We had the most amazing chance to go with Dale and Margaret to California for a week. Margaret wanted to show our family all the places from their past and it was the most incredible trip. Nate and I haven't been to California since 2010 and the girls have never gone. We loved California SO much! Paige and Nate want to move there and we for sure want to vacation there again.
DAY ONE
We had a 4 am wake up call with our flight leaving around 7. It's a good thing we got to the airport early because we had to deal with some issues. First Margaret went ahead of us and went through security faster than us and we got up right before security where they check your IDs and boarding passes and McCall wasn't on either of our tickets. So Nate went back to the counter to see if he could add her and we found out that McCall was on Margaret's boarding pass so we had to contact her and the security there was super nice and helpful and allowed us to skip the line and at this point I couldn't find my driver's license. I just had it before we had to leave the line and was panicking and realized I had put it in a different spot than usual. It took Nate a couple of times to get through security because he didn't empty out his pockets and they had to test the wipes in my bag and check one of the sound machines in another bag. We made it to our gate just in time for boarding and we are grateful we got on that plane. Margaret, Nate, McCall, and Baylor were about 6 rows ahead of Paige and I. There was an empty seat next to me so towards the end of the flight McCall came and sat next to me for a change of scenery and she loved being next to the window and having her own seat to sit in and play with the seatbelt. She did great but was just really busy. This flight experience was much better for Paige and overall it was a really good flight. It was raining when we left Seattle and a beautiful sunny day when we arrived in Palm Springs.
The Palm Springs Airport was the most incredible welcome to California. It is an outdoor airport so the walkways are lined with palm trees and you could hear the birds singing and just the warmness of the air gave a feeling of welcome to vacation and welcome to California.
Our first stop was Coachella Valley Nature Preserve which is this beautiful palm tree oasis in the middle of the desert. It is right on the San Andreas Fault which allows water to all these palm trees. The palm trees were massive and so beautiful to walk through!
Our next stop was to see the gigantic Cabazon Dinosaurs. The pink one has a gift shop inside of it that we explored. The green one used to have a slide that went down the tail which would have been awesome but it was discontinued for safety purposes. Looking at pictures, you don't really see the magnitude of them but we were barely as tall as part of their feet.
Then a quick bite to eat at In and Out. It was crazy busy so we ate outside but the wind had picked up at this point so we ate pretty quick since we were all getting cold. The hamburger was delicious but the fries were okay.
Then we made a quick little detour in Banning. After Dale and Margaret both graduated from BYU they lived in an apartment in Hemet when Christy was born. Then Dale got a job teaching at Banning High School where Dale taught general science/biology and also was a driver training instructor and the assistant coach for football and track. He commuted for awhile but they decided to move to this house that they rented in Banning. This is where they lived when Mike was born. They lived here for 5 years but Margaret was always driving back to Hemet to see her parents, go to doctor's appointments, and visiting with family and friends that they decided to move back to Hemet.
Then we stopped at Riverside National Cemetery and found Grandpa and Grandma Smith's headstone (Dale's parents).
We made it to our little oasis of a home where we lived for the next few days. It had a resort feel and had gorgeous landscaping and was right by the ocean.
These crane flowers welcomed us wherever we went and they looked like a bird that was staring at you.
We had dinner at "home" and then walked around the property and then went to the ocean for an evening stroll.
One thing of Paige's bucket list was to climb a palm tree. This was as far up as she made it. :) We both loved all the palm trees so much!
Hello Pacific Ocean! My family's happy place. :)
DAY TWO
Of our two full days at our Oceanside location, this day was slightly cooler and a little bit windier so we made this our San Diego day. Our first stop of the day was Annie's Canyon Trail which led to a short slot canyon. You had to hike to it but it was a beautiful day and this is when we started our lizard count. By the end of the trip we saw 51 lizards!
When we got to the slot canyon, Baylor exclaimed "This is the best day ever!" We all loved the slot canyon so much! It was so much fun to go through. We all went through it the first time and then Nate, Paige, Baylor, and I quickly went through it a second time because we loved it so much.
At the end of the slot canyon trail was a gorgeous view of the ocean.
