Day 3: Arizona to California

The kids did not sleep in as we hoped they would so we all got up and headed to the La Quinta Inn Tucson Airport Bright Start Breakfast. It was basically the same as yesterday's continental breakfast but with fresh fruit, oatmeal, and yogurt, and we had a nice view of the pool. We took it easy this morning and I took the kids swimming while Gordon packed things up and looked for his phone. Did I mention he lost his phone in White Sands? Luckily, someone found it and called his dad, who emailed me and the guy will send it to him once he gets home from his vacation Sunday.

We then took off for the Salton Sea, on the way to our next hotel. It was hot hot hot! The temperature was in the mid-110's the whole drive. But hey it was a dry heat so it only felt like 100! If it were this hot in Austin, I think we would have melted. We stopped at Carl Jr.'s to give the kids a break to run around in their indoor playground. The tides have turned and now it's Storm who's eating everything (he has now discovered fried zucchinis) while Ocean barely touches his food. 

We continued on our way and went through 3 different checkpoints, one of which was an agricultural check at the California border. At the last checkpoint, A. Houston (attired in long sleeve shirt and gloves) actually asked for my green card and said I was supposed to carry it with me at all times but he waved us on. The view of the Salton Sea was quite nice, with a mountain range as a backdrop. We stopped at Mecca Beach but when we opened the doors, the stench of dead sea creatures was overwhelming, not to mention the dozens of flies that swarmed in. We quickly hopped back in and spent the next few miles trying to get rid of all the flies. The baby was inconsolable -- he did not appreciate having his one opportunity to run about snatched from him but neither Gmoney nor Storm wanted to even try a different beach. So we headed up to Indio, where we had dinner at El Mexicali Cafe 2 which G describes as traditional Mexican American food -- big plates, soupy refried beans, and a not-so-good $6.75 house margarita with blue salt. Although I did get to try a dish with cactus in it. 

We then made it to the Best Western Palm Desert Resort on Hospitality Row, where we all just collapsed. It had been a long hot day of driving with not too many stops because it was just too darn hot. We all were in bed and asleep by 10:30.