In Search Of The Famous Julian Pie Company---Part-1

Yesterday dawned cool,crisp and sunny,so a nice drive up into the mountains was in order.

And why not to visit the famous "Julian Pie Company"in the town of Santa Ysabel,sitting high up in the mountains between Borrego Springs and San Diego.

Many People think that the pie factory is in Julian,but is not the case.There are many restaurants in the area that bare the pie company name and that fools many people.

The first pic is as I climb above the valley floor.You can see our r.v. location at the base of the smaller hill in the background,right where it comes down to meet the valley floor.Taken from 1000 ft above the desert.

This shot was taken at the 3000 ft level.You can see the Salton Sea in the distance about 30 miles away.

We are closer to 4000 ft now with this zoomed shot of the Salton sea in the background.

S22 is a nice smooth secondary road that winds up out of the desert,with many pull outs for slow traffic.

We reach the top,just over 4000 feet and head down into a wide valley 1000 feet below.(I keep using the term "we" but am alone.)

Down in the valley.If you look closely to the mountain top,directly above the road...You will see the white dome of the Mount Palomar Telescope.

This is typical scenery for the high country,with many of these old oak trees along the highway creating nice shade.Many areas had large puffy pine trees also.

This shot was taken along highway 79 between Temecula and Santa Ysabel,at around 3200ft.Nice and warm for 60 degrees with no wind.This area does have a distinct 4 seasons.

Alas! We have found it although its not easy to miss because Santa Ysabel is a small crossroads village of about 500 people.

Business must be good as there are at least 2 delivery trucks.I wouldn't be surprised if there are more as these pies are well known in all of southern California.

Here is the bakery part to the rear of the building.

And the pic below is the reception area where I bought an un- sugared, natural flavor apple pie along with an apple cake. And an apple walnut muffin and iced tea for my lunch break.

These pies don't come cheap at $12.95 but are good, and besides....It's a "been there...done that"...sorta thing anyway.

You can buy pie by the slice also if you don't want the whole thing.Either way,its been 10 years since I last visited this place with dear wife Marlene and good friend's Murray and Denise,so it was a little trip down memory lane.

Tomorrow in part 2,I will continue this exciting saga(ho hum)as we travel up to the town of Julian,and return to the desert by a different route.