Aug 15, 2025
We had an appointment at Grech RV in Riverside, CA this morning for warranty work. This is the only place we will have work done. They are AWESOME! While we waited we walked down the street to the local Airport Cafe. The breakfasts are the BEST…you won’t be hungry for lunch!
From Riverside we drove to Menifee, California where we had reservations at Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails for a week. We were ready for some pool time and pickleball. They assigned us a nice handicap site. It was huge and shady site without any trees directly over the RV! And of course It was right next to the laundry facility and showers! Perfect. 🙂
Swim Time
We stuck to the smaller of the two pools even though the larger pool near the front was closer. The smaller one usually had fewer people, and a lot less kids, especially over the weekends and in this heat. Timing it right during the week we even got our pool naps in. 🙂
Pickleball
Anyone want to play????
We knew Pickleball at the TT wasn’t much unless a couple regular players happen to be here at the same time. “Mancave” Les wasn’t here, but two others were. One happened to be parked right behind us! When he realized we played pickleball, he came over and arranged for a fourth the next morning. We played for at least 2 hours. It was good. They told us about La Ladera Park where they tend to play, so the following day we went there. We really enjoyed the play, so we went back regularly. We had some really good games. Very welcoming, fun people! We always arrived early to be sure we got a parking place with Sadie …
…and were usually the last to leave. LOL
We cancelled our reservations at Oakszanita TT and instead extended our stay here for an additional 17 days. Extending meant moving to a different site, but that wasn’t a problem. We moved to a quiet area and were still close to showers. Plus, now we get more pool time here in this heat, and more morning pickleball! Life is GOOD!
Our last day to play, Bee brought us a squash and a tomato fresh from her garden that morning! They were so good! Nothing like truly fresh garden produce!
Thank you Bee, Garrett, Ed, Art, Bill and Jimmy. There were many others we played with, but I don’t remember the names at this point. Here are those who played our last couple “Last Games”.
La Ladera Park – has four courts, a great play area for kids, a walking trail and a nice restroom by the courts (always a plus, but we had ours with us.)
I couldn’t help notice seeing the name Audie Murphy around here on various signs! Audie Murphy was the most decorated American combat soldier of WWII. Barry and I were introduced to him by my dear friend, Dean Weldon when she took us to the Audie Murphy Museum in Greenville, Texas while we were there in 2024.
I learned from locals that Audie Murphy lived in this area where he had a huge ranch , Audie Murphy Ranch. He raised quarter horses at this ranch and Murphy Ranch in Arizona. His horses raced at Del Mar Racetrack. Some of the land was part of the Audie Murphy Ranch is now home communities, and neighborhood parks. Pretty cool.
For more on Audie Murphy https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/World-War-II-MoH-recipients/Audie-Murphy
Wilderness Lakes TT is known for a lot of birds, and geese. At times they evidently can be pretty annoying, but we have never experienced that. There are plenty of Canadian geese, and they liked to congregate about dinnertime near the smaller pool and unused shuffleboard courts.
But there are various ducks, birds including herons, too.
This little guy came up close to visit Barry.
A Great Blue Heron…