Idyllwild
Palm Springs, California:
We drove up to
Idyllwild. Idyllwild is at 5,000 feet elevation - and at one point we
were at nearly 7,000 feet. Driving our Honda CRV, our route was north from
Indio to Palm Springs, take a left and follow Highway 74 through the
San Jacinto National Monument. Our first stop was to the San Jacinto
Visitor Center - very informative, with a great book/gift shop. An extremely
protected (and monitored) herd of 38 Peninsular Ranges Bighorn Sheep (Ovis
canadensis) live in the San Jacinto National Monument. They are rarely
seen, even by locals. Today, we saw 8 of them!
It's all in the timing.
Ovis canadensis (photo by DT)
Peninsular Ranges Bighorn Sheep - twenty minutes from
Palm Springs (in the background!) - photo by DT
Maybe this why you must drive past Bighorn Golf Club to
reach the National Monument?
It is a beautiful drive and after about thirty minutes, we had to turn the
air conditioner off and open the windows. We drove past countless blooming
Yucca and Juniper. By the time we arrived to Idyllwild, we were in pine
trees and needed our sweaters! (Actually, on Friday, Idyllwild residents
woke to a dusting of snow!!!) Hard to believe, it is only an hour or so from
Palm Springs. Idyllwild is a cute, artsy mountain town. There are many
shops, galleries and restaurants. At the real estate office, we noticed
"cabins" start at about $250,000 and the average "weekend home" is about
$850,000. You would have to own a home up here, because the road is
not RV-friendly! Sharp, steep and narrow. This is a great day trip,
a beautiful drive and a wonderful respite from the desert heat.
For some reason, we decided to dine at The Greek Place
restaurant in Idyllwild. It was like we were transported back to the
islands! Even the floor tiles were Greek. Needless to say, it was extremely
authentic and such a surprise to find at this location. Though we did not
imbibe, the ONLY beer they sell is Greek. We had saganaki, slouvaki, Greek
salads and gyros. Simply delicious. We were the only customers in the entire
place and it was one o'clock. When we asked the waitress, she said this is
the first time they have been open on Wednesday. Okay, whatever. If you are
ever in Idyllwild, eat at The Greek Place!
DT enjoys his lunch
We also met a nice black lab named Star, took a photo of the
local totem and then headed along the road back down the other side of the
mountain, to Coachella Valley, turned the air conditioner back on and drove
back to Our Intrigue. We had driven 120 miles! It was a great day!
Idyllwild, California
RV Park:
Outdoor Resorts Motorcoach Country Club