Hey guys! So recently, Jes and I went on yet another adventure. We ventured into an area of San Diego, called San Pasqual. I've always been in love with this area. There is a lot of farm land and gorgeous views, plus, there's abandoned things!! This post will mainly be pictures. Enjoy! We came across an abandoned house with two other structures on the property. We didn't go into these two buildings, but we went in their "warehouse". Seemed to be abandoned for quite some time. Before we left, we decided to take a stroll down the dirt road. Jumpy pic time!! The picture of the day just so happened to work out nicely, and be my favorite picture! I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for reading! Until next time, Ciao
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Hey there! Jesse and I have been so busy lately, we haven't had time to hike. He randomly had 2 days off, so, naturally, we jam packed those days with fun activities! We had been dying to go out to Jacumba and hike to all the abandoned trains out there! Tuesday was beyond perfect to go! Jesse packed his giant "survival backpack" (as usual) and we headed to Jacumba. We drove to DeAnza Springs Resort (a clothing optional community), paid $5 to park all day, and started our hike! We honestly walked through bushes to get to the railroad tracks, and then walked along them the entire time. It's not too difficult to find. We chose to bring along one bike, since I have bad knees and was slightly worried about the 14 mile round trip hike. We ended up only hiking about 7 miles total; choosing not to go all the way. Less than a mile in, you'll come across the first abandoned train. We spent a good amount of time inside and on top of this train. So awesome and fun!! Some of the seats had tiny mattresses. LOL. I love all the spirals, though!! We found several bird's nests. Jesse shrieked when he realized the birds were alive and inside one of them! I'm not sure why I found it so cool that it was a two story train! He's always such a gentleman!! All of the hues were muted and gave off an 80's vibe. It was a tad eerie, but fascinating more than anything. We made our way to the front of the train and found all of the control panels. The textures and colors of the entire train came across as a form of art to my eyes. So engaging and fascinating. We searched everywhere to find a date to figure out how old this train is. We finally found one stamped on a window in the control room, dated '81. Jes was dying to go on top of the train so we made our way up, before we continued on the hike. [Please note: I am terrified of heights!!] Please excuse my hair. To say it was a windy day is an understatement. And now for our goofy-adventurous side, if you will. Am I allowed to have bragging rights? ;) I do call him "Mr. Perfect" for a reason! On to the rest of our train journey. There are many bridges, but it is extremely peaceful out there! Never count me out. We enjoyed the beautiful patterns in the mountains. An alluring mountainous view. Jesse wanted to 'capture my face' when I saw where we were heading next.. By the looks of this one, it was definitely older than the last, and possibly from Mexico. We sat for a little while, on the train, ate a snack, and played music on Jesse's phone. We saw a bird's nest above the door, by where we were sitting, and suddenly the birds woke up. I sat on Jesse's shoulders to get a picture of them! So cute, yet creepy lookin'!! Don't worry, I just used spit to write our name on the train. Left me with a few blue-stained fingers, LOL. We both wanted to continue on, but the wind was at least over 80 mph. It was not only cold, but pushing us over..even Jesse!! At times it was hard to walk and even ride the bike. We made it back to the first train and took more jumpy pictures. We most definitely want to come back and do the entire hike! There is much more to this hike that we did not see. After leaving, we knew we would drive passed the Golden Acorn Casino, so we stopped in. They didn't have any deals for signing up, so we decided to walk over to a restaurant and check out the $7.77 Prime Rib Dinner. Sounds unappealing to me, but we just had to. It's funny how minor things entertain us, and draw us in. The dinner came with either soup or salad (we chose the sausage soup) and the sides we got were mashed potatoes and "veggies". The mashed potatoes were actually quite good. My meat was super dry, the soup was good, and the green beans were soaked in butter. Oh well, at least we can say we ate the $7.77 dinner, right? HAHA! Picture of the day? Our prime rib dinner...LOL! Thanks for reading!! Until next time! Ciao
