San Diego – Moons on the Move

Waking up in the morning to the sound of birds and also your girls talking about breakfast was perfect. When I got out of my tent, the girls were all up (I like to sleep in on weekends!) and they were all cooking breakfast. And it was legit breakfast. They all had their burners out with their skillets, cooking bagels and scrambled eggs! What a perfect breakfast!

Pic: Individual burner with a skillet pan, cooking a bagel

We needed to make sure our bodies were ready for the 6-mile hike and once we were done with breakfast, we all geared up, packed extra snacks, and headed out. We figured it would be about 2-3 hours with lots of rests in between.

We didn’t have to drive anywhere because the campground we stayed at connected to the trail we were going on. We were going to walk the “Big Laguna Meadow Trail” and to start off, it was really nice. Also, we were having the perfect weather for a hike. Lower in the temperature with lots of sunlight, with a little bit of a breeze. Perfect.

We had to walk through some forest to get to the actual trail but it seemed like a lot of people used this path as well. It was very easy to get to the trail from the campsite. And trees! It was so nice to be surrounded by green trees again! I’m not 100% but it also looked like this was part of the pacific crest trail. So I can say that I hiked the PCT?

There were also a lot of other hiker and bikers! The trail had lots of bumpy roads and I was so surprised to see so many bikers. Everytime we saw them coming, we moved to give them space, and if they came from the back, we heard the bell. ring-ring. Everyone was so nice to each other, with lots of “good mornings” and “have a good hike.”

After about an hour or so, we took our first break. We found a flat area with some rocks so we all just plopped down and unpacked our snacks. It was just nice to relax a bit, take off some layers, eat some snacks, and share stories.

We literally looked photoshopped here! But that is how beautiful it was that day. After snacking and resting, we had to get up and finish the trail. As we kept following the trail, we did end up at a fork and did take a wrong turn, and with our internet not working, we were all making educated guesses but eventually, we were back on the trail.

On the trail, we took in the forest and mountain view, the crisp air, and all the little critters we saw. There were part of the forest that was burnt down and the water hose was still looming around. We were careful walking but it was interesting to see all the brunt down trees and right next to it, there were already new saplings.

I think I really slowed down the group because I wasn’t so used to walking. I think I was prepared for the 6 mile but I think our hike ended up being around 9 miles? My body was not prepared for that. I was glad that the ladies all waited for me every corner. Eventually, we got back to our campsite and I think it took us about 4 1/2 hours. This is with our snacking time and me being a slow walking. But we stayed on the trail, stayed strong, and finished it!

Once we were back at our campsite, we were met with a mess! Some birds got into our bags and threw some of our paper plates and napkins all over. We quickly picked up all the trash we saw and cleaned it up. We were surprised because there wasn’t any food out. It was just utensils but now we know to even put those away.

We also made the decision to pack up and leave a day early because of the temperature at night time. I was very glad because I thought my toes were going to freeze the previous night! But we wanted to enjoy it until the very end, so we decided to see the stars for the last time before leaving. We put our tents away, started a fire, and just relaxed.

This time, we had a campfire favorite! Smores~ I was so excited! We used vegan marshmallows and it was just as good! I like to keep mine slightly away from the fire and roast them with time. My friend on the other hand, just stuck hers into the flame and made them super crispy!

They say there are two types of people…. haha. Overall, they were all just so good. And while roasting by the fire, we started to play a card game called “Do you know me?” It asked lots of interesting questions and we got to learn more about each other. If you haven’t played the game, you should! It is a great icebreaker game as well as a getting to know someone better. We had some hot seat questions that made the conversations all the more interesting! (Clik here to find it on Amazon)

We finished up the questions, looked up at the stars more, tried to take some pictures of us and the stars and not getting it quite right. Overall, I think the trip was a success and we all had so much fun! I cannot wait until our next trip together!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone 🙂 I hope you are celebrating with your loved ones!

I haven’t written in a long time so I have a lot of catching up to do but I first wanted to write about a trip I took to Julian for Valentine’s Day.

If you don’t know Julian, it is a small miner’s town about an hour outside of San Diego. During the 1800s, a lot of people moved here for the gold mining rush! Of course, they don’t use the mines nowadays and is more famous for the apples.

public parking space but it was $3 an hour. So if you want free parking, come early. For us, that was arriving before 10am.

The town is really cute with lots of historic buildings. The shops and restaurants all have some history to them. And because they are a town known for apples, they have lots of apple related items, such as apple scented candles and bath bombs to apple butter and jams.

My favorite store was The Warm Hearth (address: 2125 Main St.) because it had everything. From cooking items to vintage signages, it was really an all-in-one shop. I really enjoyed looking through all the vintage signs, playing giant size games, looking at backyard water features, and more.

Pic: Downstairs portion of The Warm Hearth

I loved that everything was within walking distance of each other and since this is off-season (not apple picking season), it didn’t feel like it was too crowded. Some of the apple pie restaurants had some lines but it wasn’t too bad. Also, every time I walked by the pie places, the smell of fresh apple pie was just mouth-watering.

For lunch, we went to the Miner’s Diner, which was just across the street from the shop. The shop feels like an old diner and I loved it. It has character 🙂 At the entrance of the shop, the old miner greets you, waving his axe and drinking his soda.

They have several sandwich and burger options and you can also split an order. We ended up getting a split Reuben because we were going to get something to eat later as well. As we were dining, the toy train moved around the restaurant, just choo-chooing away.

There was another cute candy shop inside the Miner’s Diner. It is small but very cute and there is a small metal miner, ready to detonate dynamite in the mines. How cute!

Pic: Metal figure holding a bucket of candy

There were also museums and old mines you can visit to learn more about how the city started and to see how people lived during the time. Most of them had small fees but if you are a historic buff, I think these places would give you a lot of insights.

After walking around the town, visited the Julian Tea & Cottage Arts for their Valentine’s Day Tea event. This place was fantastic! If you are a tea lover, you need to visit this place. The store itself is pretty small but it has indoor and outdoor seating and has lots of different things they offer.

We were here for their Valentine’s Day Tea party and it was really good! It was a special set menu that had some romantic flair. A four-course (almost) meal starting off with soup (Tomato or Pumpkin) and a variety of finger sandwiches, followed by some scones with different jam, and lastly a dessert plate.

And they have a list of tea you can pick for your drink and you can switch out to tea at any time. It was an experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat! If you would like to see their future events, visit their webpage (https://juliantea.com/)

Before leaving Julian, we had a final stop. We needed to get apple pie. There are several ones to pick from but we ended up going to Mom’s. They had several different pies but I wanted to focus on the main one, the apple pie. Also, you can get your crust in 2 ways: Flakey or in crumbs. I wanted the most basic one for my first trip, so a flakey apple pie.

Pic: Flakey apple pie within the box with instruction

I brought it home and ate it but you can freeze them and the box has instructions on how to reheat them. Overall, excellent pie. I loved the buttery crust!

Julian is definitely worth a trip. You can do a day trip or if you want to hike around the area, an overnight trip would also work.

Tag: San Diego

[day 2] Hiking in Mount Laguna

Happy Valentine’s Day!