Two nights in Pauma Valley, California: A popular golf destination and famous for incredible scenery

 

Pauma Valley Country Club, Pauma Valley, CA

Carlito and I have been best of friends since we met in 8th grade.  We got to hang out often, sleeping over at each other’s place over weekends, exploring New York City, and playing outside, like all kids did way back when.  

Carlito was always an intelligent, smart, and a thoughtful person, able to keep up his studies, getting really good grades, while still finding time to play with us (there were always 4 amigos growing up).  He got into good schools, and eventually got a law degree, which proved to be a great move, which I’m really happy about.

He’s currently working in South Korea working for a big corporation as a high ranking executive, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.  Despite being apart the past decade, we’ve been keeping track of each other, fully aware of what each of us is up to these days.

I miss him greatly, as it’s been over 2 years since I saw him, but that’s life.  Sometimes, we don’t get to decide how things work out, whether that’s good or bad.  I sincerely wish he was living in the United States, but it is what it is.  

When we last met, back in 2021, he mentioned his company owns a golf course in California, near San Diego, and that he can swing a free stay if I was ever in that neck of the woods.  At that time, I didn’t think much of it, as I knew the chance of me visiting California was not very good.

Come January of 2023, our chances of visiting that golf resort greatly increased, thanks to my wife and myself’s decision to do a cross country road trip going from North Carolina to California.  We were visiting Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego, and it made perfect sense to make a stopover at that golf resort, compliments of my buddy, Carlito.

We wanted to take up on his offer to stay couple of nights, as we desperately wanted to save some money on lodging after being on the road, sleeping at hotels/motels, for better part of two months.  Pauma Valley, known for many upscale golf courses, surrounded by affluent communities was a great location, on the way to Las Vegas.  

On the morning of January 17 (2023), my wife and I left Sycuan Casino Resort towards Pauma Valley, a drive of roughly an hour or so.  Before we got there, our car needed our first oil change, as by then, we had put on over 6,000 miles, almost 2 months into our cross country road trip.  

We made a stop over at a Mazda dealer near Sycuan Casino Resort, hoping to get the oil change done asap.  We were lucky that we got a service appointment on a very short notice.  

We arrived at the dealership around 10:30 in the morning, and we waited for it to be done.  We drank coffees and munched on two snacks while we waited.  Just as soon as we were done eating these, our oil change/service was done, in about 30 minutes, as there was no one that morning getting service done on their car!

We thanked them then headed to a lunch spot.  We wanted a bit of ‘home cooking’ in the form of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, practically a local Hawaiian institution.  We had spent over 2 years living in the Aloha State, near the world famous Waikiki Beach, and thanks to our time there, we’re always looking for delicious (‘ono’) Hawaiian foods.  

I found one previous night while searching for a place to eat lunch, and I was ecstatic! From the Mazda dealership, it would only be about a 10 minute drive and we couldn’t pass it up.  

We arrived at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue right after 11 a.m., and the place looked awfully familiar, similar to locations we’ve visited on the islands.  It felt kind of nice to be reminded of Hawaii, even if it’s only for few minutes…

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, El Cajon, CA

We ordered a chicken katsu curry and a garlic shrimp.  Like we remembered, it came with the usual two huge scoops of white rice, the main dish, and a huge serving of macaroni salad.  This is typically called a ‘plate lunch’ in Hawaii, and I’ve certainly had my share of them while living there.

We had them to go, so we can eat inside the car, then take the leftovers to our place in Pauma Valley.  It was a sound decision as we remembered how big the portions were!  It was big enough for two meals!

We headed to Pauma Valley shortly thereafter, climbing over one mountain followed by another, again realizing why San Diego area is such a popular place for locals and visitors alike.  The mountains were absolutely stunning and green, thanks to epic rainfalls just the prior week in the area.  

The area near Pauma Valley looked beautiful and upscale, with many hotels/casino resorts and huge mansion-like homes along the way.  We arrived at the main gate to the Pauma Valley Country Club, and pulled next to the guard shack.  

My buddy, Carlito, gave us instructions to pull in to the guard shack and he can call in to the office to confirm my reservation for two nights.  It was an anxious couple of minutes while we waited for the guard to confirm our reservation, but we were let in shortly afterwards.

Like Carlito said, he’d take care of everything.  I was surely glad my buddy means business…

We drove slowly, mindful of the resort’s speed limit, and also mindful of where the office for checking in was.  We saw the sign for the office after about half mile in, and we turned right.  We parked near the office, then I got outside.

As I started to walk towards the office, a middle aged gentleman approached and asked if I was a friend of Carlito’s.  I said I was, and he introduced himself as the resort’s manager.  He welcomed us with open arms, and I was impressed Carlito had asked the manager to greet me.  Cool!  It’s great to have a friend with connections.

He walked me over to the office to be checked in.  I was promptly given keys to our room, located near the office.  We parked our car near the room, then looked around at our surroundings.  It was a beautiful, well maintained golf course with awesome views of mountains.  

Pauma Valley Country Club

Grass, even during mid-January, was pristine and green, kind of like a baseball field during the dog days of summer.  We admired the views and watched golfers doing their thing.

We walked towards our room using a neat walkway, then walked inside our room.  It was a cozy studio unit but had views of the course right in front.  We were more than happy about the accommodation especially when it’s free!  Thanks Carlito!

