My husband and I never go on vacations together, mostly because we can't afford it. (I have realized in recent years that traveling simply isn't a priority of mine and that's ok but I probably
would travel more if I had the money.) Recently, we decided to take a week off of work at the same time so we could have some fun before the busy season starts at my job. We didn't go anywhere, but we did take a few day trips around San Diego County.
First, we drove out to Julian in the mountains. We'd been there once before, to visit the
California Wolf Center, loved the area, and wanted to go back. Julian is a fairly small town. There's not a ton to do there. After a little research, I decided on a hike. I chose the Upper Santa Ysabel Creek Trail. It was cold, very windy, and a bit rainy. I absolutely loved it!
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| Clouds low enough to kiss the mountains. |
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| Santa Ysabel Creek (presumably). |
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| Loved the colors inside this felled tree. |
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I read that the cows are friendly & usually greet hikers
but they didn't move when we saw them. |
After the hike, we went into the town of Julian, walked around, and shopped. I insisted on visiting the old cemetery, much to my husband's dismay. I love cemeteries.
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| I'm guessing J.M. died in childbirth. |
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I liked this headstone, which seems to have been carved
by a non-professional. |
A couple of days later, we drove down to La Jolla, a well-to-do community on the ocean within the city of San Diego. It's famous for the sea lions that like to chill in the cove there. After we saw these local celebrities, we stopped by a coffee shop a friend had recommended for its scones (which were excellent). I wanted to go to a local museum but directed us to the wrong part of town. Next time!
Lastly, over the weekend, we drove out to Pala to visit
Gems of Pala, where we panned for gemstones. Afterward, we stopped by the casino to hit up their buffet, confirming my dislike of buffets because 1. I can never eat enough to justify the price and 2. The food never impresses me. Still, I enjoyed the visit to this part of the county, where I'd never been before.
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| View from Gems of Pala. |
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| My relatively small haul of tourmaline: green, pink, and black. |
It was nice to take some time off work. I'm feeling refreshed & ready to get back into the swing of things!
What a great staycation! I like to travel, but don't do a ton of it because 1) it costs a lot of money 2)I'm terrible at planning vacations--which, you wouldn't think but that's the case--and 3)I'm kind of a homebody. Since leaving my 32-hour week, 6+weeks of vacation job, I've learned that when I'm off work, I just want to be in my house.
ReplyDeleteYour staycation looks like a ton of fun! And I would have been right there with you at that awesome cemetery.
I'll have to go back! My husband was dubious at best about hanging around a cemetery, haha.
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