Father's Day

Hey all!  I know what you're thinking.

"Why is he posting this the day after Father's Day?"

Because, I wanted to post AFTER we spent the day doing what we did so I could show you photos and such.

Make sense?

Good!

So let me start by saying Happy Father's Day!  That's a wish not only for my dad, but for the many "dads" out there.

Let me explain...

There are many "fathers" in your life..  I have friends that are fathers.  I have friends that are fatherly.  Stepdads are fathers.  Adoptive dads are fathers. Even dads that don't act as they should are still fathers.  Single moms are fathers.

Happy Father's Day to you all!

Obviously, there is one extremely important dad in my life and I had the pleasure of spending Sunday with him as well as enjoying the day with my children.

My father is a pretty damn fine example of how to be a father.  He was strict, but not abusive.  In fact, he never even spanked us growing up.  He didn't have to.  When we misbehaved in public, he just lowered the tone of his voice, looked us in the eyes, and said "Do we need to go to the bathroom?"  That will scare the pee out of anyone and it worked most of the time.  He is supportive of my choices in life.  He is fun.  He is caring.  He is passionate.  He is stubborn.  He is OCD.  He is me.  I strive to be as good a dad to my kids!

A week or so before Father's Day, I texted my dad and asked what we should do.  His response?  "Something fun."

Something fun it was.

Education

We drove, in two separate vehicles. down to Julian, CA.  Once there, we headed to the California Wolf Center.  Why you ask?  Because my oldest son, Aaron, got a membership for Christmas that we had not used yet.  This seemed like a great opportunity.  The center specializes in conservation and education.  The tour begins with a slide show presentation lead by an educational expert.  It's actually more interesting than it sounds.

There's one.

See him?

See him yet?

Then, we headed down to actually see the wolves.  I was worried we wouldn't see any but we did, and plenty of them.  The photos are terrible, I know.  Allow me to help...

Shasta

This is Shasta.  The photo was taken by Alan Braggins.  For Aaron's upcoming 17th birthday, we allowed him to adopt Shasta.  This is his wolf.

Soups and Such

After the Wolf Center, we walked around the quaint town of Julian and grabbed lunch at Soups and Such Cafe.  Reasonably priced light fare fit the ambiance of the town perfectly.

Mom's Apple Pie

After lunch, we grabbed some famous Julian Apple Pie from Mom's Pie House.  The rumor about the best apple pie being in Julian, CA is true!  It's worth the drive!

Our last stop in Julian was Nickel Beer Company.  This was not worth the trip to me.  The lack of a large enough indoor tasting room is what really kills it.  June is a hot month and trying to drink an entire flight before it gets warm sitting outside is a task.

Nickel Beer Company

The beer is tasty enough, but the clientele left me with a poor taste in my mouth.  The lack of staff on a Sunday really puts them over the top on a must skip list.

After the long drive back up to the Inland Empire, we returned the boys to their mother, said goodbye to my parents, and grabbed Del Taco on the way home.  Julian is an amazing little town worth a stop!