Cuyamaca Rancho

We were back out into the wilderness this weekend! 

As it was May 4th this week, it meant there was a star wars quiz at the Haven City Market. We put together a team last minute and Mitchell was very helpful with answering all the questions while I shared Goodreads accounts and talked about Lorraine's new house with the girls. We (they) came second!

On Thursday, I drove back to LA to do another TV filming. This one was a night shoot for a show I hadn't heard of before, and it took place on a real street in LA, with traffic and people walking around just around the corner. I got back around 3am, but they did give us a hot meal and as many snacks and as much coffee as we wanted. 

On Friday evening, we drive down to Cuyamaca Rancho State Park for some camping! (with a quick stop at McDonalds for a snack to sustain us on our journey) It was dark by the time we arrived, but we're pros at getting the tent up now, so with some lanterns it didn't take too long. We started up the fire and cooked our food under the stars. This time I'd decided to try and remake something we'd had before - a bread bowl! We got some crusty bread rolls, cut off the tops and filled the insides with hot cheese and broccoli soup. It was lovely and warming on that chilly night. 

In the morning, we ate our cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate and headed out to our hike of the day. It was a very pretty four mile trail which led up to a peak overlooking the park. There were lots of lots of wildflowers to see and it went through trees and exposed scrub. 

The last section was a series of steps at the side of the peak, carved into the mountain. At the top we could see all the way to the Salton Sea across the desert and the neighbouring peaks. There were lots and lots of ground squirrels there, including one without a tail which was very tame and came so close looking for snacks! 

A lake with some snowy mountains in the background

It's still so green everywhere!

We walked back down in time for lunch and planned to eat in the picnic area at the trailhead. But the wind was very cold, so after a little while we decided to eat in the car instead. It was much more comfortable, and we got to look at the shady picnic area anyway. 

Back at camp we made the most of the midday sunshine and read our books for a little bit. I was in the hammock and did fall asleep for second as it's actually very comfy and I was still tired after my late night on Thursday.

After this short break, we went for a walk along a trail by the campsite to find some waterfalls. It was a short trail, but it did take us to several waterfalls and along a surprisingly fast river. We also saw some people on ponies doing the trail.

That was our adventuring for the day, but we did go back and light a fire for the night and cook some s'mores. 

The next morning we had a lazy morning with some time in the hammock, and then packed up to go home. As we were driving, we went through Julian which has the apple pies, but decided it was too early for lunch. Although, once we'd been through the town and had driven a little further through the reservation, we realised we actually were quite hungry, so when we saw a sign for a restaurant on the side of the road, we pulled over. It turned out to be a cute little Mexican restaurant with a lovely patio and we enjoyed our lunch there. 

Once we got home and showed, we had an early dinner, and then Mitchell set off to his improv show. He picked up a few international buddies on the way and had a good show, although the group performing before his was apparently one of the weirdest and worst things he's ever seen. 

A busy weekend, but fun filled!

Lots of love

Emily and Mitchell 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx