Golden Village Palms RV Resort

 We finally got a chance to hike around the perimeter of the park and along the "riparian forest" called out on the map. A flock of crows seemed to take exception to our invading their territory. They were very vocal.

Along the way we passed a pen of small birds, the second one like it we've seen. We decided they must be part of a study. The lady at the gate didn't know much about it, except that they were indeed part of a study. We passed Pelican Lake, the second small lake in the park, and saw lots of folks along the banks fishing. The county stocks several lakes, including this one. Usually Horseshoe Lake is stocked too, but right now the lake is closed and has little water in it pending repair of the dam.

An officer stopped by to talk with us. He mentioned that someone had stolen toilet paper from one of the restrooms and asked if we'd seen anyone last night. We mentioned the two trucks, but of course we hadn't gotten the licence numbers or even a good description. People must be pretty desperate to steal toilet paper from a park.

We pulled out after lunch and headed south to Hemet, where we are attending Romney Tannehill's Memorial Day weekend square dance and hoping to see some of our old friends from Southern California. The dance is being held at Golden Village Palms RV Resort.

We are so proud of ourselves--we finally backed in to a site. It's site #628, a premium site near the clubhouse, which will be very handy for the dancing this weekend.

Shortly after we arrived, Jerry and Ruth Blackmar, old friends from the Fun Wuns, stepped out of their new Cougar in the next site. They look much the same as they did the last time we saw them, except that Jerry has added a goatee to his mustache. They said they had been wine tasting in Temecula today and enjoyed the experience.

After we got set up, we invited them over to do a quick tour, and then we got to see their new fifth wheel, a Cougar, and their new truck, a Ford Super Duty F-250. This is only the third or fourth time they've taken the rig out, and it still looks brand new. The interior wood is cherry. Altogether, it looks perfect for vacation campers like Jerry and Ruth. Bill Eveland made a really nice wooden step for them as an RV warming present.

We also saw Rick Tomkins and Tom Kitchens briefly. Eight squares are registered for the weekend, so we anticipate seeing more old friends tomorrow.

We had one anxious moment on the trip today. We were looking for a place to pull off to stretch, walk around, and change drivers. The exit we got off at had a gas station--but it had a small lot, a low overhang, and no place to turn around. Ken pulled into a large parking lot of a fitness center. That worked okay, but there was a lot of traffic in and out, and we had some maneuvering to do to get turned around and pointed to the exit. Some of the turns also crossed dips in the pavement, so I was worried about the truck/trailer clearance, but we did okay. We dragged our skid wheels on the way out of the lot, but not too badly.