If you love wine, you'll love Temecula!

Am I alone when I think to myself, "I could really use a vacation right about now!". That's where my thoughts have been drifting lately.  Only problem is, I am trying to be smarter with my budget at the moment.  Still, when the idea of wine country popped into my head, I had to indulge a little in the spirits that are so close to home.  Temecula. Southern California's wine country. And it's only a 90 mile drive from my home. So why not?

To save on expenses, we decided on a weekday trip.  Less expensive room costs, great coupon offers on wineries and less people at the vineyards. If you search, "Temecula Winery Coupons" in your Google search, you'll find a wide variety of coupons for the wineries.  Most of them are only valid on weekdays so traveling during a weekday is going to be more cost effective. There are over 30 wineries in Temecula, so it's best to pick a few you'd like to visit and find the coupon offers for those. 

A tool we used while on our mini-vacay was Yelp.  This is a great app to have on your phone because you get to see fellow travelers reviews and their pictures.  They are not getting paid for posting and you know that you are going to see it all: the good, the bad and the ugly.  This was a good resource for us because we were able to pair the coupons with the reviews to see if in fact we really wanted to visit that winery.  For example: Callaway Winery had a 2 for 1 Wine Tasting coupon, the Yelp app had a cumulative 3.5 stars and the pictures that others had posted were beautiful. Based on all of that info, we decided we'd visit that winery.  And we were glad we did.  The bartenders were very knowledgeable, the views were spectacular and the wine was delicious! 

After we'd had our fill at Callaway, we made our way into Old Town Temecula. We had another coupon for a 2 for 1 wine tasting at Lorimar Loft.  It's not the vineyard, but more like a tasting room in Old Town. Very cute and cozy.  I had fun having my tastings in that space.  I may have had a little too much wine in me at that point, but it was a very nice and relaxing spot.  Take note that some of the coupons are only valid for a specific time frame.  The Lorimar coupon was only valid from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  We were in a little bit of a rush to make it on time!  Also, if you don't have a coupon, sometimes if you "Check In" with Yelp, you get a discount that way too.  Lorimar was giving $5 off of your tasting with a check in. 

 

The next day we visited two more wineries.  The first was Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards, Home of the Famous Almond Champagne. This was probably the most gorgeous and most popular winery of the four that we visited that day.  For a Wednesday, it was pretty busy.  I could only imagine how packed it got on the weekends.  They had my favorite kinds of wines here: the sparkling ones. They were all so heavenly.  I'm already a huge fan of the Almond Champagne, it was nice to know that there are other sparkling wines I could be purchasing.  Note: if you do not know what to choose from while at the wineries, no problem! Just let the bartenders know what you like, and they'll help you to choose your tastings and what order you should taste them in.  I found this to be very helpful!

 

The grounds at Wilson Creek were very impressive.  There were a lot of spaces for weddings, which is understandable. The tasting room was very busy as was the restaurant.  What I liked most about Wilson Creek was all the sitting space.  There were tables spread out everywhere and plenty of space for picnics if you wanted to have one.  The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was nice on the day that I had visited.  Too bad we didn't pack a picnic basket!

 

Our last stop of the trip was Wiens Family Cellars. It was very tranquil here, not a lot of traffic like there was at Wilson Creek.  It was perfect for ending out the trip. I really liked the artwork on one of the bottles at Wiens and when I asked the woman if I could have the empty bottle, she kindly wrapped it up for me to take home.  The grounds at Wiens were lovely and there were spots for picnics here as well. The time seemed to fly by in Temecula, I wish that it didn't have to come to an end. 

 

It's been a while.

Well, the title of this post sure does say it all.  It's been a while. I feel I have to explain myself to you, the masses. Family, friends and strangers alike... I've left you out and that is never what I wanted to do. When I started this blog I was excited, ambitious, focused and hopeful. All things to be happy about. A fire had been lit, and I wanted to keep it burning for as long as possible. I wanted to write of my travels. I wanted to write of my experiences. I wanted to write. The words were in me and they wanted to come out. There were also life changes to be made.

