San Diego, Day 3

Wednesday morning we hopped in the car and headed for the mountains. We had been to Julian, a little town know for its apples, a couple of times before and wanted to visit again. It's a pretty town and a beautiful drive. Ed wanted to drive over the mountains into the desert as well, so off we went.

On the drive up the mountains we saw so much evidence of the forest fires that ravaged the area in recent years. Entire mountain sides of black, burnt trees stretched before us. It was not a sad sight, though, because underneath these scorched reminders of the incredible power of nature was life. Lots of life. Fresh, green, abundant life. Grass, bushes, and smaller trees all rising from the ashes of their predecessors to once again fill the country with beauty. The contrast between life and death was stark, to say the least, but reassuring, as well.




On the other side of the mountains, we entered the desert. I think we were both expecting the desert to be like we see on television - just a vast expanse of sand in all directions. It might be that way further east, but we saw plenty of life and very little sand. Kind of reminded us of Texas with all the rocks and cactus!







After our trip into the desert we turned around and headed BACK up the mountain and back in to Julian. We had a wonderful lunch at a little restaurant that's been in business since the gold rush days and the BEST apple crisp I've ever eaten in my life. Oh my goodness it was delicious! And huge! Neither Ed nor I could finish our dessert, which is saying something (at least for me!). :)

We spent the evening wandering through Seaport Village again. There had to be at least 50 sailboats on the bay that night. It was unbelievably beautiful, but of course we had left the camera in our hotel room. *sigh*