Baylor chose lunch for today so we went to Wendy's and the Wendy's we found was under construction so you couldn't go inside or park in the parking lot so we got our food and then found a random parking lot where we had a fancy picnic on the curb.
Next we went to the Mormon Battalion. The way they have it set up is incredible. Sister missionaries walk you through a series of rooms and then you watch a movie that follows a group of people that were with the Mormon Battalion. It was very interactive and is very well done.
Then in the back of the building, you get to pan for "gold". The girl's loved this. They also have a few other interactive things back there and a tower that you can go up with an amazing view of Old Town.
Paige and Baylor both found a pile of gold and then picked their one favorite gold piece that they got to take home and then they put back the rest for some other people.
Then we went and walked around Old Town. I didn't get as many pictures here but I really loved the old church that we walked through and the Nona got some candy for the girls from one of the old stores.
McCall got a good nap in while we were driving back home and our little family spent some time in the pool before dinner. It is a gorgeous pool and was fairly warm. Paige, Baylor, and I also enjoyed the big hot tub which had all sorts of gorgeous landscape around it that had a waterfall.
Before heading back to our place for dinner, we made a quick stop to feed the koi. There were so many and they were huge.
After dinner, we made our way down to the long pier where we watched the sunset.
The view of the water and of Oceanside on the pier was stunning.
It's hard to see in the picture but we saw quite a few pairs of dolphins swimming by and it was incredible. We got excited for every single one that we spotted.
Gorgeous sunset and such a lovely day spent with family!
DAY THREE
McCall loved being out on the balcony in the mornings while she waited for everyone else to get ready.
Nona and Pops went on the walk on The Strand (the beach walk along the ocean) and found this gem and were excited to show us to start off our day. The O'side Rock Garden- a roundabout covered in painted rocks.
Then we went to the San Luis Rey Mission. We walked around and saw the amazing architect, gardens, and cemetery.
Baylor got to do something on her bucket list- touch a cactus. :)
The grounds at the mission were gorgeous.
Then we went to Guajome County Park. The girls played on the playground for a little bit and then we walked around and reminisced. This where we camped back in 2010 for the Big Smith Reunion.
Then back into Oceanside for lunch at Angelo's Burger. They had a wide array of food from burgers to Mexican and it was so good and had large portions. The cheese quesadilla that Baylor and McCall shared was massive. They only ate maybe 1/4 of it.
Then the afternoon was spent playing in the ocean. It was a magical couple of hours watching the girls run away from the waves, chase the seagulls, splash each other, and play in the sand. We took a bougie board but it was chilly enough that none of us wanted to fully get in the water, but we sure enjoyed our time outside and we all got some sun.
Beach bums and sandy legs!
Splish Splash! McCall was in absolute heaven just wandering from pools of water to the next.
Nate dug some holes for the girls to bury their legs in and they thought it was the best thing ever to lean back as far as they could before they fell onto the sand.
McCall finally got tired enough and took a nap in my arms. It was the sweetest thing and I haven't had her sleep on me for a nap in a long time so I cherished this little moment with her.
Sweet sandy face that I just wanted to smother in kisses as she slept soundly on my chest.
Then we rinsed the sand off of us and had some time at the pool before we went in for dinner.
We walked down to Oceanside Harbor Beach for our sunset walk. We took a few photos of the "Love the O" lock sculpture while we waited for the sun to set. We were right next to Camp Pendleton so both nights we got to hear the song they play at sunset and I loved it.
Just a few more shots while we waited for the sun to go down.
We made a quick stop at Nana & Pop's Sweet Shop for some ice cream.
Then as we walked back over the San Luis Rey River to our place there was this huge group of people on bikes with their tires all lit up, blasting music. It was pretty cool to see and I guess every Tuesday they invite anyone to bike down to the harbor for a little party. It was fun to see! We also got to witness one of the most amazing sunsets. It was gorgeous and lasted so long!
DAY FOUR
Our last day in Oceanside. :( It was such a wonderful time and we loved all the time by the ocean. We are excited for our next stop and our next few days of adventures. We got everything cleaned up and then fed the koi one more time before we checked out.
