Wed Mar 27 Day 77    57F/14C @ 10AM,   68F/20C @ 12:30PM

After our Volleyball game in the pool we changed and headed out about 12:45 with Larry & Judy to drive up to Idyllwild to see the village and to also see “Silent Valley RV Park” which is a private club park where Neva, a very dedicated water volleyballer, stays in the summer when it is well over 100F, (that’s 40C+), in Hemet.  The park is nice & green right now—lots of grass, large sites & lots of shade trees.  It’d be interesting to see what it’s like during the summer months when the temps are at least 20 degrees higher.  The road up to Idyllwild is narrow & winding, but we made it to the village before 2 pm.  It is like a ski village, although there is no skiing there.  There are lots of unique shops and a few restaurants set out in little village-square type areas.  We were walking around and came on a van with the tailgate door up and this nice Golden Lab dog with a collar & tie just standing there looking out.  The side of the van said “Mayor Max”.  We took pictures sitting on the bumper beside Max.  The whole time, Max just stood there—he never tried to jump out!  A lady came by and said we were invited to the inaugural party for his second term next month.  He really is the mayor of Idyllwild!  He has a web site www.mayormax.com .  We had lunch eating outside in the sun at Jo’an’s Restaurant & Bar, and then wandered around checking out shops.  Larry bought a jacket that was on sale for 40% off and Judy got a nice pair of earrings & a set of wind chimes.  I found a nice hat but am holding off as we may end up in Leavenworth WA, in May and I’d like to see what they have because that is where Ken found that neat hat that I lost.  Idyllwild is at 5,300 ft, Hemet is at 1500 ft, and parts of the road we drove went through 6,000 ft. the scenic views as we came down the mountain from Silent Valley RV Club to the town of Banning were great, covering the valley east to the wind generators of Palm Springs.  We were looking across the valley to the San Jacinto Mountains which were outlined in light & shadow.  The day was sunny & warm; we took light jackets but didn’t need them.  We arrived back home about 7 PM and settled in for the evening.  Well, I almost settled in, I had to go out for milk & bananas, a slice of pizza for Sheila & money.  As I was pulling out of the car port an animal ran across the road in my headlights.  It was about the size of a large cat but with short legs, a rodent head & snout and had a long thick tail.  It had short fur. It was an opossum. I confirmed that with park residents that they do have opossums around here.  At the bank this time Chase charged me $3 to withdraw US dollars, the last 2 times were no charge, weird.