Beach day

Morning campers!

We've had a good week, some days out and our first sighting of a snake!

Saturday morning we were up early to beat the heat and take a hike across the nearby Box Springs mountain. There are a few trails which stem from the car park (which we didn't see at first because despite the car park being huge and empty, everyone had parked along the road for some reason) and we just did the one trail that day. 

Views! 

We'd started halfway up the mountain already, so as we set off we immediately had some fantastic views of Riverside on one side and more mountains on the other. There were a few farm structures in the area and donkeys wandering freely all across the wilderness. 

Our walk took us about 45 minutes to get to the peak, although the trail wasn't very clear in places. we thought we'd be able to do a loop and come back down via another route, but when we got to the top, we couldn't see any other way down! 

I made him stand on this rock specifically for a picture

It was already a hot day at 9am, but this trail wasn't as dusty as some of the others we've been on. The ground here was more like sand covering solid rock, which did make us slip around a lot and I even fell over! 

Poor me

On the way down, I spotted a little snake curled up off to the right of the path we were taking. It could have been a rattlesnake, it was the right colours, but we didn't see it move, so we didn't get the chance to hear if it rattled. We edged round the opposite side of the path and it kept still, never moving from its coiled position, but its eyes were definitely open and watching us. 

I didn't fancy getting a closer look so this tiny picture is all you get

In true Spanish fashion, after we got back and had had lunch, we hid away from the sun for a few hours (Mitchell did some work and I took a nap). Once the temperature had dropped a little we set off for a little date night and some shopping. Mitchell needed some new trousers so we went to the mall, and just outside the mall is the Cheesecake Factory. We had an enormous main each (which was very tasty) and then picked out some cheesecake! There were so many options, but in the end I chose the tiramisu cheesecake and Mitchell the caramel apple cheesecake. Of course, after a couple of bites we had to box them up and take them home, but it was worth it!

One enormous slice of dessert please

Our last stop before heading home was to drop by Target and pick up a few more baking items ready for our Monday plans.

On Sunday we spoke to some friends in the morning (one day you'll be able to come and visit and we're very excited about that). In the afternoon we set off for the beach! This time, we took the quick route down the highway and arrived with no trouble in just over an hour. We had a paddle; it was warmer than I remembered it being a few weeks previously, but Mitchell firmly believed it was still too cold to go swimming. But we had a splash and read our books for a few hours as the sun sank lower in the sky. Late afternoon seems the perfect time to visit the beach as it's cooler and we didn't get sunburnt this time! 

The beautiful California beach

On Monday I spent the whole day baking and preparing, as we'd invited some of Mitchell's work friends over for afternoon tea. I made some scones, veggie sausage rolls, a lemon drizzle and some sandwiches and paid a small fortune for a small box of PG Tips from the local British store. It was a resounding success, even if one guest did eat almost an entire scone without any jam or cream on it! 

It was lovely to put some names to faces and they invited me to join their book club!

Hope you enjoyed this week's round-up, I'll leave you here as this Friday we're off camping to visit some sequoia trees in Northern California! I'm very excited and am sure we'll have lots to tell you about next week.

All our love,

Emily and Mitchell