Then Baylor wanted to play on a playground right by the ocean and I wanted one last look at the ocean before leaving. It was a wonderful hour spent!
Then we drove to Alta Vista Botanical Garden. It was gorgeous and had so many different themed areas and things to look at and explore. As I look at pictures, photos really don't do justice with what your eye can see in the gorgeous landscaping. I would highly recommend this place and would go again.
There was a outdoor music area and the girls had some fun and there was this rock chime that was so cool and I want one in my yard.
We made it to our little farm oasis, our home for the last half of our trip. It had farm animals to see, lots of areas to explore, a very relaxing back porch with swings and chairs, and the owners have 5 girls so Baylor found a friend to play with.
DAY FIVE
We started off our morning with a tour of the property from the owner. It is a pretty cool property. There goal one day is to make it a family reunion rental with lots of different places to stay and it has some really great potential. She was feeding the animals and so the girls got to join in which they loved. They fed and pet the pig, fed the bunny and Paige and I got to hold it, and we also fed the chickens and they were let out and wandered the yard for the day. They also had a cat that whenever any of the girls saw it, there was so much excitement. McCall would squeal and get super excited to see the cat. It was so cute!
There was a pond on the property that had SO MANY tadpoles. I've never seen so many at once. Around the edge of the pond about 6 inches out was just covered in black. All these tadpoles just hanging out together. Baylor liked to pick them up and then throw them back in.
We just spent the first half of the day enjoying the property, conversations on the back porch, checking on the animals, wandering around the property, and Nate even walked up to the look out point and a lot of the day was trying out the zip line over and over and over again. Paige and Baylor loved it so much!
Our first stop for our day was the San Marcos cemetery where a lot of Margaret's family/ancestors are buried. It was fun to find them all and a couple of times when Nate was taking pictures small orbs would show up over the headstone as he was taking a picture so we would joke that the family member was here with us.
Grandpa and Grandma Stone (Margaret's parents.) Grandma Stone married Roy Shelton some time after Grandpa Stone passed away.
The top one is Grandpa Stone's parents and who Margaret is named after (Margaret's paternal grandparents) and the bottom one is Grandpa Stone's sister and her husband. There are lots of stories from Nate and his siblings about Uncle Tommy and Aunt Merle. Uncle Tommy was an excellent wood turner and they often spent time at their home when they visited California.
Otto & Betty Canova are Grandma Stone's parents (Margaret's maternal grandparents). This is where we got Paige's middle name. Charlotte (Lottie) is Betty's sister who was blind and lived with them. Margaret has so many fond memories with her blind aunt.
Then we drove through Escondido and Margaret took us down memory lane. She lived there until she was 10 years old and she truly had a magical childhood and has so many fond memories that she shared. They moved to Hemet and then her parents moved back to Escondido in there older years.
This house Uncle Tommy helped build for Grandma and Grandpa Livingstone (Margaret's paternal grandparents). It was very close to Uncle Tommy and Aunt Merle's house.
The house on the bottom right was the house that Margaret lived in when she lived in Escondido. Her grandparents (Grandma & Grandpa Canova- Margaret's maternal grandparents) lived just up the street and she loved living with them as neighbors. On Saturday's she would wake up from a Friday night sleep over at their house or scramble up the hill in the morning to have homemade waffles where Gramps (Otto Canova) would make sure there was butter in every square. Her own yard had an orange tree and olive trees. There were lots of kids to play with and back then it was rural and country living with farms to wander through. The picture on the left is a hillside on the other side of the street from her house and she said it was covered in grain and she loved sliding down it on cardboard. She loved her time in Escondido. These stories reminded me of my own girls living just up the street from Dale and Margaret and gave me a full circle moment and it filled me with gratitude that my girl's get to experience having grandparents so close.
This house was Martha's home (Martha is Grandma Stone's sister- so there was Martha, Ruth, and Lottie). This sweet farm house was in the middle of a chicken farm that they owned and Margaret shared some memories of being there and enjoying the farm.
This was the elementary school that Margaret went to from kindergarten through 3rd grade. She said it looks completely different now.
