Week 2 of spring break was a fun one! Jip took Thursday and Friday off, so we took a mini two-day vacay.
To start off our vacay on Thursday, RJ, Ryleigh, and I introduced Jip to John's Incredible Pizza. We enjoyed the buffet and played some games. After the kids were good and worn out, we got in Berry and headed toward Borrego Springs. Sort of. We decided to take a scenic route instead of a direct route, and went far enough east to catch the Imperial Highway, which runs northwest into the Anza-Borrego Desert. We checked into our hotel and immediately got ready to go to the pool. But, while everyone was getting dressed, I took a look at the guide book that was in our hotel room. In the middle of the book was an article and map about giant sculptures south and north of Borrego Springs. We decided that we had to go look at least a few between the pool and dinner.
The sculptures ranged from prehistoric creatures to people to a saguaro cactus.
Did I mention that a number of these sculptures were nowhere near the main road? So, we had to get Berry a little dirty and take some sandy trails to get up close and personal with the sculptures.
When it was getting too dark to see any more sculptures, we headed to the center of town to find some dinner. We found a yummy place with a waiter who was one of 9 kids--so he was always one step ahead, from crackers to hold them over while their meals came out to the extra napkins just in the nick of time.
On Friday, we hit the pool again after breakfast. Then, it was back in the car to go over the hill(s) and up into the mountains to Julian. For you Colorado people, Julian is a mountain town much like Cripple Creek--it had a big boom, then just a few hearty souls stuck with it after the boom went bust. Anyway, we had a nice little lunch in the center of town, and then we headed back east a couple miles to Smith Ranch.
Smith Ranch is home to a family who bought the land and then discovered an abandoned gold mine on their property. The mine had filled back in over the years with dirt that had eroded from farther up the hill. So, the family began digging it out and decided to turn the whole property into a learning/money-making opportunity. They laid metal track and found a bunch of old mining cars, three old electric train engines, and many more artifacts, and they created a slightly cheesy, but fun-for-the-kids place to learn about mining and more.
We took the train on a little tour of the property and stopped right outside the mine entrance. We had a little lecture on tools of the time, some history of the area, and mining techniques. The group split up because it was so big, with half going to a little playground the family built for their grandchildren and the other half going into the mine. Then we swapped.
After the mine tour, the kids got to pan for gold. They then exchanged their "gold" nuggets for licorice. They got to see if they could lift a brick of gold (lead painted gold) and learn why the Pony Express only carried letters (and not gold). After all that, we hopped back on the train and headed back to the beginning. The kids loved it! It wasn't anything like the Mollie Kathleen mine tour, but it did the trick for my 4-year-old and 2-year-old.
We took another scenic drive home on the Sunrise Highway. It was so chilly through that area that there was still snow along the sides of the road. Snow. In San Diego County. Weird.
The rest of the weekend was routine for us. Ryleigh had music class. RJ took another building class at Home Depot and made a bird bath. We enjoyed seeing an old friend from college on Saturday night. And, we played.
Speaking of playing, RJ is soooo close to riding his bike on his own. Enjoy the video of his various attempts today. And, have a good giggle at Ryleigh chasing RJ and Jip.
Overall, it was a great spring break! But, I'm ready to find our routine again. It's back to school tomorrow for RJ and back to work for Jip.
Looks like a good time was had by all =) The train at the mine is adorable.
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