Palomar Mountain News

Jim was a familiar and beloved presence on Palomar Mountain for many years. His parents, Earl and Helen, had Tom Fortney build the “Big Green” home you see coming up the South Grade, a place that became both a landmark and a reflection of the deep roots their family planted there. They broke ground thirty years ago on the snowy Monday, the day after Easter in 1996. The mountain was more than scenery to Jim; it was part of who he was, woven into his daily life and cherished memories. What follows is a heartfelt tribute to Jim from his sister, Linda Fortney.

A NOTE OF PASSING

   James Lee Walls, of Poway, CA passed peacefully in his sleep, on December 25, 2025.  He was 73 years old.  Jim was born on February 21, 1952, to Helen Parker and Earl Lee Walls, in Charleston, West Virginia.  At the age of 2 his family moved to St. Louis, MO before settling in La Jolla, CA in 1963 where Jim’s father worked with Jonas Salk in designing the Salk Institute.

    Between graduating from high school and finishing college at USIU Jim developed a love for flying, horses and dirt.  He got his pilot’s license, a horse and a tractor.  His piloting skills led to many happy hours in the sky.  The horse led him to Brown’s Ranch in the late ‘70s where he met his future wife, Allison Marsh.  They married and had two children, Justin Parker and Jessica Lee.  They settled in Poway, CA where they continued their love for horses, both at The Horse Park (Rancho Peñasquitos) and Poway Valley Rider’s Association (PVRA) where Jim served a term as chairman of the Poway Rodeo.  For many years they had Belgian draft horses and ran a successful hayride business as well as hauling trash at the Del Mar Fair every summer.  They were heavily involved with the Equestrian Program at the Fair.  His love of dirt led him to become a licensed Civil Engineering contractor and was known as a master on a skip loader and bulldozer.

    Jim worked for a number of years for his father’s company, Earl Walls Associates (EWA).

    As an adult Jim found a love in fighting fire as a dozer operator.  He spent many hours and years moving dirt, cutting fire roads, protecting firefighters and property.  Working with his son in the Fire Corps as well as the private sector was a happy time for him.  After Jim’s Dad built a home on Palomar Mountain Jim found his peace in the wilderness.

    Preceded in death by his parents, Helen (2000) and Earl (2012), as well as his brother Richard (2013).  He is survived by his wife Lissa Dennick, his sister Linda Fortney (Thomas) of Escondido/Palomar Mountain, his son Justin Walls (Patricia) of Solana Beach, his daughter Jessica Walls (Crane) of Poway, granddaughters Cadence and Leighton Reed of Poway, and Audrey Walls of Houston, Tx.  Survivors also include the mother of Justin and Jessica, Allison Smith, many nieces, nephews, cousins and a great many friends who were, and are, considered family.

   His ashes are to be scattered during a private family service with a public Celebration of Life to be scheduled at a later date.  In lieu of flowers the family is requesting that any donations be made to Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council (PMFSC), PO Box 274, Palomar Mountain, CA 92060

Palomar has the most beautiful sunsets. Valentine colors showed up just in time this week. Pretty spoiled with the views from my desk. This holiday is known for flowers. A few years ago I stopped the car real quick to snap this photo I just found tucked away at the Litchfield Cabin; A bouquet for you!

Lots to Love on this Mountain!

Bonnie Phelps, Realtor for all the Holidays

760-533-1742

After 26 years in real estate, it was time for new signs. Some of these have yellowed with age and weathered years of strong winds and storms, but each one holds a story. Looking through them brings back so many good memories.

I’ve met wonderful people along the way and have loved watching cabins, homes, and ranches come back to life through thoughtful updates and remodels. It’s been especially rewarding to see owners design and build new homes on the few remaining buildable parcels of vacant land, turning long-held dreams into reality and capturing those incredible views.

With several new listings coming up, these signs will be put to use real soon. There are a few extra now. Questions? Let’s connect.

Bonnie Phelps, Realtor, installing signs since the beginning of the Century

760-533-1742

We were one of the last hold-outs. ATT told me they plan to cancel all land lines by October of this year. Here is a little update for those of you who might be in the same position:

I used our 742 number to dial out as my cell phone can be a little spotty. Alas, with all the work ATT did over the holidays on State Park Road, we had dial tone only 6 weeks out of 8. It was fixed once, but went out again. A nice repairman came twice in one day saying he wasn’t able to get us working again. He happened to mention that he noticed in the box down the road that 22 locations in our area were not operational. My guess was that we were the last ones in the neighborhood to finally cancel our 742 land line service.

When I called to cancel, I was told we could keep our number and forward it to my cell. That sounded just fine. They said it would take 2 to 3 days to activate and was $11.00 a month. I waited a few days, called again. They fiddled around with it and said it would now take 5 days and it would roll to my cell. I tried again… no luck. The last time I called, I was on the phone with them for 2 1/2 hours. Apparently they told me I should not have asked to ‘cancel’ our service. Even though the “Forever number” was set up in the same call, that rep cancelled our service first and it would have to be re-activated but now a wait time of 30 days. Soooo… land line number no more.

Do you still have a 742 land line? ATT also said you can have an option for a second phone with your number that works off Wi-Fi for $51.00 a month. It didn’t sound exciting to me to have two phones to keep track of and they promised the same 30 day wait time. If you do plan to keep your number, be sure to not say the word ‘cancel’ during your call.

So, you might want to plan ahead and see how to make phone service work up here with just your cell. Just a tip.

Meanwhile, you can always reach me on my cell!

Bonnie Phelps, Realtor on my ‘Forever Number”:

760-533-1742

From Cecelia Borland and Mike Pique:

Who are you rooting for in the Superbowl?

