Day Trip to Julian for Apple Pie

Our first stop at 9am was to pick up Dick & Marla. Second stop was the Red Earth Casino for their steak and eggs special which by the way was delicious. Next stop Anza Borrego State Park, The Badlands.

 

Great place to dry camp and ride motorcycles if you were so inclined.

A hummingbird was enjoying a meal on this Ocotillo.

We stopped in Borrego Springs and checked out an RV Resort and golf course. In season $88.00 a night. Guess we won’t be staying there anytime soon. On our way out of Borrego Springs we came across a number of sculptures. The question is why are they there??

Huge Eagle like bird with babies bringing home a snake for dinner.

Saber Tooth after this poor horse.

Mastodon with a family.

Next stop is Julian and Mom’s Apple Pie.

Menu

Best apple pie in Julian.

Great little town with neat little shops.

We came back to Palm Springs by the Pines to Palm Hwy which made it a loop route of 205 miles. Dinner at Denny’s and ride down Candy Cane Lane to see the Christmas lights ended our day. It was a glorious day with wonderful friends.

More Wildlife at San Benito

We woke up one morning to the Coyotes barking and yipping and almost screaming like a very mad child. It went on for a couple of hours or at least it seemed like that. The day before we were scheduled to leave while having coffee in bed Dick spotted 3 Coyotes right across the road from us. He jumped up and got some pictures and video of two of them playing with a Vole one of them had caught.

They got tired of playing and walked off into the brush. In a little while they had caught something bigger and started the barking and yipping again. It took a little while for our Quail to come back.

Moss Landing and Paicines Reservoir

One of our favorite little towns to visit to bird is Moss Landing. It has a nice marina, quaint shops and a very good Mexican Restaurant. On the north side of town is Jetty Road that takes you to parking for the surfers. This is a very popular beach for surfing.

Eared Grebe

Whimbrel

Greater Yellow-legs

Least Sandpipers

Pacific Loon

Red-throated Loon

These were just a few birds we saw on the north side of the inlet. The Sea Otters are so much fun to watch and there were a lot of them around.

On the Marina side of town Dick spotted a goose like bird on the other side and after getting the scope out we identified as a Brant Goose and this was our first time to see one.

It was so far away getting a good picture was impossible.

 

We also like to find birds at the Paicines Reservoir. There are 4 White Pelicans that hang out here and occasionally we have seen a Bald Eagle fly over. This day were a lot of Coots and Canadian Geese but they were too far away for photos.

We found this Snowy Egret fishing.

And even catching something.

If the weather holds we are going to The Pinnacles National Monument that is just down the road not far from here.

San Benito TT

We like to visit this park because of all the wildlife and birds in the area and park. This is where we like to park and this time of year it is always available.

We always put up our bird feeders and this year added this water feature.

Here is what we attracted to our yard.

CA Quail. This am I counted 25 of them.

Ground Squirrel

Oak Titmouse

Pea Hen

Scrub Jay and a Yellow-billed Magpie

Next is our road trip to Moss Landing and Paicines Reservoir.

Jelly Belly Factory

Chuck, Hattie, Dick and I drove over to Fairfield to tour the Jelly Belly factory.

It was a very interesting tour. We didn’t know they made so many different flavors. The new one this year is honey flavored. My favorite was the popcorn flavored, tastes just like buttered popcorn.

This time of year they set up a haunted house that was wonderful.

They have an art gallery where all the art is made from Jelly Beans.

After the tour we had lunch here.

Locke, CA

Locke was founded in 1915 when a fire broke out in the Chinese section of nearby Walnut Grove. The Chinese in the area decided that it was time to establish a town of their own. They approached a land owner George Locke to see if they could build a town on his land.

Levee construction originally brought the Chinese to this area but by the time this town was built most of the work was in farm labor.

This is Main Street. We were expecting a tour but everything was closed.

Even Al the Wop’s was closed.

Interesting alley’s

Chuck                                 Hattie

Dick                                                        and I had a great morning poking around this strange little town.