Today we took a long road through the desert to visit all the "new cousins" in Riverside, CA. The ride was long and hot...but surprisingly pretty. I loved watching all the trains make their way through the tumbleweed landscape. The bright orange engines pushing through dust devils. We left the house on the river a good 30 minutes before Nicole and Danny, and they managed to honk their horn and wave at us a mere 30 minutes into our drive! I think we arrived in Riverside two hours later than they did! Just the Hill family, poking along in our Snail camper. We stopped at a few little places along the way, trying to imagine thriving towns where only black birds perched now.
The highlight of the day was the kittens strewn around the property. Olive immediately started a search and rescue party to collect as many kittens as she could find.
The next day we met up with my cousins Allan and Ronnie to eat some actual Mexican food (sorry Tennessee....but you just don't have it!). After Tom ate a whole Chimichanga, he was foolish enough to challenge Allan's daughter Skyler to a game of SKATE at the local park. She beat him. We are down another dollar.
The next day, Tom took a few minutes to remove the thermostat in the truck. He suspected that might be the reason for the overheating. From there, we headed out of Riverside to Lake Elsinore to visit my cousin Adam and his kids. Adam whipped up some burgers and roasted some buttery squash from his garden. The kids ran outside on a lizard hunt with their expert guide, cousin Lucas. As the night wore down, Lucas tried to talk us into staying the night. Lily attempted to stow away in our camper.
We had big hugs and it was time to go, because we had a date with our long time family friend, Janet Hughes, to eat ice cream on the way out of town. She gave us some directions to our next campsite at the Blue Jay campground. It was a beautiful drive over the mountain, and directly on the way to our first big goal...the Pacific.
It was so great to visit the friends and family over the past few days. We missed a few, which is the big downside to driving without plans. But we had a great time and we hope to come back soon to catch everyone again. Our next stop is the ocean.
Our Trip Summed Up:
Days Remaining: 25
Miles Driven: 2,762
Currently in: Lake Elsinore, CA
Total Spending so far: Gas: $796 out $1,500 goal
Sleep: $30 out of a $500 goal
Eat: $208.08 out of a $600 goal
Other: $40 out of a $400 goal
Grand Total: $979.08 out of a $3,000 goal
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