July 10

At Annie's Café in Lake Elsinore, first-timers are given silly hats to wear, and the entire restaurant applauds and welcomes them (or, in this case, us). Fun times over breakfast.

Before getting out of town, we couldn't resist taking some goofy photos at Stater Bros. This supermarket chain is not located in our neighbourhood, but Josh and I like to gently mock their low-budget tv ads, where 'real customers' exclaim about the meat.So we swung into the store and did some exclaiming of our own. Actually, I have to say that the prices were low and the meat looked very fresh. If I wasn't vegetarian and far from a fridge, I might have bought some.

Then it was over the mountains on the curvy Ortega Highway to San Juan Capistrano, Orange County's oldest city.

The mission is really spectacular, the largest and most interesting I have seen.
After wandering around and enjoying the ambiance for a few hours, we attempted a few bites of some inedible lunch at the taco stand across the road. At that point, we were both ready for naps, so decided to head home instead of staying out for the rest of the day.

What a fun (and economical) 24 hours. Here's to local day trip getaways!