Idyllwild, CA
Getting into our spot was a bit rough. The loop we were on was on a hill so while the site itself was level, you are backing into it while going up hill. The road was also super narrow and as soon as your wheels leave the road, you loose traction in the soft dirt. Most times you arrive at a site the parking is fairly uneventful and while you might get a few glances you often do not have an audience. This was one of those times where you have an interactive audience full of people who are watching the show. The cabin next to us was outside enjoying a meal when we arrived so they had food and a show. The people directly across from us had watched another person try and park in this spot so they had a lot of advice. They did offer to move their truck to give us some more room and that helped a lot, but getting into this spot was truly a group effort.
Once we were in, I LOVED our site. It felt super private and we had a ton of shade. The weather was great and it was perfect for hanging out outside after work, a luxury we had not had recently. In fact, it was such a good spot it was the one that was pictured on the cover of the campground pamphlet.
Since we were only in this space for two weeks we did not do too much outside of work. I was also hesitant to indulge in going out to eat more than once because of the upcoming roof maintenance that I knew was scheduled for our next stop. Idyllwild is a fairly small town anyway, so I was hesitant to get into the roof work here. I decided to postpone until we got to the Phoenix area where there would be a lot of options for RV techs and resources if needed.
Exploring Downtown Idyllwild
Downtown was pretty small but it was cute. Very touristy area. There were a lot of your typical tourist gift shops, ice cream, and candy. There were a few really interesting shops but I think my favorite was one called Ephemera, a curated vintage pop culture store.
We ate lunch at Leanna’s Idyll Awhile Bistro. We both had an Italian sandwich on house made focaccia bread with a glass of strawberry and peach white wine sangria. It was very good.
This picture was from a cute little side street that had a few stores.
Maintenance Completed
I did not get a ton of maintenance done but I did finally get the propane side of the water heater working. We have a 6 gallon propane/electric water heater. It is nice for when you are trying to offset electricity use. I had been working on this issue off and on for a few weeks now. The electrical side was still working without issue so it had not been super pressing until we hit hot weather and wanted to free up some electricity for both the AC units.
Finally I realized that the emergency thermostat switch had a burnt connector. There are a few safety measures to ensure that the temperature and pressure never get too high and one of them is this switch that pops when it gets too hot. That turns off the propane and you have to physically hit the button to reset it. That black plastic elbow connecting to the button should be blue but it was burnt black.
From what I was seeing online, this is a really common issue with this water heater (Suburban SAW6DE). The water heater is less than a year old and countless people have had this happen to their thermostat switch within the first year. I could not find anyone who had an answer as to why it happens with new units however it seems that once you replace it, the issue does not happen again. Fingers crossed.
I forgot to take a photo of what it looked like once I replaced the wiring connectors and switch, but I can confirm it is now working on propane again.
Crochet
I remade the same baphomet pattern with crochet thread to keep practicing with the smaller scale. I also downgraded my hook size again so the little pink and green guy was made with a 1.25mm hook. The larger multi color one made with a 3mm hook.
I also unintentionally started making a Halloween blanket. I am sure you are wondering how you accidently make a Halloween blanket and to tell you the truth, I am still not sure. I found some yarn I really liked but the color transitions were larger than I expected so it was not working for the smaller plushies I was working on. I decided to make a little blanket that can sit on my lap while I am working but then it spiraled into a full size blanket with a granny square border. I am not sure what the overall size will be, or if it will even be finished by Halloween, but we will see!
Cabazon Dinosaurs – World’s Biggest Dinosaurs
When we were leaving Idyllwild, Dan really wanted to stop at the Cabazon Dinosaurs, so we did. If you look closely the red brontosaurus has a door near the base of its tail and a few windows throughout his body. There is a gift shop located in his belly. If you have played Fallout – New Vegas you may have seen a reference to these guys with Dinky the dino who is also gift shop.
Overall Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stay Duration: 2 weeks – August 2, 2025 – August 16, 2025
Weather: Sunny but temperate– Temperature Range: 95-60 – Average Temp: 85
- Site 214 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Full Hookup, 30 amp, Back-in.
- We were fairly secluded because we were up against the forest and between two cabins. The only reason this site is not a full 5 stars is because you have to back into it uphill. It was a pretty steep hill as well. Once you get into it however, it is great.
- Lots of shade to help with the summer heat.
- Picnic table, no fires permitted
- Campground ⭐⭐⭐
- Everything was fairly nice but there were a lot of things that were not open or operating due to staffing. This seems to be a common issue throughout the Thousand Trails park system. I am curious if it will continue once we reach Florida.
- Other People/Pets ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- This campground was easy when it came to other people because we were off on our own. It was quiet the entire time we were there, no complaints.
- Internet Connection ⭐⭐⭐
- We used T-Mobile but sometimes it would get suck on a tower with really slow speeds which caused us to need to reboot the router a lot. Satellite would have been rough with all the trees around. Some sites had a clear view of the sky, but not ours.
- Vibes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- This was a nice stop and I am glad I got to see Idyllwild but after 2 weeks I was ready to go.
Scrapbook Pages
Next Stop
Chandler, AZ
Midlife Millennial Adventures 
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