Julian, but no Lennon.......

6:43 am - PST - Wednesday - 55º F (feels warmer than that to me), humidity 67%, wind 8 mph out of the northwest (feels more like 1-2 mph at most).......cloudy.....forecast for Wednesday is for a high of 70º F with partly cloudy skies.

We had nothing much planned for Tuesday except a scenic drive up to Julian, CA.  Julian's elevation is just over 4,200 feet, and has an ideal winter climate for growing a large variety of apples.  Julian came into existence around 1870 when gold was discovered nearby causing an instant boom, and the creation of the town.  The gold mines' cost effectiveness declined over time and by 1906 they were closed for good.  The town remains to day as a tourist attraction, and is world famous for their apple pies......

......there are many places in Julian you can buy apple pie, but the most famous of them all is the Julian Pie Company located at the western end of the main street......Yelp gives them 4.5 stars on 710 reviews......I think my point is made!  We bought one of their pies during last year's visit, and since we are attempting to consume fewer calories at present we did not buy another this year.

We left Borrego Springs around 11:15 am and were in Julian parking our car by 12:05 pm......it is only about 29 miles each way.  Last year we ate lunch with our friends Michael and Liz at 'Soups and Such', and we really wanted to return there for some of their French Onion Soup......OMG (Yelp gives them 4 stars, but we would we would be closer to 4.5)!  We were quickly seated, and ordered our bowls of this amazing elixir.  The town was uncrowded, and this is precisely why we waited until the day after President's Day to visit.....it is always a madhouse on holiday weekends this time of year.    After savoring ever single bite of our soup we were on our way to walk around town popping in and out of many local stores, and one very cool thrift shop across the street from Julian Pie Company, but we found nothing without which we could not live.......and we are still alive today, so I think we made the right decisions.....:-)

We were back on our way down HWY 78 to Borrego Springs before 2, and home before 3 pm......the views coming down the hill are quite big.......

......we did make one quick stop at Center Market to get some fresh water......they have a filtered water machine outside the store where you can get filtered spring water for .25/gallon......as of Tuesday we have used 65 of the 145 gallons of fresh water we arrived with......not too bad, but since we do not run our RO system (reverse osmosis generates a lot of waste water....not practical for boondocking) filtering system when boondocking we need drinking water separate from the fresh water tank, which we only use for taking showers, washing dishes, and flushing the toilet whilst boondocking.  We carry a 5 gallon fresh water container with us for just this purpose, so we filled it up, and 3 additional 1 gallon bottles.....total cost....$2.00 for 8 gallons.....we were paying .99 cents per gallon for Crystal Geyser water, so one fourth the cost.

We both spent the rest of the afternoon reading.....me outside reading and napping....as it began to move towards sunset I began to observe some unusual (for me) cloud formations......

 This one did not move for two hours

 A little creepy, huh?

 Very symmetrical

.....and at last it was time for our evening ritual......the sunset shot........

.....once again Tuesday, while we were on our brief road trip our batteries reach battery nirvana......100% charge.  We continue to learn more about our electrical system, and are excited to think that we will eclipse our previous record for consecutive boondocking days in one spot without dumping our black tank.  We have been here 12 days and the black tank is just under 50% full.....I think we can make it over three weeks if all continues to go as it is......previously we had gone 17 days.  Hard to believe we will have been here 14 days come this Thursday!

Thanks for stopping by!