Deserts and desserts

On Saturday we headed eastward for a day trip, one of our rare non-coastal excursions. First, on our way out of town, we stopped briefly in San Diego's Little Italy to visit the weekend farmer's market—a feast for the senses! (Why had we not done this yet??). But then we drove a little over an hour and arrived in Julian, CA, in the Cayumaca Mountains. It is 100% touristy, but in the nicest, most enjoyable way. Julian was founded during a California gold rush (not the famous 1849 rush, but a few decades later), and it has an old west, pioneer feel to it. It was forest-y and the air was crisp cool. For years it's been noted for apple orchards and its amazing apple pie bakeries. We had lunch in an outdoor cafe there and split a mouth-watering slice of fresh apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

 

We—well, I suppose mainly just I—completely lucked out because this past weekend was Julian's daffodil festival. A few decades ago, a lady in Julian decided to honor her dad by planting daffodils and encouraging others to do the same. Today it's estimated that in excess of 3 million daffodil bulbs bloom in tiny little Julian (population just 1500!) each spring. We were there at the perfect time, as inside the town hall was a big daffy competition. I could have sat in there all day in the sweet aroma of the daffodils...

We then continued northeast for another hour, winding slowly through desolate mountains to Borrego Springs and the heart of Anza Borrego Desert Park. Temperatures were in the 80s there, and the landscape was totally different from Julian (which of course was totally different from the coast where we'd started, too). Because Anza Borrego has had less than 3 inches of rain since last June, according to a ranger I spoke with, the desert wildflowers aren't making much of a showing this spring. But some of the hardier cacti and plants had their spring bloom on, and the landscape was starkly beautiful regardless. The boys love exploring places like this, although proper hiking is out of the question; the park is nearly 1000 square miles and we saw just a tiny portion of one small trail!


In Borrego Springs, we also loved spotting the huge, crazy metal sculptures dotting the desert landscape—some visible from the road, some requiring off-roading among the cacti and scrub through the sandy landscape (yes, we were the ones off-roading in a 7-year-old Prius...).  The sculptures mostly were of prehistoric creatures. They were huge and detailed, set into the land across many miles. Usually they were in the middle of nowhere, looking like they were roaming the countryside, protecting their young, and eating the plantlife. We hardly saw another soul during that last hour or so of the day, and the last few creatures were almost eerie rising out of the desert as the sun was going down. Very awesome.

 

The sea serpent was HUGE! Its body looked like it was partially under water, with the back few lumps actually on the other side of the road. Don't worry, I didn't let Jesse feed William to it. :)

 At long last, we made our way back through the mountains, enjoying the purple and indigo sky. We saw roadrunners, deer, and coyote as it turned to dusk and then darkness, and Jesse was an excellent, safe driver with the tight turns, steep roads, and wildlife. We stopped in Julian again for a very, very late pulled pork BBQ dinner (it was practically the only place open across 80 miles of nothing), and finally around 10 p.m. we pulled sleeping little boys out of the car and tucked them into bed.

Friendship

Last week I was so happy to have my dear friend Shauna arrive for a visit. She was one of my college roommates and is among the sweetest, loveliest people a woman could hope to have in her life. She traded in snow and cold for five days of southern Cali sun (although as it turned out we were stuck in coastal mists a fair bit of her visit). Of course that didn't stop us from enjoying our time and seeking out sunshine where we could find it! Below are shots from some of the many places we visited.

 

The view from Shelter Island (left) and Ocean Beach (right).

Walking "Nature's Bridge" on Coronado Island (you can just see the big Coronado Bridge in the background). 

 

Beach on Coronado (see the famed and storied Hotel del Coronado in the background).

Grinning at seals and sea lions in La Jolla. 

At the Map and Atlas Museum in La Jolla

(I think Shauna mostly humored me and Jesse on this one. We're map people...)

We had fun watching this wedding party on the rocky beach in La Jolla! However, can you believe that I didn't see one.single.guy in the wedding party offer a hand to the bridesmaids precariously picking their way down the rocks in gowns and heels? It was very steep and rough in many spots. You'll be happy to know that (a) I restrained myself from hollering down at them, and (b) I solemnly promise to raise my sons better than that.

On Saturday morning, Jesse kept the boys while Shauna and I poked around Old Town on our own. That was a treat!

 

Shauna got some yummy coffee and I got some delicious peppermint tea in Old Town. We enjoyed laughing at some of the unusual tea flavors.

On Sunday afternoon, "the girls" (Tillie, Shauna, and I) headed into Balboa Park for the weekly organ concert in the outdoor Spreckels Organ Pavillion. Perfect way to spend an hour.

Clambering around the ocean paths on campus at PLNU. 

