#8 2013/2014 Finishing a Year of Transitions

After Christmas we explored more of the Hemet area. Diamond Valley Lake has a viewpoint high above the lake that gives us an idea of how much construction went into creating this reservoir for Southern California. A natural valley was dammed and excavated with minimal interruption to the environment. Archeologists and paleontologists were given first access to significant finds and given assistance to remove artifacts. An impressive collaboration between history and the future.

In Temecula we explored some – not all – of the nearly 30 wineries in the area. The countryside and buildings have a Mediterranean feel and range from commercial wineries to cozy farm gate family run venues.

Heading home we took a back road that wound up, over and around hills and valleys with farms and wide open spaces. A spectacular sunset highlighted the horizon and set the buildings glowing.

I had a short, breath stealing shower one morning when we discovered the hot water tank was not working when set to shore power (110 household power). Ralph could not find the problem so we now use propane to heat the water. At least we have hot water. That was the first issue to be addressed when we return to Surrey. I’m sure there will be more.

December 30th Ralph’s Aunt Ione and Uncle Adolph from Christopher Lake SK brought Auntie Gwen and Uncle Bob to our RV for lunch and a great visit. Once again the laughter and coffee flowed freely. We treasure our visits with family as we travel away from our immediate family.

We continued trying to set up this blog. It was a test of our patience to be frustrated with our lack of internet savvy, not with each other. We have very different levels of tolerance when it comes to computers and we tend to snap at each other instead of the inanimate computer that doesn’t really care what we call it. As you can tell we finally setup the blog but there were some tense moments from which we tried to learn how to think twice before speaking once.

New Year’s Eve we toasted each other with French champagne and reflected on our life together. We have weathered the storms and celebrated our families. We have seen parts of the wide world around us and grown to understand that we can affect that world one step at a time. Our new adventure is another step in learning about this continent where we live and the people who have affected it for better and worse. We look forward to new people and experiences that will continue to expand our personal boundaries.