Idyllwild Fourth of July 2026...

 As is every 4th of July - I want to run away to wherever there is not fireworks. We used to flee because of our precious Poe. Rascal doesn't seem to mind, but I still do, so off we went to one of our favorite places. We had a perfectly wonderful time until our last day which you'll read about below. But other than that major fiasco - it was perfect!

We did our usual stop in Temecula on our way up to pick up our Europa Wine. Had a lovely breakfast at Corkfire then hit up our usual Halter Ranch. Followed by Europa. Then we decided to try a winery that Lori had been raving about called Gershon Bachus. It's all red wines, so Pat had to drink most of mine (We should have just got one tasting). It was pretty good and the winery was very pretty. Super weird folks seem to work there though. LOL. We did have a lovely time though and Rascal made a friend. Was a little unnerving at first since the woman didn't seem to care her giant one year old Shepard/Belgium mix was off leash and not leaving Rascal alone. But luckily they got a long and it didn't turn into a thing. Some dog owners really surprise me though. Especially when another old dude showed up with his old ass angry Dachshunds that were barking at everyone. Again, luckily they left us alone but WTF people?! After that we headed over for a quick visit at Oak Mountain hoping to pick up their Sparkling Sangria we love, but sadly they don't make it anymore! So we did a tasting to try a few of their others and they were good, so we did get one bottle for our trip.

This little puffball kept staring at Rascal. I wanted to steal him

View at Gershon Bachus

They gave us a bag of Cheese Curls...um ok?

Pat said they paired well

Rascal's new friend he luckily got along with

Tuckered at Oak Mountain

I do love that they let dogs into the Cave

Then finally off to the mountain we went with my slightly tipsy husband! We were able to go straight to the bnb which was just perfect! Beautiful view, lovely hot tub on the deck, a couple of chairs down the hill a bit to chill, full kitchen - just what we needed! Our 1st eve we just settled in, enjoyed the view, Pat made a delicious Chicken dish and we saw the prettiest sunset of the whole trip!

Friggin loved this window!

Now that's a view

Cute little bits around the house

View from the Main Bedroom

Got some coloring in

Get in mah belly!

Pat's Cowboy pic

I could sit here all day

Rascal watching the squirrels

Happy birds

Can you even?!

Probably framing some of these...

And I just kept photographing

Those colors!

Out the living room window

So pretty

Yeah, this is alright

Our 2nd day there was the fourth of July. That have a cute little parade that we like to try to get into town to see. So we hit up the Nature Center to hike around Perimeter Trail a bit, then headed into town. We were cutting it close since it's a tiny town and not alot of parking, but we lucked out and got some of the last spots in a nearby park! Parking Gods were certainly looking over us that morning! We then hit up the wine bar we like up there and had breakfast. I was nervous for the start of the parade booms - sure enough they happened and all the dogs lost their minds (there are sooooooooooooooooooooo many dogs up there on the holiday weekend), even one poor guy got away from his owner and sprinted into the place were eating and into the kitchen! I went after him, and me and the kitchen lady were able to get him and get him back to his owner. Poor boo. Also alot of people were pissed - so I'm hoping maybe they say something to not do those damn booms in the beginning. Eeeeeesh. But other than that little anxiety trip - it was a lovely day. Parade was adorable as always. We wandered around  the shops a bit after that and enjoyed some music at the winery that's up there. But it's a bit crowded on the holiday so we headed back to just relax at our place and Pat made us a yummy steak dinner. We also took advantage of the hot tub!

Wish I could always start my morning like this

Sniffy McSniffsalot

I will never not love trees

Chillin at one of our favorite viewpoints

Rascal taking it all in

Our "Patriotic" picture. Like my shirt?

Chillin at a favorite eating spot

This guy was pretty good!

Parade is starting

We watched from our table for a while

Then wandered a bit closer

Smokey the Bear!

Chilling at the winery watching the band play

Rascal got made honorary deputy by Mayor Max

Mayor Max is so damn cute, but I swear they drug the poor guy

Love the weird art around here

Deputy Rascal

These people had this giant flag in front of their place down the street form where we were staying. Yikes. "Merica!"

The bear who greets us

Rascal's certificate!

It was so nice out, Pat did some prepping outside

We love our Skip-Bo

Rascal was very at home

Now that's a steak!

We found a trivia game at the place - super fun! LOL

Sunday we got up and got out to a new hike. Pat was trying to find some other ones for us to do and we landed over at the Idyllwild Regional Park. You walk through the campground, but it's really pretty. We then found some trails and there was a geocache on one, so we headed up the one called Summit View Trail. It was a damn ass kicker! We even had to scramble a bit. It was super challenging but it was worth the view when we got to the cache. We'd like to come back and do that one again when we're a bit more prepared. We apparently only did about half of it. So beautiful! Then back to the bnb for breakfast and mimosas. Chilled some more, then off to town to shop/walk around and get an early dinner. We also did an Adventure Lab! Didn't find the bonus cache though dammit! We tried Ferros - an Italian place with rave reviews. It was good but not mind blowing. Great waiter though. Then back to the bnb to relax, watch a movie.

Beautiful weather!

I told Pat we should renew our vows here

So pretty!

Found ya!

Very excited to find this cache

I sure am!

Rascal wondering why mama is always running off to find things in weird places

Such a fun trunk!

Breakfast by my Master Chef

The Adventure Lab got us to look closer at so many things!

This is all hand carved!

Love this mural

I could not get over how much this mural looked like Rascal!

Some more lovely hand carved pieces

Ferros just gave you this. Like as a freebie. So good!

Oysters and Panzanella Salad

I got a Seafood Risotto dish - lots of shellfish!

Pat's pork over a polenta

Hi friend!

Thumper

The sun was getting to Pat....

Another pretty sunset

So this is when the bad happened....on Sunday we noticed a few Carpenter Ants (they are giant and look like the ants that kill people in horror movies), we didn't worry too much, but when we saw some in the main bedroom and in the bed we got skeeved out. I messaged the woman about it, and she responded giving us $100 refund which was nice - but after the fiasco we really should have got more, but what can ya do. Anywhoo Pat slept in the other room and I slept on the couch since the bed was smaller and I was having trouble sleeping. The ants only seemed to be on the deck and in the main bedroom. Well - Monday morning when we got up - they were EVERYWHERE. In both rooms. They were in the bed, walls, floors, bathrooms. OMG. We scurried to get all of our stuff out of the upstairs to the downstairs because they seem to have not gone downstairs yet. I emailed the woman again and was like you got a damn problem - get someone out here - so hopefully she does. But ewwwwwwww! So our planned relaxing morning turned into a damn horror movie of our own. So we basically just packed up and got the hell out of there. Our plan was to hit Temecula around lunch time, but since we were out the door so early we had to improvise. But we ended up just chilling downtown Temecula at a coffee place, walked around before it got too hot, then headed over to Halter Ranch. We then headed over to Cougar Winery where we had wanted to have lunch. They're such a pretty winery and have yummy deli sandwiches. So all was well. 

Such a pretty winery

So with the exception of the ant horror show - it really was a perfect little getaway. We've already booked another place for next year and The Hernandez's will be joining us. I just love getting away. It was super hard to come back from this one. I'm so grateful we got away again to one of my favorite spots.