Tag Archive for: Temecula

What I Did and Learned on My Vacation

/in /by
Middle daughter, me, eldest daughter, hubby, great-granddauther

We had a glorious five days in Murrieta and Temecula visiting our eldest daughter and her hubby and her two children (our grands) and their five kids (our greatgrands.)

Everyone came to visit lots. We ate delicious food in wonderful restaurants.The greatgrand in the photo cut my hair. She recently graduated from beauty school and had just graduated the night before from highschool.

We enjoyed Old-Town Temcula, tasted olive oil and vinegar pairings–ended up buying a set.

We went to the movies to see San Andreas–excting, and especially when you live in California.

Now to get the leaning part that ties all this into mystery writing a bit.

On our way home we turned onto a freeway going the wrong direction, got off to come back the right way and spotted a Taco Bell and decided to make a potty stop. Daughter (who was our driver) rushed off, and I did too–my big mistake. I tripped over one of those yellow bumps on the sidewalk in front of the handicapped parking.

Down I went, kaboom. Fell on my side, hitting my head kaboom! Taco Bell workers came out and looked and fled back inside. A nurse driving by pulled in and took one look at me and the blood pouring out of my temple and called 911.

What I tripped on, hit my head on that curb, and my blood.

Had my first ambulance ride, and first time to be the patient in the emergency room. By the way, this was a crowded but most well-run emergency room. Had a CT scan of my brain and X-rays of my back and side.

Though no breaks were seen in my ribs–that’s what bothers me most. So what I’ve learned is how badly ribs hurt when they are injured–no way does someone who’s been kicked in or has broken or even bruised ribs jump up and do all sorts of physical moving around. I couldn’t even lie down to sleep for four days, and even when I could, it hurt.

Will I use any of this experience in a book? Probably bits and pieces.

I’m just thankful that nothing more serious happened–and from now on, I’m not walking on that yellow, bumpy bit of sidewalk that seems to be everywhere.

And aside–I’ve sent my next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery off to the publisher.

Marilyn

Plans Often Go Astray

/in /by

My plan for the weekend was to leave early Friday morning with hubby and all the paraphenalia to have a booth at a Flea Market in Temecula CA–about a 4 plus hour drive from our home. We were to meet at our eldest daughter at our granddaughter’s home for lunch. We left in plenty of time, just a bit after 6 a.m.

When we drew close to the bottom of the road over the mountains (I-5, the main connections from the San Joaquin Valley to Southern CA) all the cars slowed to a stop. Accident, we thought. We expected to eventually be guided around it. Instead we were detoured off the highway, around a big loop and back to the main highway going back the way we came. Like sheep, we followed all the trucks and cars figuring they, like us, needed to find an alternate route.

We had a pretty good idea of where we needed to go, up to Tehacapi and down to Mojave, and then we hoped our Magellan would guide us the best way to get to Temecula. By this time we learned via the radio that the problem was a hazardous waste spill on I-5 and no one was going through for a long, long while. Our Magellan wanted to take us back to I-5 through Palmdale but since we had no idea where the spill was we didn’t want to take a chance.

Finally, the mysterious voice on the GPS led us to San Bernardino and on to Genie’s. Of course daughter had already left for home as they had other plans. Genie and Mark are always gracious overnight hosts and we had a great time visiting them and their two little kids.

Before our hosts were awake the next morning, hubby and I headed off for the Flea Market. We thought we left plenty early, but the park where it was being held was already packed. We found a place to leave the car and began hauling the Easy-Up tent, tables, chairs and the pull-alongs with all my books.

I was the only author–something I’ve found to be a good thing–and began attracting attention from the other vendors. Though I didn’t sell a ton of books–I made my fee for the spot back, plus quite a bit more. I also handed out lots of cards and bookmarks and talked to lots of people. By three o’clock the wind came up and vendors began packing up–so we did too.

We programmed in grandson Patrick’s address and followed the voice to his house. There we visited with his wife and three kids. We took them out to dinner, then Patrick, hubby and grandson all went to the motorcycle races. I stayed home with the girls and we watched a chick flick and did a lot of talking.

Once again we left before our hosts were up and about. Left a thank you note and headed for home. Told the mysterious Magellan “best use of freeways” and ended up driving through downtown LA. Not too bad since it was Sunday–however next time I’ll put in “shortest distance” which would have taken us a better way. This time, the drive was uneventful and we arrived home just in time for a barbecue cooked by our son for Father’s Day.

Marilyn
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