6 New Quilts Finished

I've been attaching the binding and finishing up 6 more quilts this week.  My finger is sore but I think they turned out nicely.  I've still have 9 more under the bed to finish up the bindings on.  One is a big king sized quilt that we'll be putting on the bed in the RV.

This first one is my Kim Diehl Snowball in Summer quilt.  I finished the piecing up on October 9th and quilted it the following week.  It measures 56" x 56" and I just love the colors in it!

The next three are just strippy quilts but great to grab to snuggle up in with minkie backs.  This first one is my Grant Park Patriotic Strippy quilt that I finished up in September and I quilted that up on October 3rd.  It measures 51" x 64" and has pretty red fireside minkie on the back.

Scaredy Cat Strippy Quilt was finished September 24th and quited on October 2.  It measures 50 1/4" x 67 1/2" and has a fun purple minky back to it.

The last strippy quilt I finished up is my Lily & Will Blue Strippy that I pieced on October 10th and quilted on October 12th.  That will stay in the RV since we have brown and blue accents in it.  This one measured out at 50 1/4" x 64" and has a soft brown fireside minkie on the back with cute wide dark brown rick rack in three places.

I also finished up two pillows toppers, too.  The first is the Be My Valentine and the second is my Welcome Spring one.  Both measure 16" x 36" and I'm making pillow backings for them with a zipper so that I can use one pillow form and change out the pillow for each season or holiday.

Wednesday Weekly Drops of Wisdom - Neroli

Hi everyone!

One of the newest dōTERRA products is the Neroli Touch essential oil. This is a great one to add to your collection if you haven’t already. It is steam-distilled from the small white flowers of the bitter orange tree making it part of the same family as Orange and Petitgrain.  According to research, Neroli instills relaxation, uplifts mood, reduces feelings of anxiousness, and promotes overall well-being.  Neroli oil has a wide variety of uses which means your whole family can benefit from it.

Applied topically, Neroli can be used to soothe skin and reduce the appearance of blemishes.  I use it similarly to last week's Drop of Wisdom post on Rose.  I like to apply it to my face, smell the scent, and then apply my moisturizer.  I can continue to smell the aroma for hours to come and get the benefits of smooth, silky skin.

Apply to your pulse points on your wrists, neck or the side of your forehead to uplift your mood and enjoy the sweet citrusy scent!  Oh, how I LOVE the smell of Neroli!

Aromatically, by applying to your palms and cup your hand around your nose, breathe in the scent deeply a few times to feel more relaxed and at peace.

Love a great massage?  I sure do!  Apply to the skin and then add Lavender, Ylang Ylang and Marjoram oils for a great aromatic massage experience!

Neroli is not a photosensitive oil and should be fine to wear topically when outdoors.  It comes packaged in a 10 mL roller bottle along with Fractionated Coconut Oil for a convenient way to apply the oil and makes it easy to just pop it into your purse for use throughout the day.

Want to know more about this amazing essential oil? Check out the Spotlight on doTERRA.com: https://www.doterra.com/US/en/blog/product-spotlight-neroli-touch.

If you want to get your hands on this beautiful product or if you have any questions on this or any other dōTERRA product, please don’t be afraid to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you.  Here's a great link to contact us and also peruse the dōTERRA website and learn a little more about the benefits of essential oils:

https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/suebaddley

Tuesday Book Blog: Simplify - A Guide to Caring for the Soul

Today's Tuesday Book Blog is a book called "Simplify" by Carolyn J. Rasmus.  It's a guide for caring for the soul.

We've all been there - too many pressures, too little time.  Life starts to feel out of control.  Learning to simplify our lives is much more than avoiding phone calls and trimming hectic schedules; more than cleaning closets or paring down possessions.  Based on the premise that the most destructive aspect of stress is what it does to us spiritually, the author explains eight principles - using each letter of the word SIMPLIFY - to keep us from becoming so distracted by trivial commitments that our spiritual and emotional view is dulled.  With these eight principles a guide, we can engage ourselves to choose proper priorities, remain calm amidst the daily chaos of life and focus on the things that really matter most.

