Home Away From Home :)



Surrounded by Kentucky "bluegrass", trees, and country...since a young age I always dreamt of being a California Girl. Finally at age 29 I had a career that was going to give me a chance to make that dream come true! Newly single and in much need of a shock to jump start the inner gypsy I took a job in southern California. Years and years ago I had been out to San Diego to visit a cousin in the military and was somewhat familiar with the scenery from the bits and pieces I could recall in my mind, but to venture out there alone and just be a stranger among the palm trees and pacific was the most perfect decision I had made...EVER! My new home was just outside of the city limits of Temecula, California. Research brought about promises of wine, vineyards, rolling hills and beaches that would be close by on every day off :)Once there, I found it was a gem! A perfect town, similar to my real home...and very central to many adventures that kept me busy during the summer.

 

 

This progressive city had a huge mall with features I have never seen before and was built like a city of its own. Along with shopping there were many different types of cuisine to indulge your taste buds in. My favorite was the small area known as "Old Town". Here the sidewalks were wooden planks and all the store fronts were an "Old West" theme. Great little shops and treats and a wonderful little mexican place, Rosa's Cantina-where you, like every great place, sit outside in a neat little garden area surrounded by stucco and flowers. My addiction, because you can't be a famous California Girl without one, was Farmers Market days. Saturday mornings I would rise early to try to beat the hundreds that swarmed the area for the latest crafts, harvest and street food. It was every hippy's dream to find a market with the selection some of these southern California cities offered. Fresh flowers, fresh greek concoctions and gyros, blood oranges, they all quickly became  something that I NEEDED every week.

 

 

 

This was going to be a trip of a life-time. I knew that very few of my days off were going to be spent on the couch sleeping or channel surfing. I was going to make the most of being a real, live, southern,

 

California Girl