This year, we broke from tradition slightly and instead of heading south for the Mexican beaches, we veered more to the southwest and rented a cool little cabana in Carlsbad just blocks from the California coast. This allowed us to visit Alec & co. in Murrieta and Mojo & Dado, who are enjoying their 3rd winter as SoCal snowbirds! The drive is long (14 hrs!) and unless you plan for side trips to Moab or Las Vegas, it's a straight, boring shot with miles and miles of interstate for Hamp to work on his driving stamina! But the trek is always totally worth it when we get to spend time with family and enjoy the warm and sunny Southern California climate....
While most of the days were spent digging & building sand castles....
... these 2 Colorado boys definitely found time to get in the ocean!
The Pacific was freezing, but it didn't stop them from catching a few waves.
It should be noted that we brought the favorite family member with us on this trip - and Gabe was a great beach buddy! Dogs weren't really allowed on the public beach though, so most of his time was spent walking the boardwalk and meeting people and making friends! He was a big hit all over town and I'm just glad he didn't have to stay back and be lonely.
It was a quick trip - there & back in only 6 days - but we soaked up as much quality family time as we did sunshine.
We loved the sand, the surf, the simplicity of being on vacation and of course - the west coast sunsets!