The principles include:

S - Stillness
I - Integrity
M - Mercy
P - Prune
L - Let Go
I - Impossible
F - Fortify
Y - You

To simplify is about enhancing our ability to focus on the things that really matter, to deliberately choose our priorities, and to refuse to let unimportant things take over the things of real importance...To simplify requires that we look at things in a different way, with a larger, even eternal perspective.  To simplify our lives is a spiritual quest; it is to "care'..for the life of the soul". -- Carolyn Rasmus

I've read this book a few times and just re-read it again this week.  There are fabulous stories and quotes throughout the entire read to uplift and motivate you to live a simple life both inside and out; internally and externally in your life.  Simplify explains concepts on how to live a life that reflects your priorities.  I wanted to show more pages of the book, but mine is so marked up that you'd probably not be able to see anything.

The 166-page small-book Christian-based format isn't meant to be speed-read, but to be savored and enjoyed.  The idea of this book is to listen to the promptings we receive as we read it, make corrections in our life and help us slow down and enjoy the fullness life has to offer.

This book can be found at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Deseret Book, Good Reads, and Thrift Books and costs anywhere from $4 - $18 depending on where you find it and if it's new or used. 

Rating 5 star.

Tucson, Arizona Weekend Trip

We returned home from Tucson, Arizona yesterday where we wanted to check out an RV park called Voyager RV Resort and Hotel.  Here's a great video of what we saw.  It's probably easier to view the video than post a gob of photos.  What's unique about this location is that it's an RV Park and Hotel combined with two separate home areas, the Cove Resort and the Bay Resort (those are not on the map below but located in the blank spaces where the logo is as well as a bunch of park model single-wide homes.

When we first arrived, we loved the look of the park.  It had a gated entry (a must for the Tucson area - we quickly learned Tucson is not a very safe city).  It was neat and clean.  The amenities are top-notch.  You'll notice below on the map the blue and green areas - these are pet friendly zones - in the remainder of the park there are no animals allowed at all and signs are posted on all the streets when you get to an unfriendly pet zone...a bit annoying.  Also, the center of the park is where all the amenities are and a golf cart is a MUST.  The place is huge with over 1,000 residents!  It's a small city!  The Fifth Wheel / Class A / Trailer sites (in the top left blue areas) are nothing more than a concrete jungle.  It's a desert will very little grass and trees.  Here's a map of the site.

We loved all the shops and rooms for nearly everything you'd want in the park.  There are multiple pools, LOTS of pickle ball courts (pickle ball is big there), bocce ball courts, wood shop, quilt area, glass working, silver shop, library, mailboxes, restaurant, art rooms, fitness center, massage area, hair dresser and even a health clinic!

Full or Part-Timers can purchase park models (aka single-wide trailers) and most of the park consisted of the park units that can be purchased from $15-50 K.  I'd say 65% of the park consists of park models.  To see the units for sale - both new and used, click here.

A row of Park Models

The downside to the RV park section of the park, however, is that it's a bit desolate in my opinion for the RVer who doesn't live at the resort full-time or pay for full-time status.  The blue area above on the map and straight over on the green section is where the Class A / Fifth Wheel / Trailers generally park.  The bad thing is that you have to take your dogs over to a far section of the park to walk them and it's nothing but weeds.  Ick.  Roxy rolled around in the "grass" and she was filled with dead grass that took us forever to get out of her hair.  There are NO trees or grass of any kind.  The tree you do see are on the back row where the park model  homes are - there is nothing in this area by way of foliage.  Very disappointing.

Very desolate!

