Camping in Julian (William Heise County Park)

Tori and I left work early Friday afternoon to drive out to Julian for our camping trip. After we passed the San Diego Safari Park on Highway 78, a police roadblock diverted us off the main highway and onto Bandy Canyon Road. The detour through Escondido Wine Country added a half hour to our route but it was a very pretty drive winding through the vineyard covered hills west of Ramona.

Shelli, Kim, Mary and Brad were already at the campsites when we arrived at the William Heise County Park at 7:30pm. It was nice that it was still light out when we set up our tent. As we hung out together at Site 98, Kim prepared Pulled Chicken Sandwiches for us while Shelli grilled Corncobs over the fire. Both were delicious. Kurt arrived after dark and joined us drinking beers and cider around the campfire.

In the morning, we all drove into Julian for breakfast at Granny's Kitchen. The weather was perfect outside on the patio as we watched the red,white and blue bunting go up around town in preparation for the July 4th weekend. (I highly recommend the French Toast they make with Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread from Dudley's Bakery.) After returning and hanging out at our campsite for a few hours before Mary and Brad left, we went back out to Julian Station in Wynola for a cider tasting at Julian Hard Cider. We also tried a tasting of mead from Golden Coast Mead. (It reminded me of a sparkling white wine.) After beer and shuffleboard at The Cooler, we headed back to the campgrounds where we spotted a Mule Deer at the entrance.

Kurt joined Tori and I for a late afternoon hike on the Desert View Trail as the temperatures cooled. The first half of the 2.25 mile loop was a steep climb through 900 feet of elevation to the top of the surrounding hills. During the frequent stops to catch our breath we took in the beautiful green landscape punctuated by the bleached white branches of the countless dead trees left over from the 2003 Cedar Fire. Reaching Glen's View at the top, (4,940 feet) we had a nice view of the Anza-Borrego Desert in the distance. The rest of the looping trail descended slowly along the westward ridge back to camp.

We arrived back at camp to find Kim waking up from a nap and Shelly cooking her Peach Cobbler on the campfire. I was so starving that I ended up eating three of Kim's Sloppy Joe's sandwiches and a huge serving of Shelli's cobbler. (It was slightly burnt on top but I liked the added campfire flavor.) The campgrounds have coin-operated showers so it felt great to wash up after our dusty hike. The showers cost a quarter per two minutes and were nice and warm. I only wish they had more than one hook in each shower stall.

We slept much better on Saturday night before we packed up and drove home Sunday morning. We stopped at Dudley's Bakery on the way for fresh bread and cookies.

Fun at the AcroYoga Jam

For the first time at today's AcroYoga Jam at Aerial Revolution, I based the entire time without a folded towel under my hips to compensate for my tight hamstrings. I still have a noticeable bend in my knees, but I hope I can achieve straight legs soon so I can stack my bones to support the flyer instead of muscling it the entire time.

Tori and I have been practicing the Form 2 poses we started learning in our AcroYoga class before I got hurt. We pretty much have them all down now except for the One Legged Bird Pops. They are pretty pathetic at the moment. During today's Jam, Tori and I pulled off our first tough transition from Form 3 with the Back Plank to Star.

Trapeze High - Memorial Day BBQ

After an overcast and gloomy weekend, the sun finally came out for the Memorial Day BBQ at Trapeze High this Monday. Since Tori and I were among the first arrivals, I took turns shooting arrows into the crash mat re-purposed into an archery target. After a few practice shots, I was able to sink most of my arrows around the circular target with one hitting inches from the bulls-eye.

When others arrived, a group of us climbed the ladder to fly on the Trapeze Rig. After a couple warm-up swings, I threw my Splits for the first time without practicing it in safety lines first. Except for some minor whiplash on my first drop to the net, I remembered how to perform the trick despite not attempting it in over six months. My shoulder was not bothering me at all, so I worked on my Backend Planche and Lianna offered to climb up to the catch trap for me. We caught all three attempts even though I may have been a bit grabby. It felt great to fly again.

At 2:30, Chris fired up the BBQ and grilled up the large variety of burgers, steaks, pork chops, sausages and kebabs. After eating and catching up with everybody, a second group went up for another round of trapeze. I am glad I flew before I ate such a big meal since there were too many delicious deserts to ignore. Chris showed off some of his best tricks and it was great to see Dave flying as well instead of coaching and pulling lines for other flyers.

Near the end of the party one of the guests got a quick lesson and flew for the first time. Normally a beginner swings many times in a class before being caught at the end but Chris went up to catch her Knee Hang after her second swing. It took two tries but she pulled it off. Below are more videos of flying trapeze plus Kenny and Tommy messing around on a Kiddie Trike.