CA update

We have finally made it to the California coast! We had an awesome white Christmas in the Grand Canyon. Santa was able to find us even though we didn't have a chimney. We woke up christmas morning with the temp around 5 degrees!!! There was frost on the windows and door and allies water bowl was frozen solid. Burr. We were toasty under the covers but didn't want to get out. Seeing the Grand Canyon was so amazing especially with all the snow. We hiked below the rim a mile and a half and found out just how deep the canyon is. We went down 1,100 ft vertically and didn't even come close to the bottom. We will save that for another trip. One of the days late in the afternoon we were driving back to camp going an exhilarating 18mph we hit some black ice and did a 190 into a snow bank and had to dig our selves out. We found humor in it and so did the asian tourists in their buses. Luckily we were going super slow, no damage, and only took 8 minutes to dig out. We now have new respect for the ice. Moving foreword, we left the Grand Canyon and headed to the Mojave Desert preserve where we camped on some BLM land. By the way at the Grand Canyon and Mojave Desert the stars are so bright and amazing, no sky glow to ruin them. The next morning we continued west to Apple valley California to hike to some natural hot springs. We Got our first dose of in-n-out burger which is the best fast food ever and then headed to the trail head. The man who owns the land at the trail head met us at the gate. His name was mike and he was stoked to see our camper. He then took us to his collection of old tin campers in his back yard, most were run down, but he liked the one that had an oven (because his house doesn't have an oven). We then paid a camping fee and continued on, ditched the trailer, loaded allies pack up and hit the trail. Two miles down into a canyon we found the hot springs. We first had to jump rocks across a freezing river to get to the side with the springs. Very quickly we found out this is a hot spot for nudists!!! And all guys! Gross. But the water was super nice. Allie even made an accidental jump into the hot springs. After hanging out there we hiked back up to camp and had dinner and a nice fire. The next morning we packed up and drove to Ventura right on the beach. Traffic was crazy five lanes wide and everybody hauling butt. Here in Cali since we are pulling a trailer we are limited to 55mph. And everyone goes 80! We will be here in Ventura for the next two nights surfing the big waves in the freezing water and hanging out with our friends Jeff and his wife Shannon. Sara is especially stoked to be here in Ventura because the temps are 65 in the day and only around 45-50 at night. So we wont see any ice when we wake up. We will then head north on the Pacific Coast Highway. Hope everyone is doing well and had a Merry Christmas. Love, Chris, Sara, and Allie