I'd had this dream to live in California since high school.  The first out of state town that I'd visited, (that I could remember), was San Diego.  I fell in love.  The water, the people, the art, I wanted it all. All the time. And so, after 34 years in Arizona and more than 12 years at one company, I did it.  I picked up my life, plucked my daughters from their schools and moved our stuff to California.  Less than two miles from the beach, near Redondo Beach and in Los Angeles County.  I wish that I could say that it was all really easy.  Four months later, it is still hard to believe and a little difficult at times.  I left everyone. My family, a couple of best friends, a good job and a ton of memories.  Sometimes, when I start feeling a little down about it all, I think of the quote by Henry David Thoreau, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."  I am reminded that this is what I wanted for a long time.  Fortunately for me, I have the support of my beautiful daughters and together, nothing can stop us.  I always want to set an example for them, that money can never buy you happiness.  Material things won't keep you satisfied long.  If in your heart there is a desire that you need to have fulfilled, then do it! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Anyway, it is very important for me to teach them that it is not only important in life to have financial success, but also mental happiness.  I feel this is overlooked at times when we speak to our children about what they want to be when they grow up.  Yes, you can be a doctor.  Yes, you can be a lawyer.  You can be whatever your little heart desires, but most important of all, please don't forget to be happy.  Sorry, went off on a tangent there. I know all this has nothing really to do with a travel blog, but I think as adults sometimes we forget to take a moment to just be happy.  To find happiness.  So maybe my travel blog does have a little something to do with happiness?! It certainly brings happiness to me.

So back to my adventures.  I've had quite a few in my short life. Some really great ones. Some mediocre ones.  Some down right dull ones.  But I am grateful for them all, because I get to have them. I am here, in my body having these adventures, experiences, situations, etc... I am fortunate! I am here in California experiencing a life that I have always wanted, growing up and moving forward.  Part of me feels like I have to do this not only for myself, not only for my daughters, but for my sister Ashley too. It is the day before her birthday, I sit here writing this and she is all I can think about. I think about all her little experiences in her very short life and I think, she is happy for me. She is with me always. On all my travels, thru all my experiences, she is with me.  And so, this is for you Ash.  I love you. I miss your physical form always. Happy 25th Birthday Baby Girl!

And to you, the masses, I am going to get back on it.  I will share more.  Thank you for being patient! Peace and blessings!

Happy Christmas Eve!

From The Scenic Route! 

I'll be at the beach! 😃🎄🌊

Where was I?

Aloha! This one time, I visited Maui, Hawaii with a bunch of friends!



 

 

A destination spot highly desired and traveled to by tourists are the islands of Hawaii. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to visit the island of Maui, Hawaii one year in March for a week. What made the trip even more exciting and memorable is that six of my friends also made the trip with me! The memories we created are still topics of conversation after all these years. It was a once in a lifetime journey, and I am so thankful for that time in my life.

 

As you can imagine, trying to get 7 people to all agree on a location, airline, hotel and date can be very stressful. Thankfully, the group that I traveled with were pretty much okay with letting me take the reins when it came to booking our trip.

Of course, I did a little research to try and find us all the best deal for our money. After all was said and done, I decided to book our vacation with the travel agents provided by Costco. They were able to secure our flights through Hawaiian Airlines, the hotel near Lahaina and our vehicle rentals.
 


 
The nice thing about booking a trip with Costco is that sometimes they throw in the extras when you book your trip. Little things to make you feel like you are getting the entire experience. For example, included in our vacation package was a lei welcome upon arrival and we also were given credit for a luau dinner on one of the nights we were there.




 

 
The room Costco booked us was more like a townhome. It had three bedrooms and was pretty decent. It was right off the Kaanapali shore line. To save money one of the nights, we used the on sight barbeques they had and cooked our own dinner. Probably the best dinner of the week! You grow tired of going out to eat or trying to find a place where everyone feels like eating.

When it came to the vehicle rentals included in our package, we paid a little extra. We had all agreed that the only way to travel in Hawaii would have to be in a convertible. You can’t miss all that beauty trapped under a roof! It made cruising around the island outstanding.

 

We managed to keep ourselves very entertained the entire time we were there. We visited the touristy spots like Front Street in Lahaina, went snorkeling, whale watching, took the “Road to Hana” drive and of course, succeeded in finding booze on both land and water! (Booze Cruise).
 

 

 
The package was pretty affordable, about $2500 for two. There are still packages close to that price available now on Costco.com. You must have a membership card to take advantage of their deals. We each took about $1000 spending money for the week. Some went a little crazy on the island and came home broke, others had a little something left.
 

At the end of the trip, we were all beat. We loved being on vacation, but I think at the time, we’d all agreed that 7 days away from home was the perfect amount of time. (I’m sure that today, more than 6 years later, if you asked us if we wanted more time on the island, our answers would be: YES!!!) We had a great time! And if you haven’t marked vacationing with some of your closest friends off of your bucket list… What are you waiting for?

Buyer Beware!

Recently it was decided that my ONE and I would look into renting a vacation rental in Laguna Beach, CA for her birthday. We both wanted somewhere close enough to everything to walk, cozy enough for two, a place with a full kitchen and clean enough for the ever observant eye she possesses. 

We did what every smart shopper does and began our searches individually on the Internet. Typing in "vacation rentals" into the Google browser, searching Expedia, combing through different ads on www.vrbo.com, and even the ol' search through Craigslist.