 

Blossoms

We spent the end of our spring break trip in Reedley, CA with dear friends from our Quincy days. We hadn't seen Andrew and Lisa for 8 years, but despite the addition of 4 children across us and a whole lot of change, we picked up right where we'd left off. It was such a blessing to be with their beautiful family! Lisa cooked wonderful meals, the kiddos hit it off instantly, and we all enjoyed catching up on the years. It also was amazing to drive through hundreds of miles of fruit trees in bloom. We've learned the California central valley is sometimes called the "fruit basket of the world," and wow, we hit the perfect time to visit. Both sides of every road (from highways to country lanes) were drawn in exquisite lines of flowering trees as far as the eye could see. Pale pink, fuchsia, white, cream...  It was beautiful.

On Friday Lisa arranged a private tour of Bari Olive Oil. So neat! We saw the factory up close and some of the olive tree fields too, and we learned a ton. But the real treat was the tasting set up for us at the end. We sampled well over a dozen olive oils and six or eight balsamic vinegars. Amazing. Jesse and I may have bought more bottles than we should reasonably expect to fit into the laden car for the drive to PA...  Alas, I have no photos from the excursion since I (in a much regretted, boneheaded moment) managed to delete my entire folder of pics from that day. That folder also included some lovely, lovely moments we had with the kids running among blossoming fruit trees after we left Bari. The light and colors were amazing with end of day sun peeking through dark gray clouds, trees laden with pink flowers, joyful children. Ah well.

On Saturday we spent several hours at Hillcrest Tree Farm, riding a mini-train and seeing more blossoms. The kids had a blast, and the adults didn't find our picnic or excursion too shabby either. Sunday we enjoyed church (Mennonite! felt like home in Lancaster!) then lunch and playtime at Bravo Cheese Farm (which was a really fun, cute place). All too soon it was time head back "home" to San Diego.

Here are some photos from the weekend. (Andrew and Lisa are remarkable, talented professional photographers, so I'm a little embarrassed to include these...!)

 

 

  

Oh! Last thing: On our 300+ mile drive home on Sunday, we stopped outside of L.A. to visit Uncle Larry (Jim's older brother) and Aunt Peggy for a few hours. They treated us to a yummy Chinese dinner, which the boys loved. It was a great final hurrah before returning home. What a great vacation!

San Francisco

We loved San Francisco! Our first glimpse was very brief on Wednesday afternoon. We were at Point Lobos way down in the Monterey area earlier in the day, and we met up with some HOPE friends in San Mateo late afternoon (had such a great time at a playground with them, then eating amazing Korean food together for the evening, by the way!!). 

But we sped north into San Francisco and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in between those two events. We weren't sure we'd have a good chance to see the bridge on Thursday, and we definitely wanted to say we'd been there, done that. :)

On Thursday morning we headed back into the city. First stop was right downtown at the Kiva offices. Jesse had arranged to meet up with someone there, and they graciously let me and the boys tag along to see the office, meet folks, and generally make ourselves a nuisance. Seriously, though, everyone was really sweet and kind—even when the boys desperately wanted to roll the awesome stability balls many employees used as seating at their super eco- and ergo-conscious work spaces!

By then it was late morning, and we packed in a lot from there. Every weather report and website said it was going to rain much of the day, getting heavier as the day progressed, so we were motivated to make the most of every minute before the drops started to fall. As it turned out...to our surprised pleasure...no rain fell until we were driving to our next hotel in the evening. Hooray!

We rode a carousel (twice, actually):

Enjoyed the carousel operator, Abraham, who did tricks for the kids while we waited:

Walked all through Chinatown and enjoyed the characteristic sights, smells, and sounds (plus also ducked into a tiny fortune cookie factory to see a couple of ladies hand stuffing and twisting the cookies—and got some yuuuuuummy samples!):

Had San Francisco sourdough bread bowls filled with clam chowder and tomato soup for lunch:

Walked around a small portion of the (huge, colorful, busy-busy) waterfront:

Peered over to Alcatraz and read a little about its story:

Walked all around Pier 39 and saw the notorious sea lions (pictured in a book Josiah and I have read several times in San Diego):

Drove around some of the city's famous architecture:

Also drove down the nation's curviest section of road, on Lombard street, with its eight craaaazy hairpin turns on what must be a 25% slope! Yep, I was pressing my phantom passenger side brake pedal hard the entire way.  :)

And finally, we had a GREAT time for barely an hour before closing at the Children's Creativity Museum (free entrance for us with our consortium pass from the Science Factory at home in Lancaster). Pictured, William is doing preschool style karaoke, performing the most serious rendition of the ABCs you'd ever see—complete with backup sound track and watching himself on screen in a castle scene. Hilarious! Josiah and I made a small stop-motion video there too, and the place was all-around awesome. (Kara, I have to let you know that Jesse was mocking both of us when I idly speculated about whether we would be too old to do their summer camp...)