January 7 2016 Diamond Valley Lake

It is still raining but without the unfettered fury we had for the last 36 hours. After waiting out the rain, we hopped into Charlotte and took a spin down some local roads.
Our first stop was Diamond Valley Lake which is not really a lake but would more appropriately be called a reservoir. They have an enormous boat launching ramp, maybe the biggest I have even seen, but little else. Although there is a scroungy river here called the San Jacinto, it does not enter nor exit the alleged lake. What seems to have happened was some water authority has put some earthen dams between two parallel ridges and they must pump the water into the reservoir because there is scant watershed to feed it. In any event, there is a bunch of water there and the area surrounding it is quite ordinary, hardly worth a trip. There is also a sign indicating Diamond Valley Lake is the nicest lake in California which would appear to be a pretty substantial fib.
After seeing this inland wonder, we drove into Hemet, a small city of some 85,000 souls located about 10 miles north of California’s nicest lake. Peggy was scoping out some facts about Hemet and found the average age is 71 which seems pretty old. Once we got into town, however, we became convinced that the average age reported might be a bit low because we noted people older than us everywhere. Many were scurrying about on little wheeled vehicles with their walkers strapped to the back. Vehicle speeds were exceptionally low downtown possibly because old folks here really do not have anyplace to go and they certainly are not going to hurry to get there. I drive pretty slowly these days but I am a veritable whirlwind next to the local drivers. We got up to as high as 21 miles per hour on streets plainly posted at 40.
After short stops at a fabric store, a diesel station and a liquor store run by folks not familiar with English, we decided we had seen enough for today and returned to our camp spot at Wilderness Lakes TT. We are dull.
There are some pictures of our dullness you can see by clicking here

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