Wandering on Hwy 78

In the Yard "main street" Julian

Well another wonderful week has gone by and I have spent a great week in San Diego County. The weather has been perfect for me, as I really do love the coolness of San Francisco. Southern California is in the typical “June Gloom” weather pattern, cloudy and overcast mornings and evenings with just a little sunshine in the afternoon, as I said, perfect. I have been staying with friends in a wonderful country home in Vista, had the opportunity to do some gardening- pulling weeds, hanging out at garden shops and even helping to dig a stream bed for to better drainage. It was good getting out in the sunshine and fresh air and felt good to be helpful also. Took a drive down to San Diego and visited the San Diego Watercolor Society Museum and the Quilt Museum and also checked out the North Park Arts district, unfortunately I had missed the art festival a couple of weeks ago, but the area had some great looking opportunities for art, food, and vintage shopping.

Thursday I had an opportunity to take a drive and take some pictures. Where should I go? I thought about going back to San Diego and shooting in Balboa park or Old Town or the Gas Lamp district- places I love in San Diego, but I made the decision to got out to Cleveland forest and see what was happening with wildflowers and visit Julian for some apple pie! Yum!

Wildflowers in the foothills

I chose to drive out Hwy 78 and enjoyed driving through the mountains, which are so different from the Sierras, not as high, so the vegetation is very different lot’s of Scrub Oak and Cottonwood trees, mustard and grasses. I was quite surprised at the amount of wildflowers that were still blooming. Lucky Me!

Julian Pie Company

Marcy, Teresa, and Rhonda of Julian Pie Company

I got to Julian about 10am a bit early on a week day for several of the shops, but not too early for the pie shops. I walked up and down main street and checked out all of the possibilities and decided I really like the look of the Julian Pie Shop. It was set back off the street with a wonderful patio out front for sitting and having coffee and pie, some of the locals were there. It was the place to meet to catch up on the news. I went in and checked out their pie selection. I do so love original apple pie , my Grandmother and Mother made awesome apple pie and so of course that is what I chose. The pie was wonderful and I was so impressed with the story of the restaurant, I decided to give them some love and add them to my blog. So check out the Julian Pie Company here, and if you get a chance to visit Julian, please check them out personally!

After seeing all the great little shops and enjoying some of the history of the town, I was ready to wander some more. I had seen a sign for Anza Borrego just before Santa Ysabel and since there so many wildflowers through the mountains, I decided to drive on out to the desert to see what was happening out there. As I drove through the valley on S2 I ran right into a swarm of locusts that were flying across the road- ewww! They were so thick I could not get out of the car. The birds of the valley are going to be fat and happy this year!

Desert Cactus

Rock Formations- Anza Borrego Desert

Anza Borrego Desert

The other side of the mountains was a complete change- the dry Californian desert vista opened up huge in front of me and although there were some wildflowers still blooming, the real scene was the cactus, the rock formations and the panoramic desert. You can see for miles. On previous treks I have driven on down the mountain into Borrego Springs and even on to the Salton Sea, but that was not on my itinerary for today, so I turned around and headed back, ending the day with good friends, good food, and good stories to tell.

Passions at Play Art & Design