Mon. Jan. 3rd 2011 Ramona CA

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

      A nice monday morning, mild but its cloudy and supposed to rain all day. We had our morning coffees and computed, a walkabout, putter around and get a few groceries from town.  Just to give you an idea of the mountainous area we are in, I took a picture of these two signs just out side of Ramona at the beginning of the narrow winding roads heading to higher elevations.  Our resort is only 5 miles in on this road an increase of 500 feet to 2000 foot elevation.

very windy road

      We had an early lunch and decided to take a drive up the mountain and explore the winding roads and visit the the Santa Ysabel Casino that is located in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. We kept climbing  up and up passed 3,000 foot elevation and kept going. Only 20 minutes to the tiny village of Santa Ysabel with a nice scenic uphill drive. At the one intersection in town we  follow CA-78 for another 5 miles past hills, a few houses and rocky pastures. Then we see a sign for the Casino and up another steep winding hill is this mile high casino.
      Its in the  mountains, in the clouds and if we look north we can partially see a lake below the clouds. It would be an awesome view if it wasn't for the rain and clouds. We might as well go inside and explore the place now that we are here. So we pick up a players card. Now all we have to do is spend $8.00 and we get $10.00 of free play.  We are not really casino people but it is kind of fun occasionally especially on a rainy day.  So now with this small investment we were able check out and play some slot machines for  a few hours until we got our fill, made our donation and even enjoyed a large draft for only $1.00.

      Well its still raining and cloudy so no point in rushing home. We had heard the restaurant was pretty good and reasonable, so we checked out the menu and decided to stay for an early supper.  We start with a free appetizer of nachos and salsa then I ordered my favourite , chicken wings and get a plate of 8 large wings, on a bed of lettuce, with lots of celery and carrots, hot sauce and blue cheese dip only $5.95. Suzie had a a huge portion of grilled snapper, and large portions of potatoes and veggies only $8.95. So for about $40.00 we had a great outing for the day, entertainment and a very filling supper. About the price of one nights camping, but we camp free most of the time so we are way ahead of the game.

      Now its head back home down the mountain, I did notice what looked like a camel standing in a field. And sure enough was a sign for Oasis Camel Dairy where you can get camel milk, camel soap, ride a camel or rent a camel, not today, its still raining. About twenty minutes later we are back home , still pouring rain so its a good night to watch a few tv shows, something we have not done for a long time.

Todays Pictures

Visitor Number

Caribbean Cruise, 2008

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