Metal Art Sculpture in Vail Lake Park

We love where we live. We recently relocated from Los Angeles to Temecula, California which is located in the southern most area of Riverside County. It is so south that San Diego County is only a mile away. We tend to think of ourselves as San Diego County dwellers rather than "Inland Empire" residents, which for those of you living outside of California or way outside, the United States, Inland Empire is a newly coined name for Riverside County.

This area offers so much in way of entertainment. Behind the housing tract where we live are 35 wineries offering many things in addition to the obvious of wine tasting. Each winery operates as their own entertainment center. Wineries offer diverse entertainment like concerts by known bands, Shakespearean plays in the vineyards or gourmet wine pairing dinners in their bistros. Some have horseback riding or hot air balloon rides. All allow you to buy a bottle of wine, some cheese and a loaf of bread to have an impromptu picnic in the vines. We love it. It is like having a vacation every weekend.

If you have a craving for some Las Vegas night life but do not have the time to travel, Temecula has a casino plus several are conveniently located in other cities.The Luiseno Band of Indians own and operate Pechanga Resorts which rival any casino in Las Vegas. All the gambling one would expect at any first rate casino, excellent restaurants, entertainment from many known and popular acts.

Temecula has many parks, lakes and hiking areas easily accessible and a short drive from our home. We take full advantage of the outdoors frequently.

We learned of Vail Lake last year when we attended a wine and music festival there. A more perfect pairing for an event, in our minds could not be found. Food, music and lots of wine under beautiful old oak trees. Prior to moving to the area, we had never heard of Vail Lake Resort. We were happy such a huge piece of land has been set aside for the public to enjoy nature. As we enjoyed our music we took a break and walked around some of the park. We were astounded by the beauty and made a promise to return very soon bringing our little dog to enjoy the trails and nature paths.

Time and work interfered with us returning soon after our first visit but this last week, having found ourselves in between work assignments, we made a trip to Vail Lake on a weekday. No crowds, no campers (Vail Lake has many overnight, weekly camp areas both RV and tent camping is allowed). The day was overcast and cool since it was still January. Rains from the night before, set off a wonderful oak and pine smell in the fresh air. As we walked toward the trail areas, we were surprised by a large metal sculpture of a Pterodactyl in one of the oak trees! As we made our way down the asphalt walkway toward the trail, we came upon a large, life size Brontosaurus also sculpted from metal. What was going on here?

Jurassic sculptures were everywhere in the park in fact there was an entire Jurassic park set up near one of the large grassy areas. Every dinosaur and prehistoric animal imaginable was on display.

We found out this was an art exhibit by sculptor Ricardo Breceda, whose work goes beyond sculpting Jurassic pieces. To our amazement we found an entire African safari of animals, elephants, tigers, lions and oh yes bears! There were people sculptures too, old gold miners along with sculpted metal horses, wagons and the loyal miner's dog were posed by a make believe stream. Our favorite was the full length dragon perched up on a small hill over looking it all. Our photos do not do justice to the talented artist Breceda. He truly is remarkable and an original. The size and detail of each sculpted piece were unbelievable. He has a studio in Perris, California and if you live in the area or ever plan to visit, please check out his website at this link http://ricardoabreceda.com.

We keep one leery eye looking behind half expecting these metal creatures to come alive and chase us, we hesitantly venture on with our walk into the forest of oak trees. We were amused by squirrels running with abandonment, fearless of us, the only visitors inside the park on this slow and peaceful winter's day. A wood pecker nearby pounded out a rhythmic song and we skipped along to the beat. Lou our chihuahua delighted in the scents of wild animals both real and sculpted in metal as we walked among the dried oak leaves and enjoyed our day.

It is good to be free of work and responsibility if only for a day.