Wouldn’t it have been fun to meet Nate Harrison? A smiling face, greeting travelers coming up the grade, with his fresh spring water. Click to read a little about this friendly neighbor who became a legend from days gone by.
Thank you Jamey for sending the link our way! Some of you might remember Jamey and Hanna Kirby who owned Nate’s homestead, oh, about 15 years ago. We have such great memories ’round their campfire and dinner table. I’ll never forget Jamey on the kitchen floor of their off-grid cabin, carefully watching the broiler until the crème brulee was perfect! Years prior, he was working in France with Microsoft so decided to go to Chef School. We were so glad he did!
Well, I had a heck of a day yesterday. I was working down on the land that is new to me, placing a stake to mark the boundary. My dog, Siggy was up the hill somewhere, when all of a sudden I heard screaming or a screeching sound. Like a big bird was attacking or being attacked by something. I called Siggy thinking she got into it with some kind of raptor, when suddenly two large birds flew right over me, circling overhead. And they continued this screeching, but I had never heard this sound on my land before. Different from a hawk. Then I saw them, two Bald Eagles. Amazing. I didn’t know we had those here. I snapped about five pictures above and through the trees and, luckily, managed to get one of them in flight in only one picture. And since there were two of them, chasing each other around and screeching, there may be a nest on my land. That is extremely rare, with only one found in San Diego County between 1930 and 2005. And only a few found since then.
What a noisy bunch! Lots of gobbling going on so I looked out the window and saw the biggest flock of turkeys ever. I counted 27 but they were moving so fast there might have been even more. In our 26 years of living on Palomar, this is the most I’ve seen at one time. Always so fun!
The clouds rolled in this morning, too. Always ever-changing. Whatever your view, where ever you are, enjoy your Valentine Weekend!
Just got a call back from Ron Bowen. He and Debbie live in the city and have been out of town, I hadn’t seen Ron out and about. But he is up here plowing again to help catch up and get folks opened up.
For those of you who are off-mountain, last week, we had the most snow on the ground in over a decade. We were right at about 15 inches and then on Thursday night the forecast called for two more over night with ‘heavy rain’ on Friday. Well, we got 5 inches over night and a good 10 inches of snow on Friday. So, that made about 30 inches to deal with.
Friends were up and built snow tunnels that were enjoyed by lots more kids for several days. So much sledding fun with that much snow and we ended up with lights on for after-dark fun, too. But, if you are still hoping to drive in or out, you now have have two options for opening up. Be sure to leave a message for these busy guys if they don’t answer live:
Ron Bowen cell 619 206-3347 or at the cabin 760-742-2468
First Place Prize for leaving trash on Palomar goes to the guy who wishes he still had it!!! Over these past 20 + years, I’ve dealt with some interesting trash. Let’s see, there was the queen mattress over the side on State Park Road, a car battery, all the mittens, broken sleds and regular stuff, but this car fender won the prize.
Every time someone calls for a snow report, among other things, I always remind them to come prepared to take their own trash back with them. When I saw this lovely piece of trash I felt sorry for the guy who had planned to take it back, but from the looks of it, it might not have been an option.
I pulled over, put the smaller pieces in my car, thinking I’d wait for the next local to stop and help lift the fender with me. What a surprise! Made out of plastic, I picked it up with one hand. It topped off our dumpster quite nicely.
Yes, to any ‘flatlanders’ wondering, we do still have snow and we do hope you get to take back everything you bring up to our beautiful mountain.
It was new dryer time at Cabin Fever Vacation Rental on Palomar! B&B Appliance in Escondido didn’t let a little bit of snow stop them. They are family owned and have been in business for 52 years. Here is their website and they are just a quick call away.
The driveway was plowed and we were in luck as the current guest offered to shovel the deck!
Thinking of a few days away? You might consider Cabin Fever – a nice, new dryer is waiting for you!
Palomar Mountain has been treated to a beautiful snow. We’re up here on snow alert! About 16 inches fell from our last storms. Yesterday’s forecast had promised more snow then it changed to ‘heavy rain’. But look at the forecast now! Maybe up to 11 more inches by Friday night? Here is another Palomar weather Station. Ohmygoodness! Time will tell which one is the most accurate.
Meanwhile, if you are thinking of coming up for some snow fun, please carefully read through ‘Snow Tips’. In addition, here is the latest scoop:
Four Wheel Drive vehicles are the very best – you might consider renting them. You MUST have chains. CHP may require you install your chains before coming up the grade.