Now, the most interesting part - and of most appeal for us - was the residences you can purchase and still have access to all the amenities of the park.  These options are the Cove homes and the Bay homes.  The Cove homes are small units with garages.  It's in a residential style neighborhood with a park in the center of them.  You have a small backyard and the RV Park does all the front yard maintenance of your unit.  With the Cove homes, you purchase the home and the lot and you pay a $110 HOA per month.  By contrast, the Bay homes are homes with carports or RV ports for you larger Class A or Fifth Wheel units with a storage unit in the carport.  On these units, you own the home but you lease the land for $500-600 per month and the HOA is included in the lot.  The Bay homes are still under construction, so you can purchase the floor plan you desire and the type of carport. New Homes you'll be paying $94-150 K.  You can also purchase pre-owned units as well that can range from $87-175 K.  You can see a few of these home for sale here.

The Cove homes are above with yellow banner and the Bay are below.

Friday and Saturday night we stayed at a little Air BnB casita in downtown Tucson.  It was a very small studio room with a small full bed, bath and kitchenette.  It was also fully enclosed so we could bring the dogs and let them run around in the yard.  Not bad for $55 per night with 3 dogs.  We weren't excited about the neighborhood being downtown, but it was decent.  I'd use air bnb again if I needed a quick, cheap place to stay.

Friday night, we decided to attend the Tucson LDS temple.  The temple was recently built and dedicated only 3 months ago.  It was fun to go there.

We also decided to have some fun since there were so many RV Sales centers in the area (Tucson being one of the largest RV shop areas in the country) since we didn't have much else to do on Saturday, so we went to La Mesa RV on Saturday afternoon just to bum around and checked out a Class A Tiffin Allegro Bus 45 OPP for kicks and giggles.  Better photos are here.  And, here's the brochure.

We learned that Tucson has 500,000 people in the city itself.  I had no idea here were so many people there.  I was hoping it was like 50,000 or so and that really surprised me.  We thought maybe this could be a fun place to winter but really, despite the fact that the RV park was nice, I don't think I'd like being in the concrete jungle.  I think we decided for next year to spend a couple months back here in El Centro and then maybe travel the rest of the winter.  We're glad we checked it out, though and really enjoyed our quick, little trip.

My rating for the Voyager RV Park & Hotel would be a 4-star out of 5.  Amenities plenty but RV living is lacking.  Great Internet also.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving Day 2017.  We hope everyone had a wonderful day and had time to reflect on the bounteous blessings you've received in life. 

This morning, Scott playing in the Turkey Shoot golf tournament.  It was a shotgun start meaning that all the groups stated at the same time on a different hole.  Scott started on the 6th hole, right outside our coach.  His group consisted of Randy, Duane and Sharon - all Canadians.  I think our rig got hit with a golf ball because I heard a large, sharp bang half way through the tournament, but Scott looked around and went on the roof and everything looked fine.  Whew!  Dodged a bullet there.  That's the only drawback of being so close to the course but we love the views we get.

The remainder of the day, we just hung out.  It was a SUPER HOT day here today.  At 7:15 a.m. it was already 72 degrees and it got up to 90 by about 4 pm.  I didn't sleep much last night, probably because it was so warm, so tonight I'll be sure to open the windows for a breeze.  We just had a lazy day - reading, scanning papers, relaxed and played with the girls.  I did a little tech learning today and tried my hand at making a few videos, so today I'll add some.  These are just iPhone videos but I'm working on it.  I also looked into some new online video toys to spice up the blog.

Happy Turkey Day from Roxy, Chanel and Coco!

Tonight, we attended the Thanksgiving Feast for all the residents.  It was a HUGE turnout and a lot of our new friends attended.  Everyone brought a part of the Thanksgiving dinner for each table.  Turkey and Gravy was provided.  We sat at Table 1 - most of the quilters again were at that table.  We brought our Cranberry-Orange Salad and a Pumpkin Pie.  The people we didn't know were so friendly - mainly, all Canadians.  This really is a fun place to be staying for the winter.  Two of the pies didn't get eaten, so we brought our over to Irvin and his family that live across the road from us.  They didn't go to the dinner and since they have two teenagers, we figured they would eat it in no time.  We hadn't met his wife, Melanie yet, so we visited with them for about 5 minutes and wished them a happy night.

