Palomar Mountain News

Thank you for asking!

Two new listings are coming up.  We’re very busy staging, finishing some remodeling, updating, cleaning and both have had needed tree work done.  A couple days ago, those two standing dead firs in the middle of a view were put on the ground. Extra patio furniture at a log house was looking to be re-homed.  The seller at the cabin-on-the-way came to the rescue.  We helped load the furniture, then got involved with dragging slash for the chipper.  A 16 foot cedar log was located to replace a broken one on a fence, so there was more slash to clean up.  Lots of fun, back and forth in the dusty Polaris…  I suddenly remembered I had a noon appointment.  So, I asked for the time.  11:45??!?  I had 15 minutes!  As I was rushing away, the seller kindly said, “You might want to wash your face before your clients show up”.

I just had to laugh. When I saw myself in the mirror, it was pretty bad and there was a very good chance I would not have even looked if I hadn’t had that nudge.

Got some of the dust off just in time to show the 68 acres of Adventure.  They followed me to the property in their nice, clean, city car.  However, it was not the right vehicle to take on the little dirt road.  They didn’t feel comfortable inside my car, but it was hot and quite a long walk.  So we decided on an E-ticket ride, standing on the running bars, hanging on for dear life.  Lots of laughs and fun for that showing!

We’re getting close to finding the next owner of that land. Meanwhile, very busy getting more options for all of you anxious buyers looking for that perfect piece of paradise on Palomar.

Please keep those listings coming my way!  Glad to roll up my sleeves, get out in our fresh mountain air and put a wash cloth to good use to get your property rolling, too!

Let’s connect soon,

Bonnie Phelps, Realtor

Like a stress break?  Sit a spell and take in another beautiful photo and article by Ernie Cowan via SD Union Tribune:

Comet Neowise and Milky Way put on show above Palomar Mountain meadow

IT’S DUMPSTER TIME!!
PALOMAR MOUNTAIN FIRE SAFE COUNCIL WILL
BE OFFERING LARGE DUMPSTERS AGAIN THIS
YEAR FOR COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP
August 1st and 2nd at the Fire Station
Open 8 to noon Saturday and Sunday, or until full
2 pickups full per household until noon Saturday,
then all you want.
NO TIRES, PAINT, HAZMAT, ELECTRONICS,
CHEMICALS, or LARGE APPLIANCES
DONATIONS GREATY APPRECIATED
Come early; bring your combustibles, trash, small
appliances, and other rubbish that litters your yards.
If we get more grant money, we will sponsor more
dumpsters and free chipping again.

Check out virtual State Park walks and talks!  The park is OPEN so you can visit in person, too!  Come on up for our sunny skies and fresh air and be sure to like them on Facebook!

Thanks to Rosemary Johnston for sending the info our way.

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Meyst, William@Parks

Here are links to the videos that myself and Cuyamaca Interpreters, Maggie and Michele, have been posting.

Palomar: https://www.facebook.com/palomarmountainsp/videos

Cuyamaca: https://www.facebook.com/cuyamacaranchostatepark/videos/?ref=page_internal

We had some themes to the videos we made:

Jr Ranger Adventures – these videos followed along with the Junior Ranger Adventure guide that kids can do as a self-guided activity in the park. Each video addresses a different page or section of the adventure guide. Palomar and Cuyamaca did their own version of these videos every week.

Journey into Nature Journaling – These videos focused on showcasing more aesthetic aspects of both Palomar and Cuyamaca and sharing different techniques to document nature.

Draw with Me! – this series was only at Palomar and consists of myself going through the steps to drawing various critters that live in the park.

Live Streams – these are some of the live streams we conducted here at Palomar, and there are only a few because we quickly found out that Palomar does not have the reception quality to be able to do consistent live streams, unfortunately.

I totaled up the engagement we received from our videos and the summary looks like this:

We had 30 videos uploaded to the Palomar Facebook page uploaded from May 2^nd to July 5^th, with 14,481 engagement instances, 1,052 post clicks, and 428 likes, shares, and comments. The most popular videos were the interview with Adam Borrello, our Ranger, and one of the Draw with Me! videos about drawing leaf shapes. To put those numbers in context, we normally receive about 10,000 engagement instances from all of our posts between Facebook and Instagram in a single month combined.

