Idyllwild, California

Idyllwild is a quaint town high in the San Jacinto Mountains, about 40 miles from Palm Springs. A beautiful drive to Idyllwild starts on Route 74 which begins where Monterey Ave ends. Route 74 is a fun-to-drive, windy road with panoramic views of the Coachella Valley that eventually passes through Garner Valley, an area with many picturesque horse ranches. A bit further on Route 74 is Lake Hemet, a Forest Service area with facilities to enjoy a picnic or a nice walk along the lake.

Shortly after Lake Hemet, on Route 243 is Idyllwild - often snowy yet sunny in the winter. Idyllwild has shops of all types - some beautiful art galleries, others with crafty wares - one where you can create your own piece of pottery, a couple shops that sell homemade soaps, spiritual shops where you can get a psychic reading, clothing stores, a Nepalese paper and wool store, among others.....

Of course, there were lots of dining options, and we enjoyed a great lunch at the Red Kettle - Brad had a fantastic pastrami on rye, and Suzanne had a chicken Philly sandwich - sort of a Philly cheesesteak with chicken - we got the recipe to make these at home it was so good! The service was a bit slow, but we think it's because the place was absolutely packed with a line out the door - obviously the place to eat in Idyllwild!

After spending a few hours meandering and eating, the drive home continued along Route 243 which offered more fabulous views - this time of the mountains and valleys to the west. There was a lot of snow along the route (not on the road), and many of people were out sledding, making snowpeople and enjoying the sunny day. Route 243 ends at I-10, and the loop was completed.

campingandtravels.com blog note:

As you can see, campingandtravels.com has a new header with some pictures of places we’ve been (from left to right: Bow Lake in Banff National Park, Charcoal Kilns in Death Valley National Park, the California Coastline). Some other changes/additions/moves:

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