Whew. We made it to Vista Chula, CA today (just southeast of San Diego). Scenery wasn't as amazing today, as it reminded me a lot of eastern Oregon and Washington. Very dry, rocky terrain. There was a pretty mountain ridge to the west for a decent amount of our trip, but we went through a period of smoky skies again today so that diminished its beauty a bit. Gabe and I got a bit of a chuckle when we passed by Pearsonville, CA. (For those of you reading my blog who don't live in Trout Lake, there are several families with the last name of Pearson in our little town.) I even took a picture of Pearson Rd for them!
Overall, we have enjoyed going the "scenic route" down towards Mexico. We've driven over 1,000 miles so far, and quite a bit of that has been on two lane highways rather than a multi-lane freeway. Today we had no choice but to hop on the interstates to make it the rest of the way down, and as we slowly made progress in stop and go traffic during rush hour we were reminded why we chose the route we chose. Gabe and I are definitely not city people, and it was a bit stressful trying to navigate through 6 lanes of traffic! I think we both breathed a sigh of relief when we got to our hotel today. I wonder what the roads in Mexico will hold for us?!?!
Due to exptended days of traveling the past few days, the kids had not been able to enjoy hotel swimming pools until today. Oh, they were SO excited to get out and swim this evening! While I watched over the kids at the hotel pool, Gabe ordered us pizza for dinner (I forgot what a lovely convenience it is when you live around pizza places that deliver!) We came up after swimming to find the most HUMUNGOUS pizza I have ever seen. I think it's the first time we have ordered a cheese pizza and had leftovers! I mean, this thing was massive!
(Eli was trying to make a "tough" face in the picture above. I think we need to work on that a bit!)
Tomorrow we cross the border into Mexico. It's getting real. I'm not really sure what to expect. I'm a little nervous and a whole lot excited. I'm ready to see the place that is going to be home for the next year. I can't wait to make new friends and start figuring out how we can plug ourselves into this community. This is definitely an adventure for all of us and I am thankful I can share it with you all here. Hasta luego!