Happy Earth Day! That picture is from Easter, on our stroll through Barnett. Yesterday, Jes had the day off and we wanted to do an all day adventure, before we met with my pastor; for coffee, at 6! We decided to venture to Julian and get pie. We didn't have much of a plan. We drove up and our first stop was in Santa Ysabel, at Dudley's Bakery. I grew up eating Dudley's bread and it always makes me feel warm inside when I go there. After a wonderful service at church, for Easter, these crosses really stood out to us both.. As this picture says, Dudley's was founded in 1963. Dudley Pratt was a middle aged expert baker who had previous bakeries and wanted to start one in Santa Ysabel. After receiving criticism on the bakery being "too far away" he soon had customers traveling from near and far to taste his delicious breads, fruit bars, and pastries. Every Summer, Mr. Dudley Pratt would close the store for two months, to travel to Europe and get inspiration. He would search long and far for delicious and unique breads, pastries, cafes and more to find the perfect flavors to adapt to his menu; to please his customers. Ten years after opening the bakery, Dudley Pratt passed away. The bakery still prides itself on doing things the Dudley way. Quality, taste, uniqueness and freshness is their hallmark. The bakery now produces thousands of loaves of bread a day, and provides deliciousness to many bakeries and grocers all over San Diego County. After visiting Dudley's, we trucked along and made our way to Julian. We took a few delightful pictures along the way. It really was a beautiful day! Our first stop, in Julian, was the Julian Jail. This used to be my favorite place to go and peek in to. Before, they had the door open and a gate, so people could peer in and imagine being a criminal back in 1914. They have since closed the door and blocked off the window. It's sad that others have to ruin it for people like us, who aren't planning on throwing our trash in there; but, simply enjoying history. We continued driving and saw a sign for Lake Cuyamaca. We both hadn't been in a long time, and decided to explore that area. I was amazed with how beautiful it is, once we started driving around to the other side of the lake. The sun glistening off the water, the clear blue skies and my best friend by my side..how could I feel any happier??! We both glanced into the water at the water toys we could rent, and we knew then what we were doing for the day! The winds were considered "strong", so we couldn't rent anything other than a motor boat. We were so excited, since neither of us had rented a motor boat before. With Jesse's military discount, it was only $25 for a half day! Not bad! We went into the restaurant next to the rental shop, bought a veggie sandwich and headed down to the dock. Say "hello" to our little blue boat! We both knew I didn't have a clue what I was doing, if I was captain; so, from then on, I referred to him as Captain Jesse. It was so lovely to just sit back, take pictures, and enjoy the beautiful day. Knowing at the beginning of the day we had no idea we would be doing this, made it even more fun! Being spontaneous and enjoying life, really is the way to live. We went around for a bit, docked the boat on an "island", and enjoyed our lunch. Please excuse my "candid" moments. I prefer to be behind the camera, not in front. ;) After eating, we started our hike, on the "island". And now for our jumpy pics! I apologize for mine being blurry. We returned the boat, and made it back to Julian in time for pie!! We ordered one slice of Dutch Apple with a scoop of cinnamon. We will definitely be back!! Picture of the day is of two huge frogs we saw while leaning over the edge of the wooden bridge. They were SO big. I think they were fake, but Jesse thinks they're real. Who knows... Thanks for reading! Until next time, Ciao
HAPPY EASTER!!! We have been busy lately, so we haven't gotten to explore or blog as much. Today, we went to church and then had brunch with my mom and grandma, at my grandma's house. How adorable is my gram? She made my mom, Jesse and I Easter bags full of chocolates! Yum. But, OH MY! How adorable is my 1-month old niece in her Easter outfit! AHH! Can't handle it!!! Yesterday, Jesse and I got a booth at Kobey's Swap Meet, here in San Diego, and sold a bunch of our old stuff!! It was a long day! We came out of it with a decent amount of money, and almost 10 hours of selling. We both got so burnt! This Icee helped, though... Back to today. We had a very lovely morning with my family. We realized we could either: A. Take a nap and be lazy, or B. Hike and be productive. One severe food coma later, we chose to hike. We ventured to