And, here's a little video of the dinner.

When we first arrived at the dinner a couple of gals came running up.  At the last dinner we attended a few days ago, I was told that there was a girl who looked just like me in the RV park.  I didn't believe it but, sure enough we're a pretty close resemblance!  Also in the photo below is Joan (blue pineapples) and Mary (floral tank), two of my good friends.  They are the cutest girls; so full of life and very fun!

Here's a little video of our day today...it's only 18 seconds, but pretty much sums it up.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I also made a video of our Julian trip but not sure I like it yet so I won't post it. The photos was kind of large and I want to figure out how to make them fit the screen better.  It's a freebie program for a day and I can't decide if I want it or not...but I'm learning something new everyday.  Maybe I'll make a fun one of our Tucson weekend.  

Tomorrow morning, we're heading to Tucson for the weekend.  It should be a lot of fun.  We're going to stay in a little hacienda downtown and check out the Voyager RV Park there and go to the new Tucson temple...stay tuned for some fun posts...

Canines and Cannisters

Today has been a busy day organizing.

First, Roxy, Coco and Chanel went to the PetSmart groomers in El Centro for a much needed bath, groom, teeth brushing, nail grinding and cute little bows.  They have spent way too much time digging in the dirt outside camp and their hair was getting so long you couldn't even see Coco and Chanel's eyes, so it was high time for the royal doggie day spa treatment for all three of them.  Aren't they the cutest?!

While the poochies were off getting groomed, the three new Good Grips Cannisters sets came from Amazon that we ordered so that I can organize the kitchen food cabinets.  We were noticing a few tiny sugar ants and decided to invest in 30 pop-lid airtight cannisters to put our sugar, cereal, flour, coconut, nuts, chips, etc. in.  The best part is not only will it save food, get rid of ants, but they also save space in the pantry.  I was wanting to make a shelving system, but with the cannisters, I can now stack them vertically and save space.  So, the before and after pictures tell a great story.  There are still a few cannisters left and I still need to organize the bathroom better so I might have some use for them there.  Here are the before and after photos with a lot of food room to go.

Wednesday Weekly Drops of Wisdom - Rose

This week’s Drop of Wisdom focuses on the new Rose Touch essential oil. Rose, known as the "Queen of Oils" can also be found in dōTERRA Console, Immortelle, and Whisper blends. But, now it is offered as a single product in a 10 mL roll-on bottle.  dōTERRA combines Fractionated Coconut Oil with Rose essential oil, on of the world's most precious essential oils, making applications and usage both affordable and convenient.

The welsh actor, Richard Burton, once said, “If I had a chance for another life, I would certainly choose a better complexion.” Same, my friend, same. While we can’t change our complexion, we can use dōTERRA’s new Rose Touch, which is a gift from the universe when it comes to getting our glow back. 

Did you know it takes 8,000 roses (242,000 petals) to produce 5 mL of rose essential oil? 

This precious oil comes from the Bulgarian rose and requires one of the most labor-intensive processes to produce. Rose essential oil keeps you happy and uplifted, perfect for the stress of the upcoming holiday season. Just apply a little to your pulse points throughout the day to keep you calm and collected. 

dōTERRA’s new Rose Touch is known to reduce the appearance of skin imperfections and promote healthy-looking, radiant skin.  I love to apply Rose directly on my skin.  It helps reduce the appearance of skin imperfections and promotes an even skin tone and healthy complexion.  I use Rose Touch faithfully just before putting on my moisturizer.  I wash my face, apply the Rose Touch to my face, neck and heart.  Then add my moisturizer.  The fragrance of the rose lingers with me most of the day and the Rose Touch on my heart helps me to be more loving.  And my skin feels soft and velvety all day long.

Rose is also a great oil to use as a perfume.  Just roll a little on your wrists and you're ready to go.  It will give you a unique and sweet, floral, personal fragrance to have throughout the day. 

