Author Archives: Carolyn

It’s party time in what was our quiet campground.  Last night the festivities started early in the day and before we knew what was happening there were 4 and 5 tents on most of the sites adjoining us.  The largest group kept their music on until after 1 am and the loud talking from all the other sites went on until 4:30 am.  The party continued all day today and we’re anticipating another long night.  Right now there is a raucous piñata beating going on a few feet from our picnic table.  We must look anti-social as we quietly read, eat and walk around.  I guess we’re just missing out on all the fun!  But this is what usually happens on weekends.  Now that we are retired we often forget what it was like to look forward to those 2 days off every week!

Today we did a short hike and ate lunch at Inaja Memorial Park.  Then we explored Wynola, another tiny town.  Not much of a town but we did find some nice produce at a farmer’s roadside stand.  It was great to have potatoes, tomatoes and fruit along with our veggie burgers for dinner tonight.  We are trying to get in a walk after every meal and since we’re not in any hurry to do anything we have managed many walks so far.  Tonight we wandered through this beautiful campground for the last night.  The sun setting through the tall trees is just beautiful.  The mountains around here are covered with boulders at the top which reflect the sun and almost look snow-covered.

This is one of the most peaceful campgrounds we’ve stayed in – Paso Picacho Campground.  Surrounded by huge trees – oak, pine, cypress – all we hear is the light rustle of leaves high above us.  Until this morning we were alone in this loop which is delightful and daunting at the same time.  Our first night was warm enough to sleep with just a sheet but last night the chill we expected arrived.  But at 10 am it’s already warming up with a bright blue sky shining through trees.

Yesterday we meandered through the charming town of Julian.  We spent the day exploring the shops and enjoyed a cup of soup and amazing sweet potato fries at Soup and Such.  In spite of the recommendation of the post mistress to try the savory apple pie at the Julian Pie Company, we did the unthinkable and opted for ice cream sodas at the old fashion soda fountain of The Miner’s Diner.  Since Julian is famous for its apple pies and since there are a multitude of pie shops, it really was hard to walk away without a taste. But we had our own home-made mini apple pies when we got back to the campsite.

Today the plan (although it is a very loose plan) is to drive over to Lake Cuyamaca, sit in our chairs and read, eat a picnic lunch and walk around the lake. We will probably spend 2 more nights here because we like it so much.

Here’s a short video of one of the many woodpeckers making that tap tap tap sound all over the campground.  There are many species of birds here especially blue jays.  Maybe we will take up bird watching as a hobby!

A few years ago I met my daughters Becky and Paola near here for a camping trip.  It’s been fun sharing with Doug all those things we did together on that trip.