title Route 78: A Drive Around the San Diego Mountains, California, US - 9th August 2005 intro It's the third working trip to San Diego this year, and it's a very short one, but after a few hours of meetings at head office, Nosher still manages to head out in a convertible v-8 Mustang to tour the mountains of San Diego, in the Cleveland National Forest and the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. The route (after an unintended wander around the myriad seemingly-identical freeways in order to get started) takes in Routes 78 and 79, a few minor roads and a return back up Interstate 8 - a total of around 120 miles. There's a song, "It Never Rains in California", which in this case was not entirely correct, as just the other side of the small town of Julian, CA, menacing and scary clouds rolled in consuming the mountain tops before them: the weather changed from bright sunshine to end-of-the-world dark, cloudy skies in less than an hour. imgp8648 A patriotic shed just outside Ramona imgp8650 The patriotic shed, and a stop sign imgp8652 Postboxes on sticks, on Littlepage Lane imgp8654 A fork in the road imgp8656 Scrub by the side of the road imgp8659 Desertey scrub imgp8660 R-78 and an emergency phone imgp8662 R-78 heads to the mountains imgp8663 The hire car - a V-8 Mustang convertible imgp8671 R-78 winds down into Santa Ysabel imgp8675 A Santa Ysable real-estate agent imgp8677 The Santa Ysabel general store imgp8678 The porch of the general store imgp8681 Rusting farm machinery, with a Farmall tractor imgp8683 An antique shop with a whole heap of stuff outside imgp8687 More rusting equipment imgp8689 A derelict cart props a sign up imgp8694 A big "sem-eye" hauls a trailer-full of beer imgp8695 David Huls' Scrimshaw Studio on R-78 imgp8700 There are a couple of 50s pickups in the yard imgp8706 The pleasant, almost-twee town of Julian imgp8708 Julian's town hall imgp8709 Empty bench and ice machine imgp8710 Covered sidewalks imgp8712 The old Julian Garage, from 1917 imgp8713 A horse and buggy trots down the road imgp8714 A classic yellow fire hydrant imgp8716 A Julian crossroads imgp8719 The W. E. Cole building: Pistols and Petticoats imgp8721 A small-town liquor store imgp8724 Dark skies amass behind a house on a hill imgp8728 A wind-driven water pump imgp8741 Burned-out shrubs imgp8743 The darks skies loom over Cuyamaca imgp8751 Desert scrub in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park imgp8757 Bush fires a few years ago have left their mark imgp8765 Scary clouds imgp8769 More skeletal trees imgp8774 Sunset over a mountain imgp8797 More sunset action imgp8800 The Mustang hire-car by the roadside imgp8813 Frosty Burger in Guatay, near I-8 imgp8815 Lights from a gas station reflect in the wet tarmac imgp8817 Closed: No Loitering imgp8822 A closed, but brightly-lit shop in the dark imgp8824 The view from the hotel room imgp8825 Eucalyptus tree imgp8830 Prickly Pear cactus imgp8834 The curious erosion of Torrey Pine imgp8846 Dennis Hernandez looks out imgp8853 The calm Pacific ocean imgp8872 Sunset over the Pacific imgp8893 A nighttime view from the hotel window imgp8895 For some reason, this sign was amusing imgp8896 A stretch limo comes to pick Nosher up imgp8898 Nosher's feet in a stretch limo imgp8901 A school bus on the highway imgp8905 The I-5 is rammed in both directions