Want to know even more about this amazing new oil? Check out the Spotlight on dōTERRA.com: https://www.doterra.com/US/en/blog/spotlight/rose/touch 

dōTERRA Science also conducted an interesting study on the benefits of rose on other plants. You can read about it here: dōTERRA Science Blog.

If you want to get your hands on this beautiful product or if you have any questions on this or any other dōTERRA product, please don’t be afraid to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you.  Here's a great link to contact us and also peruse the dōTERRA website and learn a little more about the benefits of essential oils:

https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/suebaddley

Tuesday Book Blog: The Apothecary's Daughter

I genuinely enjoyed the book, The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen set in England during the Regency times of the early 1800s.  It is a proper romance novel fit for any one to read.

The main character is Lilly Haswell, the 18-year old daughter of the apothecary in Bedsley Priors, England.  She has an unforgettable memory, which is a blessing and a curse as she works in her father's apothecary shop, preparing herbs and remedies by memory.  Daily she searches for her mother, Rosamond, who left their family years before among on the narrowboats floating down the river from the Honeystreet Bridge.  One day, Francis Baylor, gets off a boat - a timid, shy, young man, who becomes the new apprentice in her father's shop.

One day a letter comes from her aunt and uncle in London, the brother of her missing mother, that Lilly barely knows.  The childless relatives come to visit Bedsley Priors with the intent to invite Lilly's brother, Charlie, to live with them and be the heir to their estate, but upon their arrival, find that Charlie is autistic and instead, they fall in love with the vivacious Lilly and requests that she come and live with them in London. 

Lilly, sad to leave her father and handicapped brother, but who had always dreamed of adventure, goes to London where she can attends balls and be doted upon learning the fashionable etiquette of London; her name now formally, Lillian.  Through her education and rearing, Lilly learns much about the aristocracy, men and more clues with the aid of her uncle about her mother's disappearance.

After nearly two years in London, she receives word his father is ill.  Suddenly, she faces the choice to remain in London to the lifestyle she yearns for or to return home.  She leaves London for Bedsley Priors and finds her father ailing, the apothecary shop in ruins, her brother now working as a gardener for Sir Henry Marlow, the local landowner.  Her best friend, Mary Helen Mimpurse has more epileptic seizures and a brand new apothecary shop in town run by Mr. Shuttleworth.

Soon, Dr. Adam Graves, a once London suitor, leaves London and follows Lilly to Bedsley Priors to be an apprentice for the evil Dr. Foster who is constantly using his influence to put Haswell's out of business.  Francis Baylor, more sure of himself, who once apprenticed for Lilly's father is back in the village after leaving to obtain formal study at the apothecary schools in London and now working for the competition.  Roderick Marlow, the son of Sir Henry, returns home as well and Roger Bromley spends time visiting Marlow in Bedsley Priors.  Lilly once more faces all the eligible men in her life plus one, Mr. Shuttleworth.  But, to whom does her heart truly belong?

Dashing Rodger Bromley, the most eligible bachelor in London who has a lady on every arm...
Timid Dr. Adam Graves...the doctor who hardly says a word...
Dastardly Roderick Marlow, the son of Sir Henry, the landowner of Bedsley Priors...
Experienced Lionel Shuttleworth - the newest apothecary in Bedsley Priors...
Young Francis Baylor - the once young apprentice, now returns to Bedsley Priors as a learned apothecary...

WHO will win her heart?

But even among her feelings, Lilly's desire is to know the reason for her mother's disappearance and despite village whisperings, her father refuses to disclose what really happened. And, she also cares for her best friend, Mary Helen Mimpurse, who with her mother, runs the town bakery shop.  Or, is she her best friend after all?

On top of salvaging her father's apothecary shop, the evil Dr. Foster, dislikes all apothecaries and sends his goon constable to close down Haswell's shop.  With Lilly's father ill, no source of income and using her impeccable memory, Lilly is forced to act in her father's stead to dispense medicines, illegal at the time, giving Dr. Foster reason to shut her down and bring the apothecary society down on her.  But, Francis Baylor and Mr. Shuttleworth comes to her aid and helps her stay afloat until, one day, Dr. Foster's co-conspirators, burns down the shop!