Barnett Ranch, in Ramona. It was more of a relaxed evening stroll, but we really enjoyed every minute of it! A bit of history (if you care): Augustus Barnett and his wife, Martha moved west, as he established himself as a pronounced businessman, in Cleveland, from around 1825-1840. The couple moved to San Diego in 1875. Barnett Ranch was built in 1877, in Ramona. The property was a working cattle ranch for over 100 years. Much of the vegetation is native and non-native grassland. The Preserve actually spans 728 acresThe Barnetts were important to the expanding of ramona; including gifting the Ramona Town Hall, on Main Street. There are two trails to choose from, but we started on the first trail we reached, on our left-hand side, and did the full loop. It is all flat, no steep hills, and I think it is 2.5 miles round trip. All of the beautiful greens and blues were overwhelming, yet calming. We fell in love with this spot to do our jump because of the greenery, the visual of the trail, and the picnic table on the other side! So peaceful!! We sat and enjoyed the view for a while and chatted. When we started walking over to this area, we heard a huge group of coyotes howling, not too far away. So many beautiful green hues!!! Jesse said this tree looked like alligator skin! Lol. Spike-y area of doom!!! Here's a coyote and his 4 friends waiting for him. He tried staring us down with intimidation. The trail was overall extremely peaceful. The weather was perfect and we ended up having a delightful day, all around! This is such a nice tranquil trail. It was also a bit romantic. Picture of the day is of my cat, Mr. Barnes. Thanks for reading! Until next time! Ciao
The flowers on my back deck are so beautiful right now!! I get distracted by them daily! Back to the topic of the day. I've always had a serious fascination for all things abandoned. It's so eerie and intriguing. I grew up watching tons of scary movies with my dad, so infatuated with mystery. I received my BS in fashion business marketing, almost a year ago, and was fortunate enough to do an abandoned-themed photoshoot. This photoshoot was maybe two years ago and I found this abandoned bus, while searching for interesting abandoned locations, in SD. Here are a few pictures from my photoshoot. Photo credit: Kerstin Winter Back to 2014. So, I've been wanting to come out here again, and yesterday we made that happen! The area is Sycamore Canyon Test Facility. It's actually restricted government property. My bad. But it's just so cool, how can I not? Anyway, the day was fairly warm weather! Probably in the low 80's. It's a few miles to hike out to it, and super creepy the whole time. Since it's government property, I feared the entire time that they would either come out with guns and warn us off the property, or a helicopter would land near us. Neither happened, thankfully. [Please note: When we are on property that is considered "risky", like this, we are not destructive nor are we disrespectful. Again, please keep in mind nature can be fragile.] My curious George. We couldn't figure out exactly what it was. Still so cool, though! We continued on the trail, with our destination in site: building 4 and the abandoned bus. The last time I was here, this building was open. You were able to go inside. I didn't go inside, which now I'm sad, since it's bolted shut. Awwwww :) This structure is so strange. We weren't sure what it was for, since there was no door to go inside it. Jesse found this melted glass down there, that we thought was pretty neat. Building 4 also has a "7" on it, along with an alarm. We guessed that a lot of this property was used as a shooting range, hence these "tables", that went on a path, for a while. oh, hello...ironic There were bee hives everywhere, in the broken pipes!!! Luckily, I had my EpiPen, just in case! It ended up being quite peaceful to just sit and chat; although, the whole time I was a bit paranoid. And now, time for our jumpy pics! We started heading back, and stopped at a rusty old water tower. My monkey had to climb. Climbing a water tower was something he always had on his bucket list! We were hungry, so, we decided to head back to the car. We ended up grabbing Chinese food and eating it at Mira Mar lake. A wonderful end to the day!! Picture of the day is rusty barbed wire. We had to walk through it on our way out. I've always had an attraction to anything rusty, as well as barbed wire. Call me weird. Thanks for reading! Until next time. Ciao
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AuthorA passionate lover of food, adventure, traveling, and enjoying life! Archives
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