Friends.

Ok. Back to posting about our vacation...

We continued along the eastern side of the Sierras, past Lake Isabella and out Kern River Canyon. It was BEAUTIFUL! That canyon is amazing. I would have taken a photo but all the pullouts were full of search and rescue vehicles waiting for a body to float down the river. Still, I would love to do that river someday. But I'll stay in my boat.

After we came out the canyon the plan was to drive up to Sequoia National Park and hang out there for a day or two then visit friends. That WAS the plan, before the kids announced (via crabbiness) that they were done driving. We still had 2 hours driving to get to Sequoia, which we didn't even know how many trails were open, and we wanted to make sure we had enough friend time yadadydyad... So we made an executive decision and head to the nearest Trader Joe's to eat some lunch and come up with a new plan.

The new plan started with us heading to Ventura via the Maricopa Highway through the Los Padres National Forest. We stopped and caught tadpoles along the way, the kids took naps, it was pretty... We made it to Ventura in time to get a hotel, make dinner, walk to a gas station for treats and get the kids in bed early.

Saturday we hung out with the Kristen, Jonny, Noah and Milo. We met at Serra Cross Park (photo 1), headed to the farmers market for strawberries and carrots and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. It was great. And windy. Note how in the second photo Jonny is holding up the umbrella. We had a great time and a delicious lunch despite it being peppered with sand from those pesky Santa Ana winds.

Next we headed to Fontana to hang out with Suz, Tyler, Josh, Dallin and Spencer. They live in a great spot; big backyard of dirt (perfect for little boys), lots of boy toys (photo 1) close to a mountain and a really nice house (which Dallin informed me was actually a mansion, just a small one). Joe took Tyler and the boys up to the mountain to look for bugs and tarantulas one night, then helped them build a squirrel trap the next day (photo 2). Not sure who had more fun, Joe or the boys. K-So also enjoyed all the attention from three dog deprived little boys. We ended up staying their two nights; it was fun to hang with Suz and family.

While we were staying in Fontana we drove down to Riverside to see Olivia one evening (she was at UC Riverside torturing bees as part of her research). We ate delightful Thai food and hung out at a park in the campground she was staying in. We chatted with her and her professor while we watched the sunset and Ari ran wild. Love this photo:


Three friends I don't see enough of all in the same weekend. It was fabulous. WAY better than Sequoia National Park any day! I think I might maybe possibly be able to live in Southern CA if I had friends such as these nearby. Which is good since Joe found one to apply for right in between Fontana and Ventura...
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