Visit from Texas

Eric's parents came for a visit from San Antonio to be here for Sienna's birthday. It was nice having some time with them!

They helped us finish a puzzle Eric and I had started.

We went to Build-a-Bear with the girls.

And we did lots of hanging around the house while it was raining out.


Sienna's birthday party was the same place they had it last year, which was a lot of fun.



We also went out to eat at a beautiful restaurant right on the water.

It was a great week - so glad they could come!

San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve

After a few days of relentless rain, we were ready to get out of the house when we saw a window of sun. We decided to try a new trail at the same park where we visiting Mushroom Caves.


We followed a trail out by the water at San Elijo Lagoon.


It was a beautiful day. Everything was still a little wet but all the birds were out soaking in the sunshine.


We found an old abandoned car that was completely overgrown.



The green grass and clover was so bright against the black burnt wood and soil.


We love this area - one of our favorites!

Joshua Tree Part 2

Once we got back to the house after hiking, we sat out on the hammocks and watched the sunset.


Then went to explore the property, since there were multiple acres.

It was so beautiful everywhere you looked!


They also had two different tree houses, a rope swing, and zip line.



They had a random dirt hill with a bench on it - perfect for taking in the views.




The house is called the Hygge Home on Airbnb, known for creating a space that feels cozy and homey. I think they did a pretty good job.

The next morning it was time for us to leave.


We decided to drive through Joshua Tree on our way out.

As we got deeper into the park, we could tell it was much less visited. All the 'attractions' or hikes were farther north where we were the day before. Once you kept going south, it was 45 miles  of incredible untouched land, aside from the single road running through it.

Once we were out of the park, we had our GPS take us near Salton Sea, a place Benny's dad often would suggest to us.


We didn't see any tourist signs to turn off and look, so we just started driving toward it. We ended up on a random dirt road, but we made it!

Because it is so salty, hardly anything can live in it. It smelled pretty awful and the beach was covered in fish bones.

After the Salton Sea, I thought we would be back to a normal drive on a busy highway surrounded by populated cities. That never happened. Next we ended up driving through canyon roads where you may see someone on an ATV or dirt bike.

Then we happened to end up driving through and incredibly gorgeous state park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We are already resolved to go back there soon.

There were steep cliffs and beautiful valleys. We are told the entire place lights up with flowers in the Spring.

Then we ended up driving through Ramona, which was so lush and green, it felt like we were back in Virginia.

We never made it back on a busy highway until we actually got back to San Diego. We had just as much fun on the drive home as we did being in Joshua Tree. I think we need to take the scenic route more often.