Road Trip - part 1

We took a little road trip to try to satisfy our ever wandering hearts at the beginning of August.

An open road, fresh air and not too much of an agenda.  It was perfect. We headed up the 395 and all of our memories of the many times we traveled that highway pre-kids flooded our thoughts.  Going to snowboard at Mammoth on a whim was so easy.  We packed our bags and we didn't really care where we ended up sleeping that night.  The road was filled with music, long conversations or me reading a book aloud for both of us to enjoy.  This trip was a lot like the way we used to travel.  We didn't have any reservations anywhere, but we were free!!

We stopped at Manzanar as we once did so many years ago.  It's a part of our country and state's history.  We are always trying to expose our kids to as many learning experiences as we can.  They of course couldn't completely grasp what happened to all of those people and how life changing that must have been and I don't think I truly do either.  Julian filled out his junior park ranger booklet and wasn't leaving until he got his badge.  

I love this about him!! 

 He did the same thing when we went to Joshua Tree.   

After a few stops and a couple of phone calls along the drive, we found these tent cabins.  With a base camp set for the next couple of days we were back to exploring.

We tried a little fishing, without much luck.  Next time!

We couldn't come this far and not see Mammoth mountain.  We took the gondola to the top where there were gail force winds...almost.  Although I was freezing and ready to get back into the gondola as soon as I stepped out, it was a beautiful view and pretty amazing to see the mountain without any snow on it.  

Yikes, there are a lot of rocks under all that snow!

I will try to post more pictures from the rest of our trip later.  I'm just a little behind.

HAPPY 4th!!!

Camping at Refugio with cousins.  

We drove up early today and the kids picked out their own clothes and got dressed.  I didn't even think about it the whole day, but how ironic is it that Ella is wearing an 'I heart LONDON' shirt.  Too funny!!

We love America also.

Happy 4th!!

Weekend Getaway - Palm Springs

 Last weekend we decided on a little getaway to celebrate our anniversary.   In hopes of warmer weather we headed to the desert...Palm Springs.  We found a little warmth during the day.  We had a couple of activities planned but we ended up poolside almost the entire time.  The kids and Andy swam in the heated pool and I was happy to soak in the sun bundled up on a lounge chair.  I was even able to sneak away for a while for an art workshop that was held right next to the pool.  After hours of swimming we coaxed the kids out with some food and warm clothes.  We played a little ping pong and huddled in as the evening turned chilly as the sun went down.  That didn't stop the kids from wanting to go back in the pool.  After a little negotiating they slipped their cold wet suits back on and hopped into the jacuzzi.  These guys are like fish. 

 It was a perfect little getaway!

WEEKEND GETAWAY - JOSHUA TREE

last weekend we had planned a little trip with some friends to Mexico, but a couple of days before the trip we decided against it.  

we have not traveled to Mexico the last couple of years because, well, it just isn't safe right now.  

we will pretty much go anywhere with our kids but Mexico is still a little too scary.

so, with a wide open weekend and an extra day off of work, we decided to go to Joshua Tree.  

I am still so surprised that we had never been there before.  it's not too far away and it is so beautiful.  

the weather was perfect and there was hardly anyone there.  we were able to go on a few 1-2 mile hikes with the kids.  there were also plenty of little points of interest right off the road.

the kids loved running crazy.

rock jumping quickly became their favorite thing to do.  

Skull Rock is a stop right off of the road where there are huge round boulders stacked on top of each other for miles and miles.

the kids could have stayed there all day.  

it was a perfect place to go exploring.  

 we had stopped at the visitor center on the way in and the kids each got a booklet where if they filled out all of the pages, they could get a junior park ranger badge.  Julian would not put his booklet down.  he was so determined to earn his badge.  he worked very hard all day and he received his badge the very first day.  Ella was a little more motivated the second day after seeing Julian's badge and she earned hers also.  

the booklets were actually a great learning tool for the kids and it made the hikes fun for them as they tried to find the different items on the scavenger hunt page.  

we will definitely be going back, hopefully sooner than later.

next time we want to camp.

for this trip we stayed in a hotel right outside of the park and it worked.  the hotel was nice and we found a great little restaurant called Crossroads Cafe.  the food was super yummy and it had a great atmosphere.  

it was a perfect little weekend getaway!

SAND and SNOW...all in one day

we went on a little road trip this past weekend to do a little exploring.  we passed through Palm Springs and made a couple of stops along the way.  i was looking for an estate sale in palm springs with no luck but i did find a store there called the estate sale company.  

love finding new stores!!  

it was packed full of furniture and overall the store had a good variety but not a whole lot that was my style.  i found one dining room table with a china cabinet that i loved but it was a little pricy and there was no way we were going to fit it in our car.  i wasn't even looking for a new table but after seeing that one i keep thinking about it...

as we were heading out of palm springs we couldn't leave without a Shield's date shake.  i'm not a huge date fan, but these date shakes are so yummy.  

we headed home through the mountains to do one last little exploration.  we had never been on that road before and we weren't even sure how high the road went up into the mountains...apparently a lot higher than we thought.  

we were in the snow!!! 

we were not dressed appropriately for it.  ella and i were both in sandals and julian had shorts on.  we stopped, threw a couple of snowballs, took some pictures and piled back into the car to warm up.  it was freezing!!

i love road trips...even short ones. 

it was just what we needed as a family.

we were even able to catch up with some really good friends who we hadn't seen in a while.

hope you had a great weekend!!