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!