With all this going on, she is wooed by each man and I spent every page trying to figure out who she would choose in the end.  Each page is filled with romance, friendship, and mystery.  The plot has so many twists and turns it's a real masterpiece of a read, especially when I finally found out the details of her mother missing past.  I never saw that coming!

I highly recommend the book and know you'll thoroughly enjoy it.  It's a 5 Star in my book!

Charming Julian, CA and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

What a glorious day we had today taking the girls to Julian, California.  Each Saturday, we're trying to explore something fun and exciting around where we are and today we chose historic Julian, California, which is in the heart of the San Diego Cuyamaca mountains.  Scott and I have been to Julian a couple times before when we lived in San Diego about 30 years ago, but today we decided to drive out and bring home a gallon of their world-famous apple cider.  

As we headed out I-8, I always get a kick out of the Sea Level sign.  Yes, El Centro is at sea-level.  The Salton Sea, 58 miles northwest of us is actually 235 feel below sea level and we'll be taking a trip out there in the coming weeks.  But, how often do you see a sea-level elevation sign when reading signs on the freeway?

We took Hwy 79 into Julian and went through Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and past Lake Cuyamaca.  We also passed some people on horseback.  While the road is very windy in places there are also places to pull over and just enjoy the scenery.  We had to stop the car for a couple minutes to take care of Chanel in the back seat of the car where the windy road left her breakfastless...hmm.  Is that another new word for the dictionary?  At any rate, the leaves were changing everywhere and it was like we got a second opportunity to enjoy the fall colors!

Once in the charming town of Julian (where they have a 24/7 webcam that is located on top of the Town Hall), you'll find that it's very easy to walk the streets.  There's really only one main street - appropriately, called Main Street 😜 - and a couple of shops along the cross streets, especially Washington Street.  The shops are all very nice - nothing cheesy to them at all - so you get a nice variety of shops to peruse.  You even have to look fairly hard to find a Julian t-shirt or sweatshirt!  They have Minnetonka moccasins, leather vests and jackets, household items, and some pretty cool and unique stuff all over town!  I was in love with a fur lined cape to die for, but I didn't get it...maybe next visit.

Decked out for Christmas...the town was putting up Christmas yesterday.

Historically, Julian was once a gold rush town in 1870.  The town was named after Mike Julian, a Georgian confederate who discovered it along with his confederate friend Drew Bailey.  In 1870, cattleman Fred Coleman, found the first fleck of gold in a creek and miners flocked the area until about 1900.  After the hype of the gold rush in San Diego ended, a few people stayed to farm the land and brought in 21 select varieties of apple trees to the area.

The town is a four-season town with blossoms and flowers of daffodils and lilacs in the spring, summer star-gazing opportunities, fall apple harvest and landscape filled with fall color...even roses that I photographed today, and in winter it actually snows there!  It's never too hot in Julian.  Today, on November 18th was between 60-64 degrees...perfect for walking or sitting in the sun without being cold, but chilly when sitting in the shade.

We parked our car right in front of large green Stonewall Stores building that has a good number of shops in it on the one end of town.  We started of taking all three dogs with us, but after a block, Chanel was getting skittish from all the people and dogs around her so we took Coco and Chanel back to the car and got them situated with open windows, the shades pulled up so they would be comfortable.  Then, we took Roxy and went to a few stores including the Julian Import shop where they had the most adorable clothes ever!  I could have bought one of everything in the store!

We continued our tour and had lunch at Apple Alley Bakery where I had a Vegetarian Sandwich on Gluten-free sourdough bread with home-made chicken noodle soup (so home-made that even the noodles were hand done as well as the bread, I might add) and a slice of pumpkin pie...I know, it wasn't apple pie, but it had less sugar and since I don't eat sugar, I could do a pumpkin pie.  Scott had a Turkey and Swiss sandwich with the soup and a piece of apple pie with - get this - CINNAMON ice-cream.  YUM!  I took a couple spoonfuls of it.  SO GOOD!  Scott said the pie was great, especially the crust.

