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It was time to seek out a touch of civilization—and air conditioning! After breakfast and another morning of bouncing around the boulders behind the cabin, we cleaned up and headed south to the town of Julian. Julian is famous for a few things, including being an old gold-mining town, being the closest thing to a city for miles around, having cell phone reception (!!), and last but far from least—apple pie. By the time we arrived, the first order of business was lunch. I had a hankering for Mexican food, and as if fate were listening, a billboard advertising Margaritas was draped across a restaurant called, apparently, "Margaritas" (or it could have been "Restaurant").

Margaritas… it's not just a name

We had decent Mexican food and (I had) a great margarita…

…and moved on to explore the town. Julian's main businesses seem to be apple pie cafés and curios shops, so we explored a few and enjoyed a delicious slice of pie before heading back to the lake.

Back at the cabin, we chose to spend the afternoon exploring the local rocks and trees. We discovered three Indian grinding rocks (aka mortar and pestle) and we gathered a few leaves and some herbs from the kitchen to grind up in the ancient mortars for fun!

Ancient Indian grinding stone… in our own backyard

As evening drew closer and the air cooled, we walked down to the lake for the first time. Virtually no one was about except for a few picnickers and a set of fishermen, so we had the run of the lake 'beach' to ourselves. The kids enjoyed hours of chasing birds and bugs, battling for supremacy with sticks and swords, and otherwise finding every last muck puddle in the reservoir. We kept our eyes open for the Lake Henshaw Bald Eagles, but never did spot them. Apparently the pair have a baby now, which is very exciting indeed.

Lake Henshaw

The day closed as mellow as it had begun, with a late pasta dinner and popcorn for desert.