October 31, 2012

Stagecoach Trails Resort

Julian, CA

We reluctantly departed Lake Park RV Resort in Lake Elsinore for our next destination.  The park and the area were so nice we would have gladly stayed at least another week but the PA rate was only accepted for a total of 5 days and the regular rate of $30/night was way out of our budget. 

We were expecting a package with a promised UPS delivery time of noon.  The resort checkout time is 11am so Monte asked Judy who works in the office if it would be a problem for us to leave a little late.  But as it turned out it wasn’t necessary to stay late as the package was delivered by 10:30 and we were on our way by 11. 

The roads on the route we traveled (I15 south to CA79 then S2) were pretty smooth so it was a relaxing trip.  The GPS put our total travel time at 2 hours and at the 1 hour mark we started looking for some place to pull over and have lunch.  We found a perfect place in Warner Springs next to a small airport that offers sailplane rides.  As we ate our sandwiches, we watched gliders being towed by tow planes take off.  After lunch we went into the Sky Sailing office to inquire about rates.  A one passenger ride in which the pilot is in the rear and the passenger is in front and actually takes control is $145 for a 20 minute ride.  A two passenger ride for the same amount of time is $160.  As it is a little pricey for a two passenger fare and it is not really something on my bucket list, I encouraged Monte to do the one passenger ride.  He said he wanted to think about it and since the airport isn’t that far from where we were going we would come back the next day if he decided he wanted to take the flight.

After arriving at the Stagecoach Trails Resort, we paid for two nights using the PA discount.  The park has 286 full hook-up sites and there were perhaps only 10 other RV’s staying at the resort.  It took a little more time to set up than it normally does because the site was uneven.  After we were all set up I noticed the ANTS!!

They were everywhere.  Monte sprayed all the areas on the rig that comes into contact with the ground and hopefully that will prevent them from coming inside.  I WON’T be sitting outside while we are here.

It was still fairly early so we decided to take the 17 mile ride into the town of Julian.

The road was steep in some places and very curvy.  Julian is a charming small town with a population of 1,500 that is home to a gold mine discovered in 1870 where, for a fee, you can still pan for gold.  We timed our visit to the town perfectly because we were able to see little ghosts, witches, Cinderella and even a princess. 

 Most of the merchants were open and handing out treats.  The town is now famous for its apple orchids which were evident in the many restaurants and bakery’s selling fresh made apple pies, tarts and pastries.  We still had half a pumpkin pie sitting in the fridge at home so as much as we would have liked to, we didn’t purchase an apple pie.  I did, however, buy a small boysenberry apple tart and Monte bought a pie crust cookie.  DELICIOUS. 

It was getting chilly and all the little devils and goblins had disappeared turning Julian into a ghost town so we drove around a little and then took the winding, curvy road back home.  We had a pink, Little Kitty smart car on our tail almost the entire trip back trying to pass us!  Finally, it turned off a side road and shortly after we arrived back at the camp. 

We only have 30 amp services, no cell phone service, can only receive three stations on the TV and the Wifi is very spotty.  We will not be staying pass the two days we paid for.