What Do You Mean Its Not Summer Yet? It Is In San Diego.

San Diego weather always throws me for a loop. We have this uniquely moderate weather that is pretty much hotish for a few months of the year, coldish in the morning for a few months of the year and absolutely perfect for the rest of the year. And when you have lived here your whole life - as I have - you have no real concept of what "real" seasons are and how totally miserable they are for pretty much everyone else in the entire nation. It's also really easy to get lost in which season it actually is, since they all sort of blend together and the difference between them is a 2 degree drop at night average and a notation on the calendar. This is the reason why only in San Diego are flip flops and shorts year round attire. Add a sweater for winter, tank top for summer. You get the point.

My calendar informs me that in fact, summer is still a whole week away. However, I am already in summer mode. I no longer need even a sweater in the morning before the day heats up. We have already gone on our first camping trip of the season (always Memorial Day up at the King's River). We have been to the Del Mar Fair. And of course we are ramping up and planning for our main summer trips. So for all intents and purposes, in my mind, summer has been kicked off already.

And its already the best summer yet. We are continually adding to Ruby's accessories, and she now proudly carries a refrigerator/freezer in her trunk, run off of batteries and solar power. This will come in real handy for our two week-long off-road trips planned in July and August. We tested it out for the King's River and it was a complete success. We had not fully realized how much space 3, sometimes 4 coolers take up in the packing process. We normally had one large food and one large drink cooler, then usually one or two smaller ones for water and Gatorade. With the refrigerator, we can eliminate all the added room needed for the ice to keep everything cold, and just pack it with food. Then pack a small cooler just with ice for drinks, and we are all set! Drinks can be packed at room temp and added to the refrigerator as needed. We were able to eliminate having to put any camp boxes on the roof-rack. While Ruby can certainly handle the load, we were able to drive a full 10 mph faster without the extra drag on the top (faster arrival), and our gas mileage was better.

The new refrigerator was just one of several things that made this year's trip the best yet with kids. For one, this was the first Kings River trip that we planned our meals with the Schotts, so instead of doing everything separately then either cooking too much food, or having tons of food to bring home, we had the perfect amount of food, got more time with our friends, and had less cooking and cleanup overall. It was win-win all the way around. Second, while some of the classic river Gods were not there (and we sorely missed them), it ended up being the smallest group we have ever had, and it was, to be honest, a really nice change. Previous years, especially the last few had gotten to be so big they were out of control. Upwards of 75 people, who all show up last min trying to squeeze into spots that have already been allocated, none of which you know and all of which are more "moochers" than "providers" to the whole camping and rafting dynamic... it was getting to be a little bit too much to handle for a family camping trip. So it was really nice to get back to basics and have it be  more intimate again. And with Laura [this] close to delivering, it was perfect! Next year, us girls will have to drink it up and get on the river again. :)

This weekend we have our second camping trip, Paso Picacho. What a great way to kick of the "official" start of summer. Ha!