Our road trip to Julian, CA

WELCOME to two new followers, Roxi and Annie, and John and Judy.  Thank you for following along on our journey to a new lifestyle - which seems like forever away, but I'm sure will be here before I know it.  Hope to meet you all on the road in the future!

Katie and I had a great road trip to Julian on Saturday.  It's amazing the things we saw on the way!  We traveled up Highway 78, and there were tons on things to see right on the highway.   We stopped at a few:

Would you believe a camel dairy?

 

A zebra? He was corralled with some donkeys, one of whom let out the loudest, longest braaaaaaaaaaaay when I went up to them.  I was afraid the zebra police were going to come and get me. 

And a kid - baby goat - from a Petting Zoo that was part of a bunch of things to do at the Julian Mining Co.

There were lots of goats, and when Katie and I went up to their fence, they all came running.  Very friendly group.

 There was Panning for gold:

 And settings from the gold rush days.

Next door on the highway was this old school - it was in excellent condition, and looked like a neat place to go to school.  Very old fashioned. 

 

This is the back porch of the school - looks like only eleven students in this class, if you count the names over the hooks.

There was so much to stop and see just on the way to Julian.  I kept passing things and then turning around to see something we missed.  Traffic was pretty light, but I wanted to go slower than most drivers, so I kept pulling over to let cars pass.  Felt like I was driving an RV.

When we finally got to Julian after about an hour's drive, it was sooo crowded.  I didn't know what was going on, but we didn't stop.  The main streets were completely filled with parked cars and the side streets were all filled, too.  People everywhere.  Millions of motorcycles.

I checked the Julian Chamber of Commerce website for November today, and this is what was going on yesterday in this small town:

Every Sunday (weather permitting): Julian Doves & Desperados  – historic comedy skits at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. & 3 p.m

Every Sunday (rain or shine): Julian Certified Farmers' Market 

November 1-30: Fall Arts & Craft Show – Town Hall – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

November 6: Christmas Gift Fair – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Town Hall

November 6-7: Tour de Julian – Road & MTB Rides – Based out of Menghini Winery – R&B Bicycle Club

NO WONDER IT WAS CROWDED!  How can they have all that on the same day?  It was a beautiful day, though, and perfect for all the people attending everything in town.

I had planned to stop and have lunch in Julian, but there were literally lines down the sidewalks for each restaurant, and I had grapes, apple slices and trail mix, coffee and water (plus baby carrots for Katie) in the car, so that was our lunch as we drove along enjoying the view.

 

Surrey with the Fringe on Top

Miniature Horse and Carriage

I kept driving and we stopped at a couple of campgrounds to see what they were like.  I'll tell you about them in my next post. 

From me and Katie, have a nice Sunday, everyone! : )