The numbers mentioned above are solely from the videos we uploaded in that 2 month period. So, the public has definitely taken an interest in the videos, and given the circumstances around COVID-19 in San Diego, we are going to continue uploading videos, and they will only be better quality now that we have had the benefit of developing and actually creating these videos. We also were very quick to adapt to these new circumstances and our interpretive team has received a number of honorable mentions when interpretive leaders speak about how interpreters can still reach their audience in these changing times.

During these trying times, people have expressed their gratitude to us for providing small windows of connection to the park when they are unable to visit themselves.

We are going to keep moving forward with connecting the public to the park with videos, live streams, and virtual event such as the upcoming Great California Virtual Campout, which I will have more information on coming up soon.

Please let me know if you need any other information for your report and I’ll be glad to discuss it!

Best wishes,

-Will

Have you read Afoot and Afield in San Diego County?  Here is an interview with the author.  He thinks Doane Valley Nature Trail is the BEST hike in San Diego County – we agree!   Thanks to Rosemary for the link below read to read tips about hiking around the county.

The State Park and Observatory and Fry Creek Campgrounds are all open with great hiking!

From: Rosemary Johnston

Subject: Hiking In San Diego County

Good tips from author and hiker Scott Turner on hiking during the pandemic. He is the author of the most recent edition of Afoot and Afield in San Diego County and has said the Doane Valley Nature Trail is the best hike in San Diego County.

Here is the link to listen or read tips about hiking around the county:
https://www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpbs-midday-edition-segments/2020/jul/20/hiking-san-diego-county-during-pandemic/

It was so exciting to see this comet from the top of Palomar Mountain tonight!  We met up with a Palomar friend, Mike Pique and a couple friends had fancy binoculars set up.  That was extra special for the grandkids to first see Juniper rising with three of it’s moons, then the comet appeared that was apparently last visible about 6800 years ago!

Don spotted the Neowise Comet first through binoculars, then we could see it faintly with just our eyes.  It was visible for at least 20 minutes – you just have to know where to look.

We were parked along the south side of East Grade Road, across from Dyche Valley, near the big metal barn.  Looking up from there, the brightest light to the left of the comet, is Glenn and Cecilia’s home out on Birch Hill.

Many thanks to Mike for sending the photo.  He plans to be out again tomorrow night, same place and starting about sunset.  YOU are invited!

Bonnie Phelps

Recently I posted about former East Graders, Rick and Lyn.  They were on Palomar for over nine years.  Lyn was an avid artist and here is a note from Rick about her art being available:

From: Rick Balzer

I am writing you about Lyn’s Art.  I finally got shelves built to display all of it. It has been catalogued and photographed.  Our son-in-law, Brian Adams has loaded all of it onto a website, www.lynburkeart.com. Some of the paintings have been claimed by family members or friends and are listed as “unavailable”.  I reached out to Jim Hahn, the owner of our former property.  I offered him any painting he would like, as a great number of them were painted at his property or close by.  He chose Old Oak and I shipped it to him.

I am writing to suggest that perhaps others may want to have something of Palomar,  They are not for sale but can be had for a donation to her art organization, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA).  There are general parameters for donations. $300-$500 for smaller paintings.  $1,000-$1,500 for medium size and $2,000-$3,000 for large ones.  This is a win, win as the interested party makes a charitable donation and gets a painting.

Stay safe and best wishes,

Rick Balzer

949-230-1799

Many of us on Palomar have fond memories of Bill and Grace Leibold.  They built a home  in the shape of a ship 1970’s out on Birch Hill. Bill is one of the last survivors of WWII and is the last survivor of the USS Tang.

Long-time subscribers to Palomar Mountain News might remember stories posted in the past telling a bit of their story.  Links are below.

It was fun to get a call a few weeks ago from media/photographer director of AARP.  He said they were including Bill in a story and asked for a photo.  After another fun visit with Bill (at 97 1/2 years young!) and one of his sons, we sent this one.  It didn’t make the article but such a great photo of a great couple and here you have it on PMNews!

Click for the AARP article and scroll down to the story on Bill – ‘I saw defeat in the faces of Japanese prison guards’.

Click for other posts:

Visit with Pearl Harbor Survivor

Memorial Day 2017

Pearl Harbor to Palomar

Memorial Day and Bill Leibold

Presumed Lost from WWII

With gratitude Bill and all who have given so much for our country,

Bonnie Phelps