Under the palm trees...

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We were delighted to find out that the campground where we decided to stay for two weeks was also a working farm. We slept under date palms (that had been harvested in September; we bought a pound of those delicious organic dates on location for $5!) and picked our own citrus (oranges, grapefruits and tangerines) in the trees near our bus for free!!

We swam in the pool, played pickleball (mini-tennis), shared meals outside at night, made some new friends from Quebec. There were roadrunners zooming through our campsites, a magic show by a fellow traveler that inspired our girls to create their own show, singing Christmas songs in bathing suits, sewing Christmas stocking outside and rollerblading hand in hand.

You can read an article I wrote on our unconventional life choices that was featured on the Rawfood Family blog.

Hiking in Painted Canyon, Mecca, CA

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Canyons are one of our favorite places to hike (especially slot canyons) and we were thrilled when JF found out about this place, an hour from our campground. There is something exhilarating about scrambling over rocks, squeezing between rocks and even climbing up and down precarious ladders. The last time we were in a canyon was two  years ago, in Utah. Our friends had never experienced a hike in a slot canyon before and it was so fun to share that wonderful moment with them. Children and adults alike exclaimed at each turn. Some parts required quite a bit of teamwork to get through!