26 miles and 6000 feet later....

We left the highway to start the drive to Idyllwild. It turns out that while the road is only 26 miles long, it winds up 6000 feet! So we were soon in the clouds and passing snow on the side of the road. The little town is a pretty mountain village and is just coming awake again after the winter trade has gone. It must be a wonderful relief for people to come up here from the desert in the summer. There are lots of cabins available and trails for hiking. We found a cozy coffee house and had fresh white chocolate-raspberry scones and steaming coffee. It was lightly snowing as we drove back down through the clouds but by 3000 feet we were pealing off layers and preparing for the desert. The weather is predicted to go back up to the mid-80's again tomorrow.