Holiday in Southern California

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December 2004

Eventually the time came to say goodbye to Eric’s family in Arizona to continue our adventures and to meet up with the Freelands in Dana Point. On our way we decided to hit Joshua Tree National Park for some climbing. Although we were a bit out of practice, we quickly snapped into form and had a ball exploring and climbing the seemingly endless granite. We had beautiful sunny weather with little to no wind. Despite the chilly temperatures at night, we had front row seats for a brilliant meteor shower, which was a definite surprise. While we were at J-tree we camped at both Jumbo Rocks and Indian Cove campgrounds. We really enjoyed both but couldn’t believe how convenient the climbing was while staying at Indian Cove. The climbs begin literally right out of the campsites. By the time we pulled out of the park to head further west, our hands were hamburger and our bodies were pretty exhausted from the climbing.

On our way to the coast, we had a couple important stops to make. First, we swung through Yucaipa to have lunch and exchange Christmas gifts with Grandma Waterkotte. We then spent two nights with The Boghossians to exchange gifts and have a mini-Christmas. It was then time to make the short trip from Gina and Paul’s to Dana Point to see the Freelands for Christmas. We spent the first few days lying low as Sarah nursed a cold, the surf was flat and Sarah’s Dad, Darryl, and step mom, Tina, were finishing up with work. In the evenings, we caught up on movies and feasted on Tina’s cooking.

Tina cooked a huge feast for Christmas Eve. It was the first time all the Freeland kids had been home for Christmas in several years so we relished the chance to spend it together. Christmas day started with the exchange of gifts before embarking on the Freeland Christmas tradition of heading down to the beach for the day. The weather was clear, sunny and warm and the surf was glassy with some fun Christmas waves. We lounged on the beach, eating leftovers and enjoying the day.

We spent the next week hanging out with the fam, heading to the beach when the weather permitted, munching on some Thai food with Sarah’s brother, Noah, and going to a few movies with Sarah’s brother, Adam, and Darryl. As New Year’s Eve loomed on the horizon, we made plans with our friend, Jon MacDonald, to go camping for the New Year weekend with Jon and Jon’s dog, Porter, Jon’s roommate Brandon, his roommate’s girlfriend, Heather, and their dog, Maple. We took off on New Year’s Eve for the desert southeast of Palm Springs, and spent the weekend cruising around on Jon’s dune buggy, kicking by the fire, playing with the dogs (Bruce was stoked to have the other dogs to keep him entertained when we weren’t throwing the ball for him), cooking and kicking back by the fire. All in all a very fun and mellow New Year’s celebration!

For our next leg of the trip we are heading to Anza-Borrego State Park and then on to Mexico by way of Calexico and Mexicali. We’re opting to bypass the San Diego/Tijuana tourist border crossing and head south of Ensenada as quickly as possible. We are meeting up with our friends, Ryan and Lisa, in Santa Rosalillita and then cruising down the coast with them for a few weeks. After that we’ll meander farther down into Baja and then over into mainland Mexico. Wish us luck finding some good surf and sunny weather!

May 2005 bring you all a happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year. We will post more as we get a chance to cull through photos, write our online journal and find an internet connection! Via con Dios amigos, Sarah, Eric and Bruce