Day 3 9-1-10: Lake Elsinore, CA

We reached our first destination on Wednesday. It felt good to get one leg of the trip behind us. Although it was a shorter day, with fewer miles, it still had its challenges. It was hotter today, the road was steep, and we were tired from yesterday. But it was not all bad. We had walked less than a mile from camp this morning when we saw the Candy Store. Although it was a 1/2 hour before it opened, we decided to wait since we were hungry and thirsty. We sat in the shade, waiting for it to open, when in drove the owner Sheila Sanford. She walked up and introduced herself and asked what we were doing. When we mentioned that Alan was from London, she said her mother was also from London and her father was from Oklahoma. She said that made her a "Royal Redneck". It wasn't long until we were sitting inside enjoying some wonderful Sausage and Gravy biscuits, as only a "Royal Redneck" could fix. Along with that, we enjoyed a nice cold Pepsi Cola and a pocket full of Tootsie Pops.

We set off from the Candy Store and came upon a Ranger Station to inquire about a short cut I had heard about. It knocked about 3 miles off our trip. When we reached Lake Elsinore, we asked about camp sites and was steered to Lake Elsinore West Marina and RV resort. We decided to stay there. After introducing ourselves to the people in the office and explaining to them what we were doing, they were nice enough to give us our campsites for free. Thanks to Kevin and Heidi for their generosity. They have a beautiful marina and campsite.

We had no more than set up our tents (mine is the brown one in the pic) on the beach, and up drove Mike K with our walking cart, a watermelon, other fruit, energy bars, etc. (maybe we haven't convinced him we know which way is East? Anyhow, he seems determined to make sure we make it thru his state safely.)


Mike drove Alan up the street for some hamburgers, and I stayed behind. While they were gone a family was having trouble loading their boat on the trailer, so I offered assistance. By the time Mike and Alan returned,the boat situation was fixed. When the food was spread on the table, I noticed there was only 1 soda. Inquired about it, and Mike and Alan had decided I needed more water and less soda. Now get this......one of them is young enuf to be my son, the other my grandson......what's wrong with that picture?

No sooner than Mike's driven out of sight, I went looking for a soda. The woman I helped with the boat came over to thank me and asked if there was anything she could do for me. I noticed there was a cooler in the back of her truck, so asked if she had any sodas. She didn't, but said wait just a minute and she would get me some. Wasn't long until she came back with 4 20oz. Cokes.

One final thing about Lake Elsinore.......they have a minor league baseball team, the Storm, that plays just across the lake. Anytime the home team hits a home run, fireworks are shot off over the lake. That was fun to watch.