Visiting mid-week has a lot fewer tourists up than on weekends. Arriving very early in the morning is always better than later in the day. We have very limited parking. The County Road crews have been working around the clock and today brought in more equipment and pushed the snow further off the sides of the main roads in anticipation of even more.
The General Store is the ONLY place open up on Palomar. (Please patronize them!) However, Mother’s Kitchen is closed so you’ll want to bring your own lunch. Observatory is closed. State Park has hiking only.
Be sure to plan to take all your trash back with you.
A trash-free mountain would be very nice. We don’t have ‘city employees’ to clean up trash. We don’t even have public trash cans. Clean up is left to the locals that hike around and have picked up way to much trash over the years. Thank you for your help to keep Palomar the special place it is.
Questions? Glad to get them answered. A phone call is usually the quickest.
Bonnie Phelps, Four Season Realtor having lots of fun in the Snow
When San Diego County Fire is called upon to help during emergencies, their mission is clear. To reach those in need, as quickly and safely as possible.
Sometimes, they must overcome barriers. Locked doors are among those barriers, when residents cannot reach them due to their conditions.
The Residential KnoxBox Program is designed to give residents a back-up plan to be accessible during crisis.
Qualifying residents will receive a lock box at no cost. Inside, a spare house key can be stored for access by County Fire during emergencies. County Fire will install the box.
Click to learn about who qualifies and how to apply.
Most of you are watching the the forecast for strong winds, a tease of rain and snow and now more snowflakes next week, too.
Our Treasures (grandkids) have been here during the first of this blistery storm to help bring in firewood, “button down the hatches” and get the horse all situated in his stable. It was like being in a very dramatic reality show. The wind was so loud and strong and several times fun flurries of wanna-be-snow arrived on State Park Road. A couple hours later I talked to Cecilia Borland out on Birch Hill. They hadn’t had wind at all. Crazy times! Everything is calm now with sunny sky. We’ve gathered up the sleds that had blown all around, picked up a few downed branches and are ready for the next storm.
The wind over the past few days was so much stronger than the last time we had a planned power outage. Thankfully we all kept our power this time. However, speaking of outages, some of you on Crestline and Birch Hill may have a planned power outage 8 am to noon-ish Friday.
Looking out from my desk, I love to watch this flag.
When the owners of this charming knotty pine cabin decided to sell, I just had to kidnap a neighbor to see. I thought it would be perfect for you. She owned 68 acres that she’d had off and on the market for a couple years. She did love the cabin, but even with so many showings and a couple offers, the land hadn’t sold. So, the cabin went active. Lots of folks toured, several offers. Then, the owners decided to take the cabin off the market over the holidays. They had family coming that would be enjoying using it during the snow.
Ring, ring!
Withdrawing listings always seems to really get my phone to ring. So, I slipped a few folks in. The last couple were looking forward to moving here full time, so escrow was opened. Alas, their doctor in LA didn’t feel the same way. Mr. Buyer had a surgery scheduled and would have such long long drives back and forth for physical therapy. They reluctantly cancelled their contract. By now the cabin owners decided to make some changes with the staging and wanted to keep it off-market a little longer. (Take a look at the new pix!)
Meanwhile, quite a few of you have toured the beautiful 68 acres. After a couple of offers that didn’t work out, the seller decided to keep it as a getaway for her family. As soon as I withdrew the listing, my phone started ringing again! Five calls in two days and then a buyer who submitted an offer in November saw it slipping away and decided to play his hand again. He won!
Isn’t it interesting how everything always seems to work out? We have a nice, new family with great plans for the 68 acres, and the seller? Well, you guessed it, she can hardly sleep at night thinking about very fun ideas for decorating the knotty pine cabin that she has in escrow!
But, there is more!
A couple years ago a young man came up to look at properties … and stayed for dinner. We get to see him quite often. His family lives on the east coast. We met in the fall and they came again over Christmas. We had so much fun. After looking at homes in two other states, they wanted to see what Palomar had to offer, but nothing was for sale. We walked around the outside of this one. I can hardly wait to tell the rest of the story, but for now, it looks like they will be new neighbors in about a month!
A couple is coming up for a tour in the morning. I have a few sets of keys but nothing in their price range. I am glad to always give a tour and get folks familiar with our fun mountain community, but it should would be nice to have a few doors to open that they could actually make their own.
So, Real Estate is crazy busy! Great time to sell!! You’ve got questions? It would be a pleasure to get them answered.
Palomar Mountain News 