Julian’s Apple Pie

Today was somewhat of a chore day here in sunny Southern California. But since it was a lovely 80 degrees with not a cloud in the sky, no one here is complaining.

Bobby threw himself at the mercy of the laundromat while Elise and I worked our way through fractions and adding nines. I have a really hard time explaining concepts sometimes. I know what I am thinking in my head and it makes complete sense to me. It’s the getting the point across to my reluctant student that’s the hard part! Luckily, Elise was able to decipher my mutterings and we made it through.

The afternoon was spent in Julian, a mountain town about 45 minutes away from here. We are apparently supposed to take the trailer up this pass, called Banner Grade, when we leave here on Friday, but after driving it without Shackleton, we are reconsidering our possibilities. It wouldn’t be fair to call these curves S-curves. They are more like the sine curve, with constant peaks and troughs. There are signs as you slog up the mountain that ask the slow traffic to use the pull outs. These consist of very short dirt shoulders that take you to the edge of the mountain cliff with no guardrail. No thank you. One of the other driving options is to go up Montezuma Grade. Sounds promising, doesn’t it?



Julian is a lovely small town, with a quaint main street. This town was a mining community hub in the late 1800s for a short time. Once the townsfolk realized that the mines weren’t producing much of anything, the town became known for the apples it grew. Now all of the eating establishments in Julian sell apple pie, candy apples, apple turnovers, apple dumplings, caramel apples – you get the idea.


And this is the hill on top of the mountain!

Before we went for our apple pie, we visited a used bookstore (no Trixie Beldens, I’m afraid) and did a little shopping at a great candy store. This place had it all: bulk candy, Jelly Bellies, rows and rows of licorice candies, toffee flavored candies, bags and bags of chocolates in all flavors and varieties, old fashioned candy (horehound candies, candy cigarettes, Teaberry gum), and all the newfangled stuff kids like these days (gummy pizzas, liquid lollipops, and Harry Potter Acid Pops). I lost a bet to Elise and Bobby and owed them each a candy something. What better place to pay up than here?

Julian Pie Company was where we chose to try the pie. I had the classic apple pie with vanilla ice cream on top and Bobby was about to have the same pie but with melted cheddar cheese instead (remember the whole “no ice cream for Lent” thing?) when I pointed out the strawberry rhubarb pie. Both were delicious. Elise didn’t want pie, she just wanted to eat her candy. Being the good parents that we are, we made her eat a doughnut first. Anything to slow down the sugar!