Julian Mining and Starfest 2010

We spent a day up in the small mountain town of Julian. Julian was founded in the days of the California gold rush and was a mining town. So we stopped first at the Julian Mining Company to try our hand at gold panning. We panned for gold, sluiced for gems and minerals, dug for fossils, and practiced throwing tomahawks.











After all the mining excitement we stopped for burgers at a diner with a real soda fountain. We had to buy an apple pie too because Julian is known for their apple crops, which translates into an abundance of apple pies!

Then we headed over to Starfest 2010. Once the sun was down we saw an immense amount of stars and enjoyed viewing the skies from multiple telescopes. We saw Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter (but missed seeing Jupiter through the telescope) as well as viewing multiple nebulas and other stars. It was a little chilly, but still a great experience.