Saturday, August 1, 2009

More fun SoCal times with my sister et al!

Sorry for the absenteeism, but, as most of you know, my sister and her 3 daughters are down from Canada for a visit. So, I'm spending my days having buckets and buckets of Southern California touristy fun. DH and I don't have any family in SoCal, so I'm really enjoying watching my kids hang out with their cousins. And, of course, I'm getting to know my nieces better too.

Here's a taste of what we've been up to....

Our guests gave us bread-and-butter gifts. Yay! Gifts are great!


I introduced my sister to the hands-down, best Diet Coke in San Diego County. The cousins (her kids and mine) aren't averse to the slushies there either!


We drove up to Julian where we meandered through various shops; bought an apple pie; ate a grossly overpriced lunch; visited the wonderfully quaint used bookstore, The Julian Book House (2230 Main St., Julian, 92036. 760-765-1989) where I picked up a Perry Mason, a Nero Wolf and an Elmore Leonard. We also visited the gold mine. The above way over-exposed photo is our tour guide, Greg, holding up a cow's horn. Because this is what miners originally used for panning.

My camera was still acting wonky and letting in too much light even when squeezed till it squealed. But I found an eye glasses repair store. The guy working there tried several teeny tiny screws (of thousands!) and found two that held the metal plates firmly in place on the side of my camera. Fingers crossed, this will do the trick!

Back to Julian for a sec: I've posted a couple of My Town Mondays about Julian. Here's the link to the My Town Monday gold mine post.

My sister and I traipsed back to the beach in the dark to rummage through the trash cans. Why? She thought she'd accidentally thrown out her new video camera! We're smiling for the camera. But, uh, very gross! My disposable plastic gloves fetish came in handy.

Oh, did we find the video camera? Yes. THE NEXT MORNING BY THE BAR-B-QUE IN MY BACKYARD!!

Of course, I will never ever let her forget this incident. I will recount it every Christmas. In fact, I will remind her of it every time someone mentions the word "trash" or "garbage."

Hope you're all having a marvelous summer!

I leave you with one last photo taken inside the gold mine. This is the communication system for the miners lowered deep into the bowels. The pegboard was to keep track of the number of men down there at work. The bell was for a system involving up to four rings for instructions like "stop," "go slowly," etc. I tried to memorize the system, but it's all a muddle now. One of many reasons why I would've made a lousy gold miner!

18 comments:

  1. We used to take trips to Julian when I lived in SD. It was gorgeous.......

    reminded me a bit of what Middle Earth would look like. Frodo, where are you???

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  2. I once went into a tourmaline mine (was it around Pala?) and it was the most magical experience. Thanks for sharing your fun.

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  3. Glad you're having such a fun summer. The video camera story is VERY funny! x

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  4. Everything about this post made me smile.

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  5. Glad you're having fun with your sister and nieces. Julian is one of my favorite places south of the OC. I love the Gold Mine and walking along the old town street.

    I know the economy in SoCal is bad right now, but did you have to take your sister dumpster-diving??? What will your relatives in Canada say? That story was very, very funny. Glad you found the video camera after all!

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  6. How wonderful to have fun like this with your sister! Great Gold Mine shot--my son would love to see inside a mine :).

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  7. Swiss Chalet??? I guess you have to live here to hate it.

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  8. i'm no one to criticize when it comes to absenteeism! :) glad you guys are having such a great time! and 2 thumbs up for slushies! :)

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  9. how fun! my kids would probably get a kick out of a gold mine

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  10. With my clautrophobia I'd have made an awful miner. Eating out and hitting quaint bookstores is a far better calling for me:)
    Glad you are having a grand time with your sister1

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  11. Ahhh, a Tim Horton's coffee lover.

    The last time I was in a mine was at Deadwood near Yellowstone. A bit gritty.

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  12. I love it! I remember summers like that - haven't had one in years! Love the pic with the flash light and the funny stories retelling the event every Christmas!

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  13. oh yeah, timmy's, swiss chalet, hp sauce, bicycle playing cards, and a trawna t, what could be more canuckistanin? :O lol

    hope you all make lifelong memories, barrie!

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  14. Oh, a gold mine? I'd love to see one! Did you get to take home any gold souvenirs? :) Your books look awesome! I can't wait to read them!

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  15. That sounds like so much fun! Glad you're having such a good time together. It's always kind of fun to show off your town to company and to do things you might not normally do.

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  16. That thing with the camera sounds like something that I would do! lol. I am glad that you found it unscathed :)

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  17. Wow you must really have fun! BTW it is nice to see something familiar, lol. Toronto CN tower t-shirt, and do I see Tim Horton coffee, lol. Thanks for sharing. Anna :)

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Comments are always welcome!