Let me catch you up to the last week of travel on fast forward:

THE OCEAN

From the Sequoia Forest and National Parks we headed west toward the Ocean. We hit the beautiful town of Santa Barbara first and walked the windy (very windy) pier, watched the waves and surfers and then hit the road once more in search of a great spot to sleep.

Boy, did we find it at Rincon Parkway. It is just a road that hugs the coast but they allow RV’s to park on the side of the road and stay the night. We snuck our way into a spot and pretended to be an RV for the night (I mean we have curtains? Close enough?) But it doesn’t get much better than laying in the back of the car as the sun sets over the ocean and waves crash on the beach only 25 feet away from you, perfection!

SAN DIEGO

From there we headed south on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), final destination San Diego.  We stopped for one night in Carlsbad before arriving at our next FRIEND stop. I even showered at the campground before arriving… You’re welcome.
I arrived at my second friend stay and was told the plan for the evening which included; a brewery and snacks then home cooked steaks, mashed potatoes, wine, and friends…Perfect?  The steak was amazing (thank you Andrew) and the generosity of these awesome people was even more amazing, although that steak was pretty delicious. The next day, Franklin ran around the Del Mar Dog Beach with a little boy that loved the ocean as much as he did and I’m fairly sure was a golden retriever in his past life. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again… my friends are the best!

JOSHUA TREE

Joshua Tree is an apocalyptic desert loaded with alien vegetation and flinestone-like boulders that combine to make one of the most unique landscapes, in other words, it’s pretty awesome. We had so much fun at Joshua Tree. Franklin and I climbed boulders and soaked up the sun.  Earlier in the day, a couple from LA spotted Franklin and immediately approached for some ear scratches and belly rubs. They ended up inviting us over to enjoy their campfire later in the evening. So after watching the sunset from atop a boulder, we headed over and were greeted with a beer and offered a cheesy dog. Needless to say, we were instant friends and had an awesome night!

In the morning, we headed east to get out of California and the budget breaking gas prices and into Arizona towards the Grand Canyon. Saying goodbye to our new friends, we jumped in the car and cranked the tunes. It was there that I finally found my musical groove again and ended up singing and dancing with the windows down all the way through Joshua Tree (Franklin was doing most of the dancing).

ARIZONA

We crossed into Arizona and it was as immediate as crossing the border that the landscape changed as well. It was a long day of driving and before we knew it, we were only 60 miles from the Grand Canyon.  Close enough for the day so we found a cute spot on Lake Kaibab, Franklin took a dip, then we called it a day.

We woke up in the morning to snow. 
Snow? Yes snow! I was as surprised as you are reading this to wake up in Arizona to snow and Franklin was a little unsure of what he was suppose to do so he ended up just standing on the picnic table (natural reaction).

For the remainder of the day the snow/rain/sleet continued. It was cold but thankfully we packed for every type of situation, so I added layer after layer until, alas, I was comfortable. We got situated at Mather Campground and walked down to the much anticipated reveal of the Grand Canyon. I’m pretty sure as we approached and saw a canyon full of clouds that I actually heard a cartoon “wha wha.”  Anticlimactic indeed but we weren’t going to give up that easy. Instead, we decided to stay for two more nights because we are going to see this Canyon if it is the last thing we do!

{Thank you Tsui’s and Aman’s, love you all!}