bought fried chicken, potato salad and baked beans, and brought them back over to our picnic table, and we ate lunch then. That was very thoughtful of him.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Today was another beautiful day, so I went for a 40 minute, 5.49 mile bike ride after lunch (see the Garmin GPS screenshots below).
Monday, January 15, 2024
Another beautiful day at Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails -- with the sunny out and temperatures ranging from 40 degrees in the morning to 70 degrees in the afternoon.
I once again rode my bike around the campground -- this time for 43 minutes and 6.34 miles (see the Garmin GPS screenshots below).
Overall, Mel and I have enjoyed our stays this year at Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails in Menifee, California. (The last time we were here was in 2019 -- and we also liked it then.) It is located so close to everything, they have activities, and it is easy to ride a bike around the campground roads.
Shirley & Mel
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