Our room at the corner

The room had refreshments and plenty of coffee/tea for us to to enjoy, which was a nice touch.  We really liked the plantation blinds with views of the golf course and we definitely liked the comfortable bed!  It was perfect for two nights…

Our room, and L&L Hawaiian Barbecue leftovers!

View inside our room

We ate our leftovers that night, then got a good night’s rest, in preparation for some exploration the following day.  Here are our recommendations on places to visit while in Pauma Valley, California:

• Henshaw Scenic Vista Observation Site

As my usual modus operandi, I did a Google search to figure out where I should visit nearby.  Located about 20 miles from where we were staying, Henshaw Scenic Vista Observation Site made perfect sense.

It has fantastic views of Lake Henshaw and surrounding areas, high up in the mountains. 

We left on the morning of January 18th, heading out of Pauma Valley Country Club, then headed on CA-76 heading east.  We continued for another 15 miles or so, then turned left on E. Grade Road.  We drive another 2 miles, then arrived at our destination.

Early on a weekday, there was no one around, and we found plenty of parking.  We got out to enjoy the views!

Henshaw Scenic Vista Observation Site

Henshaw Lake in the morning 

Views were worth the drive. Lake Henshaw stood on our right, with majestic mountains visible straight ahead.  We read the placard about the type of birds frequenting the area as well as other wildlife.  Although we only stayed for about 5 minutes, we really enjoyed the site, thanks to the incredible and expansive views.  

• The lookout

This was recommended to us by my buddy Carlito.  He mentioned we can drive to the top of the Palomar Mountains and it was only about a half hour drive from the Pauma Valley Country Club.  We decided to drive there on our way back from Henshaw Scenic Vista Observation Site.  

We took the same CA-76 back the same way we had come, then turned right on S Grade Road/Palomar Mountain Road, then made our trek climbing constantly using switchbacks that never seemed to end.  We both got a bit queasy constantly turning left then right, making slow progress up the very steep road.  

The drive took about 20 minutes as he had to drive close to 7 miles on that road!  We were at least grateful the views were improving the more we climbed.  

Just when we thought we had enough of the road and the climb, we arrived at the Lookout.  Near the Lookout, there were still snow on the roads and on top of trees.  Trees were creaking and moaning as the ice were melting thanks to the very bright and hot sun. 

We narrowly missed falling ice/slush/tree branch mix on certain parts of the road near the Lookout!  We drove slowly as our Google Maps showed we had arrived, but we couldn’t see where the Lookout actually was, as the entire parking lot was buried under a foot of snow.

We did see couple of cars parked near it, so we drove past it, then made a U-turn.  We parked our car, on the road, like the others, parking close to the curb as possible. 

We didn’t wear boots as the temperatures when we started, was well over 70 degrees.  At the top of the mountains, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees and there were snow everywhere.  Oops…

We walked gingerly, careful not to slip on the unsteady slush/snow combo, then saw why the place was so popular.  Views were amazing!

Driving up that road, feeling queasy at times, was all worthwhile.  We loved the views.  

The Lookout, Palomar Mountains, CA

We enjoyed the views for several minutes, chatted with fellow gawkers, then headed back to our place.  We took the same road down, being extra careful not to let speed pick up too much on the descent.  The queasy feeling returned the more we turned left then right, only to repeat what seemed like an eternity…

We made it down about half way, when we saw a clearing with a parking area.  We gladly stopped there for a short break, and to check out the nice views.  Palomar Mountains was truly awesome, even if we didn’t get to hike any of it…Maybe next time.

• Jilberto’s Taco Shop

On our way back to our place at Pauma Valley Country Club, we stopped at a local restaurant, Jilberto’s Taco Shop.  The restaurant is an unassuming, hole in the wall type of place that usually means one of two things:  1) it’s really good, or 2) it’s a waste of money.

Turns out, it was really good!  We ordered a fish burrito and a shrimp entree to go, and they were both fantastic.  Huge portions, delicious and reasonably priced?  Sign me up!

After picking up our lunch, we walked next door to Stage Stop Liquor to pick up chips & salsa, which was expensive at $9!  Ouch!  One thing we don’t like about California is the high cost of everything from gasoline to food.  We saw the highest gasoline prices during our 2 1/2 month long trip, in the state of California, at around $4 compared to around $3.20 elsewhere.  $9 seemed like a highway robbery for two items which should cost not more than $6 or so…

Although we paid $29 for our food at Jilberto’s, we ate the leftovers for dinner which we thought was a nice value.  I hate restaurants that barely gives you a meal that’s so small, that you wonder if you had a meal in the first place?!?

Jilberto’s is a winner, and it was one of the restaurants we thought was really good during our cross country trip!

In conclusion:

I can’t thank my good buddy Carlito enough for taking care of our reservation for two nights at his company’s golf resort.  We had a fantastic stay at the resort, overlooking the golf course and the Palomar Mountains.

Although we only spent two nights in Pauma Valley, we got a good gist of the place.  Surrounded by mountains and valleys, the place is idyllic, serene, beautiful, and upscale.  We highly recommend spending a day sightseeing various places mentioned in this post.  The drive itself is beautiful, but the destination isn’t too shabby either…

Happy trails and keep up with us on our continuing journey across the American West!  Next stop:  Delano Hotel in Las Vegas!  Thank you for reading!

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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