Many Arizonans have long considered the Southern California coast to essentially be ‘Arizona West.’

This is because: 1) It is a relatively short drive from Arizona’s major metro areas, and 2) The typically cool, ocean breeze-aided temperatures are often the ideal complement to our ‘beloved’ summer heat.

To anchor a short little 30th wedding anniversary trip, Mary found a great Living Social deal for a charming wine villa in Temecula. Temecula is an up-and-coming grape growing destination essentially between San Diego and Los Angeles that we have wanted to experience in greater detail for some time now. It ended up exceeding all of our already lofty expectations; I’ll cover that portion of our journey in greater detail in our next post.

On our way to Temecula, based on the recommendation of one of our friends who is one of Arizona’s most respected resort industry leaders, we decided to ‘idle a while in Idyllwild.’

Idyllwild is an eclectic alpine community nestled in the San Jacinto mountains on a back road between Palm Springs and Temecula. It was a great stop for us. It allowed me to give my back a break from the car ride, Mary was able to mosey around and explore a few of the town’s unique shops, and I was able to get in a little mountain top photoremedy.

We found that Idyllwild offered good wine…

really good food…

great scenery…

and even the opportunity to step back in time.

It didn’t, however, offer us much of a respite from the heat. While that would normally occur, we happened to come to town on a day when ‘more than unseasonably warm’ temperatures were sweeping through the San Jacintos (and much of the rest of the country). In the end, that didn’t matter much.

Spectacular sunrise photoremedy and special time with my bride, it seems, is what etched my most extraordinary, indelible memories of ‘Idling a while in Idyllwild.’

Sunrise over Lake Hemet – near Idyllwild, CA

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