Oak Grove Family Cabin

FACELIFT

I'm sure I'm not the first one that didn't like the downstairs being paneled in dark paneling....

Well I am in the process of painting it!  This is taking longer than expected as the paneling needs to be painted with a brush.  That is a tall order for a 400sq ft room!  So far 2 coats of primer are on the walls awaiting the paint.

We hope to have this done by the end of summer and then tile the downstairs and bathroom! 

SUMMER IS COMING

Summer is on the horizon.  If you want to spend a day in the wilderness come visit the quaint town of Julian.  You can go horseback riding--we recommend the Kenner Ranch---star gazing, wine-tasting, have a classic soda at The Miner's Diner, tour a gold mine, and relax at our cabin with the air conditioning.  

From our 8 foot slider you can watch turkey and deer drink from our trough at the base of our property most mornings and afternoons. 

Your kids can swing from rope swings and play in our fenced in yard.  And your dogs are welcome to do the same, minus the rope swinging.

We have a great view of the sunset from our balcony deck and view of the city lights from the lower patio.  At night you can sit on the front deck and see the massive expanse of stars.

Best of all, if you are traveling with kids or dogs we have thought of everything.  Dog supplies can be found in the dog closet (baggies, bowls, towels to wipe paws) and the kids have their own room stocked with toys and activities.

Get away from the busy sounds of the city and wake up to birds singing.

Please shop at our local stores.  Our merchants rely on you to make ends meet!

Let there be SNOW!

Well a word of warning if there is a LOT of snow in Julian.  These photos were taken before Christmas. I had the great idea to take my boys and my friend up to the cabin to enjoy the snow.  I had chains but had never really used them.  Supposedly my friend was a snow expert bc she had lived in Ohio half her life.....

Well that was a long time ago bc I drove down the driveway and got stuck. There was at least 9 inches of snow on the ground and at some points 1 ft!  We never get that much snow!!!!  Where is that Global Warming everyone is talking about?  

I spent the next day shoveling the road shown here....and it's a long private road!  This is at the top of the hill that leads down to our driveway shown in the first photo. I still had another 30 ft to shovel.  Not the way I wanted to spend my trip to Julian.  Of course we missed going to town and taking a carriage ride, missed seeing the town decorated, missed the big Christmas tree.....

But my boys had fun! They spent the whole day snow disking down the hills on our property.  It was great because we didn't need to go anywhere to have fun.  And we have a lot of hills so there was plenty of empty sledding ground.  We keep 2 snow discs in the garage for our guests.  The downstairs room makes for a good mudroom when the fire place is on. 

My boys look at these photos and ask when we are going back.  My little one thinks the snow is still there.  Although the trip didn't turn out as planned we still had a great time and will always have the memories!

APPLE DAYS

Come enjoy the warm and fuzzy feelings of an Old-Fashioned town.  Julian's APPLE DAYS are in full swing.  If you are up for an adventure, pick your own apples and make a pie at our cabin---I have the measuring cups and apple corer.  If you want the easy route---that would be me----stop by any one of the many places in Julian and pick up a home-made apple pie.  Buy the whole thing!  Have a slice there and bring the rest back to the cabin. Don't forget the ice cream!

GRAPE STOMP IS COMING UP!

The annual Grape Stomp Festa is coming up on Sept 6!  If you haven't been there this is a great day with the family and the perfect place to have a picnic.  For more information check out photos from previous Grape Stomps!

http://www.bill-helf.us/Julian'sAnnualGrapeStompAndFesta.htm

TRAGEDY

Tragedy does not discriminate.  There is no fairness or justice, no rationale.  It sweeps down swiftly and snatches the innocent, leaving those left behind full of grief, as it did Tues, July 22, 2008.

If you live in the San Diego area you may have heard about the 19 year old man who was killed in a car accident on HWY 78 by a drunk driver.  That man, Ian Kinney,  was the son of a wonderful family that lived in our house in Julian for 3 years.  

They had just lost their home in the Cedar Fires of 2003 and moved into our house.  We could not have asked for better people to take care of our place in the mountains!  They truly turned it into their home and Ian helped his dad with maintenance in our house while helping to rebuild their own house.

Ian graduated with my niece, Kait.  He had a great future ahead of him that was unjustly cut short by the carelessness of another.  That individual probably doesn't even have the empathy or emotion to understand or that his lack of judgement and complete selfishness will forever affect Ian's family and those of his friends.  

