VISIT WITH FRIENDS

A hiking group here at Jojoba were doing a campout near Borrego Springs, and we thought that if Bob & Barb were up for it, we would meet up with them there.  They were agreeable, so we had a plan.  We let our GPS take us to the small town of Julian, which was the address for the campground, but come to find out it was almost 15 miles away….over and down the mountain.  But it was Julian.  At least it was a small mountain.  And the drive was beautiful, with all the views and spring flowers.

Wild lilacs

Looking down from the road into valley

Daffodils of Julian

Two trees

Cactus along the road

The first day the wind was really blowing and it did not look like we were going to be able to enjoy the area.  But next morning dawned to the start of a perfect day.  We decided that we would take a ride into Julian, famous for their apple pie, among others.  We strolled the 2 city blocks of the town and made our way to the pie café.  I had apple, Barb did mixed fruit, Bob went for cherry and Chuck had the apple crumb with cinnamon ice cream, and we all agreed they were GOOD.  Back at the campground we gathered around the huge fire pit for happy hour, and then there was the group pot luck.

The next day we were off to Borrego Springs, a short drive away.  They are know for the metal sculptures that are placed around the area. The manufacturing facility is just down the road from here, and he has started putting some of them along the road to Temecula.  Amazing work. The ones in Borrego have been there long enough that the rust has made the welds almost disappear. 

Head of the dragon, did not do the walk out to get the picture.

 

Bob getting a bit close

One of my favorite

 

The dragon, this one is huge, on both sides of the road

Baby dinosaur catching a ride

We found a Mexican restaurant in town and had a nice lunch and a leisurely drive back to the campground.  The hikers were back, and we got a bonfire going.  Then it was just sitting around swapping lies.  As the fire started dying down we pulled out the marshmallows for that finishing touch. 

The end of a wonderful day, beautiful sunset.

The next day we decided that we had seen what we had come for, and we would head to Jojoba.  It was a short drive, just 40 miles, we did not take the same way back that we came.  Actually cut the drive in half, guess I should have checked the map!  The next few days we just took advantage of the pool and hot tub.  Lazy days.  Took a ride to a gourd farm out in the back country.  We did see something that have never seen before.  Coming down this very curvy road was a small herd of white and brown goats, chasing a coyote.  They were just trotting along and that coyote kept looking back like “what the hell”.  Happened too fast, so no picture, but have witnesses.

Even though we were warned that there were lots of gourds here, nothing could have prepared us for what we saw.

They actually had this gourd in the shop, price tag of 3500.00.  It was totally unbelievable, you would swear that it was leather.

You could buy them already cleaned, which seemed to be well worth it, as it only added a few dollars, but saved you a lot of work.  I’m all for that.  Would love to take some classes here, but they are about 40 miles away, and down some of the “windingest” roads you have ever seen.  Will put this blog to bed, and finish the rest of the visit with friends soon.