After we ate, Scott went back to check on Coco and Chanel while Roxy and I waited on the corner where the Miners Diner is located across from the Julian City Hall.  On this corner, and a few others in town, they have the cutest white picket signs with the names of there each store in town is located.  How cute it that?!  When Scott came back we walked over to the Candied Apple Pastry Company and the Julian Pie Company (are you seeing a theme yet?) where a ton of people were eating pie.  We also walked by the Pioneer Museum, Pioneer Park and the Rong Branch Restaurant and Gifts shop.

We also stopped in at the Oakwood Creek Antiques and Gifts, which I was TOTALLY in love with! The shop had the cutest things and smelled so sweet of fresh handmade soaps of all kinds!  They stores proprietor loved Roxy and gave her such a HUGE bone that we brought it back to the car and shared it between all three dogs!  She even had a small bakery in her shop.  I enjoyed her shop so much I even took 2 little videos for you to enjoy.  Even her decor was amazingly beautiful in her shop.

We crossed the street and went to the Antique Boutique that was a cute house redone as an antique shop with gorgeous stone arbors outside and wrought iron fencing.  I bet it looked beautiful in the spring and summer with the vines.  After that we walked to the Book House and I toured inside while Scott and Roxy chatted with a couple from San Diego outside while sitting on the patio furniture.

After this we started on the other side of the street and by far, the largest shop of the whole town was The Warm Hearth of Julian.  My, my...what a shop.  EVERYTHING you could think of was in that shop - upstairs and downstairs...the shop never ended!  Scott didn't even go inside.  Instead, he wanted to put Roxy in the car so we could go to the Julian Cider Mill to get our cider and so I only could spend a few minutes inside.  I'm sure I could have easily spent over an hour in that store alone looking at everything!

As I walked to meet Scott at the Cider Mill, I passed Mom's Apple Pie shop where people were lined all the way down the street for a piece of pie!  My, my.  Once inside the Julian Cider Mill, the place was absolutely packed with people.  You could hardly move and while the store was itty-bitty, teeny-weeny inside, there were plenty of people mulling around.  Scott was in a long line - probably 20 people deep to pay for his cider.

Notice it's $16.95 per gallon of apple cider!  WHEW!

While Scott wait to pay for the cider, I headed back to the car at the Stonewall Stores (the large green building - we parked right under the flag pole in the photo) to check on the dogs and passed a few more cute shops on the way.  One of the shops was a really cute yarn store right above where the car was parked.  We really do need to revisit this town again when it is a weekday since the crowds were really packed in today.  They can we browse in our leisure and not worry about the pooches as much.  We took one last look at Julian and we were on our way back home.

As we headed home and drove along Hwy 78 from Julian toward I-8, we passed through the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and 6th Grade School Camp area so we stopped to take a few photos of the interesting scenery there.  I couldn't stop on the way to Julian, but I wanted to stop and take a few photos on the way home.  It was quite an intriguing place with hills, rocks, trees and thousands dead trees dotting the scenery along the road, which were strikingly beautiful.  Actually, all the landscape between El Centro and San Diego is quite interesting...rich farmlands of El Centro to 20 miles west billions on tiny rocks dotting hillsides with no foliage at all...to 10 miles later rectangular and oval rocks and boulders...to 10 miles further west to total desert and the viola San Diego filled with palm trees, seascapes, ranch houses, etc. and then today to be up in the pines of Julian.  So much to see.  We really do live in a beautiful world.

While driving home we decided we'll be going to Tucson next weekend since Scott has a 4-day weekend.  We'll have Thanksgiving dinner here at the RV park with our friends and then head out early Friday morning.  We're still debating whether to take the RV or just rent a space at the Voyager RV Park in Tucson.  Check out this fun video Voyager posted on their website.  I can't wait to explore it!...looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G...stay tuned.