Ian will forever be a part of our house in Julian.  Please, for the sake of all the Ian's in the world and all the mothers and fathers and families and friends, don't drink and drive.  Ian's dad, Scott was correct when he stated, "This was not an accident that happened. Shannon Shimp, when he stepped behind the wheel drunk, he was tragedy looking for opportunity." 

You can see the full story here

http://video.nbcsandiego.com/player/?id=279809

The family has set up

The Ian Kinney Memorial Fund

Rabobank, Julian

1-760-765-2578

The memorial will be held this Sunday at Angel's Landing, Julian

4:00pm

We extend our prayers to the family of Ian.

Do your part to prevent Tragedy from having any preventible opportunities.

Deb & Scott, we are so deeply sorry for your loss.

Melisa & Tom

SPRING

We had a great Easter at the cabin! The daffodils were all in bloom and the tulips are coming up. My boys had fun finding eggs in the huge yard and playing on the rope swing my husband put up. We had family and friends over from Julian and San Diego. It was truly an experience I will never forget!

We are always improving the cabin. This week we added a nice TV console and an kitchen island shown here. If you get the chance to stay with us, do. We have so much more than the typical cabin!

SNOW!

We had more snow!

And of course we get the flood of calls for our place since we include SNOW DISCS for our tenants use!
You can no longer sled off the roads in Julian so if it's a sledding style adventure you want you should check into booking a private cabin.

Our cabin has everything you need for a relaxing getaway including the snow discs for sliding down our snow banks.

Come in from the cold and enjoy the warm cabin, complete with forced heating, and 2 floor-to-ceiling wood-burning fireplaces! Use our full kitchen (did I mention our place is actually a normal single family residential house?) and make some hot-cocoa, there is probably some in the cupboard, or coffee and tea. We have all the pots and pans to cook a turkey and basic spices.

Have kids? They won't be bored with all the toys and activities we have stocked in our dedicated kids room!
Tinker Toys, train table, puzzles, books, just about every movie ever made ---and their own TV/VCR in the kids room----grocery store play food, and more.

Come visit us soon!

Read our previous guest comments on our guestbook from our home page.

DECEMBER

We had our first snow! Well---technically we did. It wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick and these photos are from las year but it is chilly outside and the sense that Winter is on its way is everywhere in Julian.
Our cabin is warm and cozy inside thanks to central heating, 2 floor-to-ceiling fireplaces with Heatilators, and plenty of on-site firewood. Come visit for a relaxing stay with your family! We are still the only cabin in Julian that has everything for kids, from safety to entertainment, to books and toys, and a self-contained dedicated kids room.
Perfect for dogs too since we are also the only place that is not only fenced on the decks but the main property. And if it's snowing you can use our snow discs for some sledding type fun!

Be sure to check out "A Christmas Carol" in the Julian Town Hall.

Kinney Productions presents "A Christmas Carol" at the Julian Town Hall for three weekends in December. The classic Dickens story of a lonely, miserable, hard-hearted old man who finds the true meaning of life and love during one haunted Christmas Eve is the perfect way to get the entire family into that holiday spirit and enjoy the quaint, holiday charm of small-town, historic Julian. Adapted and directed by Scott Kinney. The show will run every Friday and Saturday starting December 7 through December 22, with a Sunday Matinee on December 23 at 1 p.m. Curtain is 7:30 p.m. Tickets: Adults $10, Children 12 & under $6.
Co-sponsored by the Julian Chamber of Commerce, (760) 765-1857 and located in the Julian Town Hall, 2129 Main Street. For more information contact Kinney Productions at (760) 765-1688.

WITCH CREEK FIRE

We hope you and your families have escaped the disaster facing us.

We had survived the Cedar Fires but the Witch Fires seem to be more threatening as we don't have the air support and ground support we had a few years ago.

We will keep any pending reservations updated as to whether or not we still have a house to rent.

Assuming we still have a house it will be up to you to decide whether you want to keep the reservation or cancel. We will not hold anyone to their contract given the circumstances.

Unless I have notified you personally we have not charged your card for anything even though the contract says we take payment at time of booking.

We sincerely hope that you have been affected in the most minimal way possible. This is such a horrible time for San Dieog, Julian, and the OC and LA counties to be going through.

Thanks for your understanding.

Tom and Melisa, owners