Of Rohan and Apple Cherry Pie

This past weekend we enjoyed a delightful visit from Toshi, who had a short break from school before his next semester begins. We decided (we being Enoch, Toshi, Curtis, myself, and the kids), after much heated discussion on the relative merits of going rafting and snorkling in the ocean (the raft only had a tiny hole--I was all for it, but was outvoted), to go check out the town of Julian, which is about an hour and a half away from us. Julian is famous in these parts for their apple pies and beautiful scenery. The countryside up there was indeed beautiful! Lots of trees and greenery, a quaint town, and yes, delicious apple pie, which Curtis was kind enough to treat us to--we all grabbed a fork and just dug in--much more efficient the bothering with plates, and slicing and whatnot. After our DELICIOUS apple cherry pie (did I mention it had cherries in it? Well it did.), we drove to the library where we got the insider scoop on good hiking trails. And was the one we tried ever good. Easy hike over gently rolling hills...trees and the occasional boulder surrounding us on all sides, and even a picturesque little stream off to the side. Enoch said it reminded him of Rohan from Lord of the Rings. We only had a moment or two of angst when we had to traverse through a herd of cattle, which included a bull standing off to the side nonchalantly munching on the grass while pretending not to notice us. I could see his eyeballs following us and sizing us up though, trying to determine if we were worth the amusement he could offer his herd by chasing us down. He must have decided we looked like more bother then we were worth, because we made it through the herd safely and on our merry way.

Anyway, it was a lovely little hike, and I can't wait to go back. I hope to someday live in a place like that! What a dream.