In August my mom started chatter about going somewhere for Christmas. I am a travel addict but I wasn't super keen on this idea. I love my family but Christmas can be stressful and well, I'm sure you can relate to my hesitation. The requirements were; somewhere warm, somewhere Zika-free and somewhere that the whole crew (as in my husband, my mom, my brother and my brother's girlfriend) could travel to easily. My mom, my husband and I all live in Seattle, and my brother and his girlfriend live in Indiana. This ruled out most ideal warm destinations.
So we ended up in Palm Springs, CA. Zika-free? Yes. Warm? Not exactly.
A few days before we left the forecast called for 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies. Lies! It was cold and raining. I partially blame myself, I seem to bring Seattle weather with me wherever I go. Despite some weather challenges- we had a good time. We spent Christmas day hiking in Indian Canyons and had grilled pork chops for dinner. We took the Palm Springs Tramway to Mt. San Jacinto State Park and enjoyed the snow on a sunny day. We visited Joshua Tree National park, twice, and we swam in the in-ground pool at the house despite the cold weather because we were on vacation in Palm Springs damnit! The main highlight was my brother's surprise proposal! It was lovely to be able to capture the moment and I've shared an image at the end of this post.
It was a successful family trip in my mind. We had fun together and that was the point. I might even want to do it again in the future.
I'd like to dedicate this post to my brother and his new fiancé. Congratulations Mike and Brooklyn! I'm happy to have another smart, sarcastically sassy and kind woman as my new sister-in-law. Welcome to the family Brooklyn! Mikey- you're cool too. Love to you both!
Dedicated to:
