December 2010 – Holiday Tree Run
Hosted by Dan Willibey
With the adventurous holiday spirit in the air and what felt like summer again we met at the Chevron
station in Escondido across from North County Fair. I arrived five minutes early with my son Charlie and my appointed God daughter Dannielle only to be second to Olaf!…yes Olaf! our fearless, soon to be long term (going after Carol’s record) Club President and his faithful dog Sombra. Right on time,
Kevin and Karen pulled up and after a brief pulse check, new cup of coffee and learning that Jose and
son couldn’t make it,(next year!) we were on our way.
Our first stop was the San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park on Highway 78. The monument and site honors the soldiers who fought in the battle between the U.S. and Californio forces on December 6th 1846 in the midst of the Mexican-American War. With both Generals Kearny and Pico claiming 
victory; it is said, to be the bloodiest and most controversial battle of this war. We just missed the annual re-enactment of the battle by one week. Last year, we were told, there were over 700 people in
attendance! This was a very cool and informative State Historic Park with a lot of detailed information
about that period of our history. They also sell the best tasting bottle of sarsaparilla I ever had. On our
way out we saw several Turkey Vultures above the hill, all circling over something…maybe their lunch.
As we walked across the parking lot to our next destination which was the San Diego Archeological Center, Jerry called to say he was on his way to join us. At the center we guided ourselves through the museum and learned the story of how people lived in San Diego County for the past 10,000 years. We
also had time to enjoy the centers Holiday Family Workshop. This was where we could make our own Christmas cards and crafts out of clay and beads while enjoying their hot chocolate, apple cider, cake and slices of pie! Yea! Now that Jerry, Nicole, Allison and Andrew had caught up with us and had their fill of treats it was on to see Santa!
We continued east on Highway 78 past the Wild Animal Park winding our way towards Ramona. This
year I thought for variety we would try a different Christmas Tree Farm and after pre-scouting a few I chose Pine Tree Acres. When we arrived we noticed many families enjoying our summer in December
weather. The youngsters quickly took to the hay maze, air jumper, pony rides and small petting zoo while others sought out Santa who was in the shade resting for his up-coming big day. As we dispersed
to find the perfect tree, Jerry had the simple task of just asking “which is the tallest one you have?” but
with that he also had the most difficult task…loading it on his LR3 and later, setting it up at home.
So with our brains full of new knowledge, our sweet tooth satisfied, and a Christmas Tree atop our Rovers we headed off to the Filippi’s in Poway to meet up with Dennis and Liz (thanks guy’s for pre-ordering the salad and drinks to cut down on our wait!) and end our day as a group sharing some stories, pizza, salad and drinks.
Thanks for the fun year! Have a safe and happy holiday!
Click here to see the photo album of this trip.
LRCSD
