SBA->MJD->SED





Daddy driving.  Mommy in rear passenger seat. Lila in middle rear.

Santa Barbara to the Mojave desert.  We woke up on Wedneaday morning just after Lila turned 7 months old.  We planned to take care of a few things and go to the Santa Monica farmers market on the way to the Mojave Desert but we had too much to do.  It takes a lot to work to move across the country. 

We headed out of Santa Barbara at 1:00 and enjoyed the last views of the pacific we will have for a while.  We even saw a couple of dolphins...  Google estimated drive time 6 hours 22 minutes.  320 miles to our destination. 

Mommy and Lila had so much fun in between naps and a bit of whining about being in the car seat.  They sung, mommy danced in her seat and made as many silly faces and sounds as she could think of.  Lila can see daddy in her car mirror and had lots of laughs waving to him.  

We enjoyed spectacular views and colors as the sunset  about an hour away from our campsite.  Lila was ready to get out of the car when we turned into the preserve but still had 20 miles to go.  Mommy broke out the comb and showed Lila how to comb hair.  She really enjoyed combing mommy's hair and it did the trick.  Daddy spotted a few cows on the road and then our site.  

Daddy set up the tent while mommy and Lila waited in the car. Lila had fun exploring the tent before falling alseep.  Burrr rabbits! It was very cold that night, in the low 30s with extreme wind.  Everyone snuggled pretty close that night. 

Lila loved waking up in the tent.  And snuggling with daddy of course. 

The next morning we drive through a beautiful joshua tree forrest while Lila took a little nap.  We grabbed some warm drinks and bagels at the Kelso Depot and headed to the Kelso Dunes. New were told sidewinders have been in the dunes lately so keep a look out. Yikes! 

 We got to the dunes, which are the third largest in the county, and started our hike.  We quickly realized walking in sand is hard and we wouldn't  make it to the top.  we walked a bit and then played in the sand.  Lila loved the giant sand box. 

We took the rest of the day to organize our stuff and just enjoy the beautiful scenery around our tent.   Daddy made hotdogs for lunch and Lila played on her park quilt and then in the tent, she even hung out in her highchair a bit.  She was having so much fun she couldn't nap.  Being outside is her favorite thing after all.   Around 4:30 as the sun was making its way down Lila finally took a little snooze.  After a family photo and the sun set we changed into our warm pjs and listened to game 6 in the car. 

Lila and mommy took a break from the game and played in the tent and read a book.  Then we joined daddy again in the car.  Lila nursed to sleep sometime during the 5th inning and mommy fell asleep t the end of the 10th.  After the game was over we went to the tent and had a much much warmer night. 
We woke up on Friday morning and packed up the tent, and headed back to Sedona via I40.   296 miles estimated time 5 hours and 13 minutes. 

On the way to Sedona we climbed up a few mountains and coasted down a couple with really amazing views.  We could see so far.  The highest elevation was 7000 feet, we saw lots of desert (all different types of desert) , we saw a huge mountain with snow on top, then dropped down into a beautiful forrest and ended in a town surrounded with  beautiful red rocks.  Tonight Lila fell asleep early, poor baby was ready to get out of the car.  She had fun exploring the hotel room and taking a bath with mommy.  Tomorrow we will explore Sedona and set up camp for the next two nights.