Jet-lagged (or just plain crazy), I woke up at 5:30am Thursday morning ready to start the day. Natalie and Jen woke up shortly after me–likely from my incessant typing on my laptop–and we laid in bed for a bit since it was raining.

Our cousin graciously let us have his apartment in Irvine for a few nights and also let us borrow his car, so once the rain stopped, we drove to a nearby Trader Joe’s to get a quick breakfast. We planned a hike in Laguna Beach, but it was colder than expected when we arrived.

Instead, we shopped along Coast Highway and inadvertently ended up on a stalking spree of the MTV reality show. And by inadvertently, I mean we Googled Lauren Conrad’s old address and drove as far as the gated community would let us go, though we did spot her house thanks to the two random palm trees that I remembered from an infamous episode.

By noon, with a map in one hand and a camera in the other, we set out to hike El Moro Canyon at Crystal Cove State Park.

The canyon had an elevation of 400 feet, offering amazing views of the ocean and the neighboring cities. Very few signs were to be found along the way that marked our location, and our information sheet from the park ranger was more of a scrap of paper with incomprehensible lines on it. Unsurprisingly, we got lost and had to ask multiple hikers for directions.

After two hours of trudging uphill, we began jogging on our way back to the parking lot. Jogging turned into running which turned into sprinting–the more we got lost, the faster we had to run–only because our parking meter was out of time and we wanted to avoid getting our cousin’s car towed.

Luckily, when we finally made it to the parking lot, wind-burned and hungry after five tiring miles, the car was still there. We then drove back to Irvine to shower and get ready for the evening.

The three of us enjoyed a few glasses of wine while waiting for our cousin to get off work. Around 6pm, he picked up his brother then picked us up (in the fastest car that I’ve ever been in, no less) to go to dinner. It’s been nearly fifteen years since I last saw my two cousins, so we spent several hours sharing stories and laughing over dinner at Yard House.

Do you see your relatives frequently?