Borrego Springs - Part Six

We broke up the long drive home by stopping in Sacramento. Our friend Steve and his daughter, Liv, drove over from Truckee (Lake Tahoe) to meet up with us.

 Edison adored Liv the last time we hung out with them in Connecticut. They picked up right where they left off.

 We spent the morning at the California Railway Museum - it was cool that they had fully restored trains that we could walk through.

 And even a toy train play area for kids.

 After lunch we explored Sacramento's historic old town district that had wild west style sidewalks, store fronts, and even horse and buggies for hire. What a great looking family!

 After this picture, we drove straight home to Seattle, excepting a dinner stop in Yreka (found a Thai restaurant!). The drive was long, but driving at night worked pretty well for the kids.

Borrego Springs - Part Five

The rest of our time in Borrego Springs was spent riding bikes, enjoying the sun, and swimming in the pool. The condo was at a golf course resort that was currently up for sale - so playing on the golf course paths was fair game. I also used them for my morning runs which was really cool.

 Eben brought his bike and was able to do some really great rides - Montezuma's Revenge was the biggest challenge (51 miles and over 4600' elevation).

The kids loved playing in Nana's camper - Edison especially likes figuring out how everything in it works.

 The afternoon pool sessions with the kids and Nana were the highlight for me. The kids were awesome in the water and their swimming is progressing every day.

Borrego Springs - Part Four

San Diego is only 65 miles away from Borrego Springs - but over a 4400' mountain pass of the Cuyamaca mountains and really scenic countryside - especially through the adorable town of Julian. 

However, we were surprised to find 10" of new snow on the roads. Just after this picture the Crown Vic started sliding down the hill - so this was the only "snow shot" I was able to get. (We did recover the car quickly, though - phew!)

 We took the kids to Sea World! They loved the Sesame Street themed rides and play area. Edison even braved the "Journey to Atlantis" roller coaster/water ride with dad. Though he got scared and told Charlotte she should never do anything like that (she was too short anyway this trip).

I was impressed by the kids climbing up and up in the ropes to a cool treehouse / bridge system area.

 

 Then we went to "Shamu Stadium" for the orca whale show. Eben took this amazing photo.

The kids were riveted. After the show, we even got to see a baby orca who was just born a week earlier. He was already doing little jumps next to his mom - too cute!

 We also saw their polar exhibits - my favorite was Snowflake, the polar bear.

 Probably the coolest part of the visit was meeting this friendly dolphin. A twelve-year-old girl who comes frequently to Sea World was interacting with him and playing with him. She called him over to us and we were able to play with him a little bit, too. All four of us were able to "pet" the dolphin - totally cool and something Edison has been telling his friends and teachers about as a highlight of the trip.

 

After Sea World, we visited our friends Aaron and Erin and their newborn daughter, Olivia who was only six weeks old. Unfortunately my camera battery ran out as I was trying to snap our picture together.

Borrego Springs - Part Three

One of the coolest things about this area are the many sculptures of Ricardo Breceda. He started making them ten years ago and a local wealthy family commissioned many of them and put them on public display on his lands. This one is a gomphothere, a four-tusked mammoth - whose fossils have been found here.

 The Crown Vic is surrounded.

 The kids had a ton of fun.

 This whimsical dragon is quite impressive, and spans under the road.

 Another fossil-era animal from here - this is the Harlan Ground Sloth.

 We had lunch at the famous "Palms Hotel" that used to be frequented by movie stars in the 1950s. The pool was impressive and the lunch was delicious.

 Then we headed over to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park visitor center. They had cool, kid-friendly exhibits.

 

We went on a nature walk and saw some cool desert plants.

Then we had mom and Lee over for dinner. She brought oranges from the tree by her camper and they made fresh squeezed orange juice - a real treat!

Borrego Springs - Part Two

Karl and Cheryl gave us their sons' old Duplo legos on the first day of our trip. Both of the kids are playing really well with them, and Edison has really become an expert on building rockets with lots of booster rockets on the back for maximum speed.

 

On Monday we traveled about an hour east to the Salton Sea recreation area.That route took us through the "badlands" and Ocotillo Wells off-road area. The canyons and washes were really cool and definitely made us envious of those who got to explore them in their Jeeps.

My mom loves to kayak here and it is a bird haven in the winter. (Note Edison is really excited about being allowed to have a Gatorade for lunch.)

 What can I say about the Salton Sea? It is fed by three rivers, all the agricultural run-off in an 8000 square mile area, and has no outlet. Essentially, it is a giant puddle with one kind of fish surviving in it - tilapia - and many of those litter the shore, whose beach is made of fish bones.

 But it was a nice picnic stop, had an informative visitor center, was home to many birds, and even a playground.

 

 This is the lowest Eben has ever been - surpassing his diving record of -225' made in Tahiti.

Borrego Springs - Part One

We knew of Borrego Springs, in the middle of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, because my mom and her friend Lee spend ten weeks here every winter in her RV. We are so happy to be able to spend time with Nana - especially playing with her in the pool every day.

 This is the pool at her RV resort - heated so nice and warm we can play in it for hours.

 Eben's favorite aspect of being here is lounging in the hot tub on our patio.

 What do you do when you don't have a lot of toys? "Paint with water" on the patio.

 Swimming with my mom reminds me of how we used to spend our vacations eating, sleeping, and swimming when I was a kid. I found these swim suits at Costco for us - fun to have a twin!

 Getting all the chlorine off at the condo.

Mid-Winter Break in California!

After an amazing week in Scottsdale, Arizona last February, the Phillips have decided that a warm-weather getaway for Mid-Winter Break is a fabulous way to break up the gray Seattle winter.

Since flights have gotten so expensive, and since Charlotte is no longer a "lap child," a road trip was in order. We drove down to Borrego Springs, California, in the desert east of San Diego - stopping in Portland to see our friends Karl and Cheryl, and in Monterrey to see our friends Mike and Sabrina.

 It was a treat to walk from Mike and Sabrina's house to the cute downtown of Pacific Grove - in shorts!

 Charlotte enjoyed playing with their son, Evan. She made a big impression on him and he got really good at saying her name.

 After two days of driving at night so the kids would sleep, we arrived at our condo in Borrego Springs. It is a cool place with a great layout.

 But my favorite part is the patio.

 It is fun to just relax outside in the sun.

 But the hot tub is hands-down the best part.