While on Craigslist I came upon this really great deal for a North Laguna Beach, one bedroom condo that was about a block away from it's beautiful beaches. The ad was incredible! Great pictures, the condo looked very nice and very clean. To top it all off, it was a great price... Only $100 a night. I couldn't believe the luck I was having.

Here are a few of the pictures included in the ad. Not my own pictures.

I quickly emailed my ONE and directed her to the ad on Craigslist.  At the same time, I responded to the ad to ask if they had the dates available that we were looking for. Did I mention that I'm very gullible? Thankfully, she is not. She read over the ad and was skeptical. She's been to Laguna Beach several times and knows that units that are usually that inexpensive... Usually look very inexpensive as well.

I got a response from the Craigslist ad almost immediately from a gentleman by the name of Andrew Lewis. He advised me that he was the leasing agent for the unit and that if I was interested I had better act quickly because these units tend to go quickly.  With how beautiful this unit was, I didn't doubt it. He told me that the total would be $600 up front, $400 deposit and $200 of the rent for the 4 nights we requested with another $200 due upon arrival. If we returned the unit to him clean and undamaged we would get $300 of our deposit back and they would keep $100 for a cleaning fee.  No taxes or parking fees would be charged.

This all sounded very fair and I was excited about this deal.  I asked him to send over the contract so I could fill it out and send it back.  This unit had everything we were looking for, I wanted it. 

He quickly emailed the contract over to me and I then forwarded the contract over to my ONE.  She read it over and quickly became alarmed. She was very familiar with some Craigslist scams that were going around because unfortunately, at another time, she too had gotten her hopes up about a rental that turned out to be part of a scam.  What clued her in immediately was, in the contract, Andrew had written that when paying the initial $600 payment, we should do so only with US cash.  Ummm... we live in America. What else would we be paying you with?  Those were her words exactly. Ha!

I wanted to believe so badly that we were actually getting a deal and set out to prove her wrong. I would find this ad on another website, I would show her! Well, I found the rental on another site... a legit one. And boy, was I wrong.

I went on www.vrbo.com and found the unit that I had been looking at on the Craigslist ad.  On the VRBO ad it had the owner's name and phone number, so I decided to call. A very nice gentleman answered and I asked him if the unit was available for the dates that I had originally requested. He advised no. I asked him if it was available, how much would it rent for? It was well over $100 a night. Then I asked him if he by chance had another ad going in Craigslist? He said, no but that he was aware of a scam going around where people are taking the pictures off of his ad in VRBO and making new ads on Craigslist. They then tell the victim that they need to send the money right away or deposit into a bank, (the bank they had requested I deposit into was Guaranty Bank in Wisconsin), fill out the rental agreement and send it back. He said unfortunately, when they show up thinking they are going to have this beautiful unit for their vacation, the victim finds out that they actually gave the money to a stranger/scam artist and they are out of luck. No refund, no condo, no vacation.

I'm so happy I got to speak with the owner of the property to find all of this out before I sent any of my money away.  The owner of the unit then asked if I would be willing to cooperate with the detective he had been working with in Orange County. I agreed, as I would be pleased to help in any way I could to prevent someone from being a victim to this scam.

The detective contacted me and asked me if I would continue to go along with the scam. Pretending that I was still interested. Filling out the contract with false information on my end, just so we could get the bank info; routing number and account number.  Possibly the persons name that was on the account.  I did as he advised. Blind copying him on every response I sent back to Andrew Lewis/Scam Artist.

Everything was working as we had hoped. I got the routing number, the checking account number the name of the person that was on the bank account and I told Andrew Lewis/Scam Artist that I would be depositing my money the next business day.  I copied the rental owner (the real one) and the detective so they would have all the info as well. 

UNFORTUNATELY, the detective replied to all... INCLUDING the SCAM ARTIST and blew our covert operation! He mistakenly replied to Andrew Lewis as the rental owner and basically told him that they were going to do everything they could to catch the guy! But because Andrew Lewis/Scam Artist was in Wisconsin, they would most likely have to refer this case to the district attorney in Milwaukee because Orange County will not extradite the individual for prosecution in California.

Talk about a major screw up! -____-  Oh well! I did my part. Needless to say, the detective never responded to me when I told him of his error. Thankfully, neither has scam artist.

So here are the things I did learn when looking for vacation rentals on Craigslist:

• Look to see how the contract is written.  Are words spelled correctly?
• What kind of monetary payment are they asking for?
• Do they include a phone number?
• Do they have a name listed?
• How about a website?
• Do some thorough research!

I hope that this is helpful to you in your future searches. While there are some really legit ads on Craigslist, unfortunately... you can bet you will run across some scams there too!

Be Safe!

Where am I?