Everyone is invited to the Second Annual Superbowl Party at the Community Center. Come join your neighbors for food and fun with your mountain neighbors.

2 pm on Sunday, Feb. 8. at the Community Center next to the Fire Department.

Bring your friends and favorite munchies – no alcohol, please, and leave your pets at home.

May the best team win!

It is pretty common to see a post about a mis-delivered package. It is also pretty common when I look up directions for my new listings to see they are incorrect. For many years the directions were perfect to get to our place, but now mapping programs often take people to the wrong location. What to do?

Here are three suggestions to hopefully get your packages delivered to you:

1. Check and correct your address with the mapping programs – list to follow. It’s pretty easy, just time consuming. Add notes to include the white reflective Road Marker numbers on Crestline and Birch Hill and include comments like “driveway entrance is off XYZ road” as apparently this helps GPS routing better than just moving a pin. You might check directions to neighbor’s properties and if they are incorrect, ask them to submit the same correction as multiple submissions sometimes get reviewed faster.
2. Update your address with your local county GIS or 911 addressing authority as many mapping apps pull data from these public systems.
3. Have your packages mailed to the Post Office. I spoke with David at our Palomar Mountain PO. He said you just need to use the address for the PO which is: 33124 Canfield Road, PO Box #____ Palomar Mountain, CA 92060. You must include your box number! He will have it in a locker for you or store behind the counter. It is important you pick it up in a timely manner and all should be well.

Here is info for you on the different apps you might want to check and correct. (Just a heads-up; MapQuest told me my correction could take a few months to show up as their correction department is backed up…)

These are mapping and navigation apps commonly used by delivery drivers — alternatives to MapQuest, Apple Maps, and Google Maps that are good for routing, traffic, and deliveries:

🚗 Navigation / Routing Apps

1. Waze – Community-based traffic updates, speed-trap alerts, re-routing around slow traffic.
2. HERE WeGo – Offline maps and good routing; useful in low-connectivity areas.
3. Sygic GPS Navigation – Offline maps, truck routing options (height/weight limits), dashcam integration.
4. TomTom GO Navigation – Premium offline maps, lifetime updates, truck mode.
5. Garmin Drive/Truck GPS – Dedicated device/app combo with advanced routing (hazardous materials, truck restrictions).
6. CoPilot GPS – Specifically strong for professional and truck drivers with customizable routing.
7. MapFactor Navigator – Free offline maps with truck and caravan routing support.
8. OsmAnd – Open-street-map based with offline capability and detailed POIs.

🚚 Apps with Delivery-Specific Features

9. Circuit Route Planner – Designed for delivery drivers; optimizes multi-stop routes.
10. Route4Me – Enterprise-grade route planning and dispatch optimization.
11. Onfleet – Delivery management and driver tracking (requires fleet account).
12. RoadWarrior – Route optimization with time windows and delivery sequencing.
13. Track-POD – Delivery proof of delivery + optimized routing.

🛵 Ride/Delivery Platform Navigation

14. Uber Driver Navigation – Built into Uber app for deliveries/ride requests.
15. DoorDash / Grubhub / Instacart In-App Navigation – Uses integrated directions tailored to orders.

Hope this helps with all the different delivery guys that are up here most every day.

Thinking of listing your cabin, home, ranch or land? I’ve got you covered for package delivery and a whole lot more!

Bonnie Phelps, Realtor

760-533-1742

Do you have trees with small ‘D’ shaped holes like you see in this photo? This was taken on Crestline where there are quite a few oaks that have thinned and show signs of perhaps becoming firewood very quickly.

Join in on the online Zoom Event this Friday morning:

GSOB Solutions – Lessons Learned – Jan 16, 9AM

Gold Spotted Oak Borer Management

GSOB Solutions: Lessons Learned from Ten Years on the Front Lines

Saving the Most Trees at the Lowest Possible Cost

January 16, 2026 • 9:00-11:00 AM

Hosted by the
Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego

Online Zoom Event

Registration Required. Simply click here and sign up – free of charge: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tX5SGrUpTiqJClcj93evxw

Join UC wildlife biologist Dr. Tom Scott and arborist Bret Hutchinson and USFS Regional Entomologist Stacy Hishinuma as they share practical, hands-on tools and techniques they use to successfully combat the Gold Spotted Oak Borer (GSOB). Their guidance draws on years of field experience leading the Oak Grove GSOB Project and work at other sites throughout San Diego County.

This event follows the recent 10th Annual Oak Grove Community Tree Survey, a critical component of the project’s strategy for managing GSOB infestations. Dr. Scott and Mr. Hutchinson will present the latest inspection findings and outline their action plan for the upcoming spring emergence season.

Their boots-on-the-ground experience with GSOB will benefit landowners, land managers, and community stakeholders who are beginning—or continuing— their efforts to address GSOB. The event provides a forum for learning how to save the greatest number of trees at the lowest possible cost.

After about five inches of rain we were having a very quiet New Years Day with neighbors ’round the woodstove. When the storm broke a bit, we looked out through the clouds and saw a big flock of turkeys. We normally see turkeys pecking for grubs while traveling on their route through our property a couple times a day. Today I counted 37 birds from my desk! We’ve lived here since 1998 and I don’t remember this many at one time in our neck of the woods! Apparently this much-needed rain brought a couple flocks together to celebrate.

A few minutes later five deer showed up and they hung with the turkeys for a few hours together. Such a beautiful view and a reminder about how special Palomar Mountain truly is.

Would you like to meet the locals? Glad to have you come for a visit.

All the best for your New Year ahead!

Bonnie and Don and our Forest Friends

760-533-1742