04/17/2020

The temperature here today was a balmy 80 degrees which I think is sheer perfection. We actually got out of the compound today and went for a drive with our shelter in place friends. Yep, all four of us in the same car. I am not trying to sound flippant, because I know for some people this isn’t possible but honestly, these two have been our lifeline and we would be feeling so isolated if we did not have some friends that we could share these crazy times with.

So here is how day twenty nine of our sheltering in place went:

• Woo-Hoo, the breakfast chef made a guest appearance today. He presented me with an asparagus, manchago cheese and carmelized onion frittata and toast with blueberry jam. We enjoyed this delicious breakfast with a glass of fresh, cold brew ice coffee.

• Kristin and I did a 3 mile walk in the morning… my bike butt was not anxious to get back in the saddle today.

• We had a visit from Mother Duck and her brood of five. This is the same Mother Duck who has been trying to help the parentless brood of nine. They has just come from the pond across the street and are still wet in the photos. If you zoom in on the photos you can see the water droplets on Mrs Mallard. Photo geeky coolio!

• We took a drive in the afternoon to Lake Hemet with Kristen and John. Hwy 74 winds up through the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. There is a spectacular lookout about 7 miles up the Pines to Palms Hwy that has stunning views across the valley.

We were going to have a picnic by Lake Hemet but the wind was a bit too brisk and we were all dressed in shorts and tee shirts. It was 24 degrees cooler up in the mountains and in our haste to go somewhere, we didn’t dress for the temperature change. We high tailed it back to the car without even taking a picture of the lake. Lake Hemet was built during the 1890s to serve as a reservoir supplying water to groves in the Hemet area. The California Park Co operates the campground which has monthly camping sites in the summer with full hookups. Interestingly, it has been a no body contact lake up until recently when a Splash Park was put in at one end of the lake.

We tried two places for a picnic and ended up doing a standing picnic by a horse camping area.

• We sat outside, had a cocktail and a Rubio’s take out dinner with our shelter in place friends, Kristen and John. Thanks guys for buying us dinner!!!

• Worked on this blog post.

Day twenty nine felt almost normal, it was so nice to get out and do something with friends.