Then when Grandma & Grandpa Stone (Margaret's parents) retired, they moved back to Escondido from Hemet and lived here in this retirement community. It brought back lots of memories for Nate since this is where he remembers visiting. The got to swim in the community pool (bottom picture).
We then made it to Chuck & Leona's house (Leona is Dale's older sister) for the evening. They have the most incredible house on the most amazing property. The girls thought it was so cool that they had a pool inside their house and it was making Paige dream big about what she wanted in a future home.
We loved wandering around their property and enjoying the incredible view.
Chuck had this really cool corvette that the girl's loved and they were so excited to sit in it and pretend to drive this fancy car.
We got to pick some oranges! We ate so many oranges and tangerines and loved being able to pick our own.
Leona made us a delicious dinner and we enjoyed visiting and the girls played with some toys. It truly was a wonderful and relaxing evening.
DAY SIX
It was a cooler overcast morning so we enjoyed a morning walk to an overlook on the property and spent more time with the animals and on the zip line.
We let the cat wander into our house a couple of times and McCall's squeals of delight and excitement were so cute.
We then made the drive to Hemet. Our first stop was to see Diamond Valley Lake. It is a man made reservoir that wasn't there when Dale and Margaret lived here back in the day. It was very windy up there but was cool to see.
We then had lunch at Raisin' Canes which I thought was another great food place that I would recommend and go again to.
Then we went down memory lane. This was the home that Margaret's family rented for a year or two when they first moved to Hemet from Escondido. She said it was a hard transition at first going from country living to a neighborhood right in town. Eventually she found her circle of friends and the street she lived on was filled with kids and lots of places to play. The friends she made in this neighborhood even after she moved to another house stayed friends through high school.
This is the house that Dale grew up in.
This is the house that Margaret's parents bought after renting and was 6-8 blocks away from where they lived before. She lived in this house from 6th grade to when she left the house for college. We drove from Dale's house to this house the way the Dale would have walked to her house. They often walked to school together whenever it worked out. They would leave notes for each other in the holes of the palm trees. They really have a sweet love story that started when they were both very young and they have been together ever since. They loved their time together in high school and only dated each other. Margaret enjoyed being at his house because there was always so much activity going on (Dale had 9 siblings at home) and Dale liked being at her house because it was calm and quiet and Margarete's mom always had a candy dish on the table in the living room and candy never lasted long at his house.
This was the church that Dale went to (it is now not an LDS church) and where Margaret was baptized.
This was the hospital that Margaret's dad was an administrator over. This was also where Christy, Mike, Aaron, and Anna were born.
This the house Dale and Margaret rented after moving from Banning. Next door was a grandma neighbor who they grew to love so much. Dale built a tree house in the corner of the yard and was a favorite hangout spot for Christy and Mike. Aaron was born while they lived here. Their next door neighbor grandma would come over and rock Aaron each morning so Margaret could take a shower. They had lots of fun family gatherings and memories here. During this time Dale decided teaching was not the career he wanted to pursue and he started working for a construction company.
They saved up enough money and were able to buy this home. This is where they had Anna. It only had 2 bedrooms so they put up a wall in the garage and made the back half of the garage into another bedroom. They lived here for 3 1/2 years before they moved to Provo when Dale went back to school and after this is when he got hired on with Boeing and which is what took them to Washington.
This is the church they went to at this time in their lives.
We stopped by this property that had SO many animals and all sorts of different kinds (sheep, goats, camels, a zebra, long horned cows, and a large friendly dog). The baby goats were so cute!
Then we went up to the Ramona Bowl where they do this famous play of the story of Ramona every year. It is also where high school graduation took place for Dale and Margaret.
We then drove back home to have dinner back at the house and enjoyed a dip in the hot tub for our last night in California.
We were all so sad to leave! We loved our time in California. The only hiccup we had at the airport this time is that Nate's birthday was not correct and didn't match his license. So he had to get that taken care of before going through security. McCall slept pretty much the entire flight and we all got free headphones so we all got to watch our own movies which was super enjoyable and nice. It was a good flight and a good friend picked us up from the airport to take us home. It is always good to be home and we really have our own little oasis here in Washington. We loved our vacation in California so much. Thanks a million Nona and Pops for a trip of a lifetime!
