Joshua Tree

 We never want to leave Imperial Beach, but having a new leg of the trip on the horizon was exciting, too.  We left Golda at the San Diego airport with 4 hours to wait before her flight.  I did feel guilty, but that's a good compromise for being able to fly home!  She didn't mind.

Our next destination was Palm Springs, where Scott served 9 months of his mission, and then Joshua Tree National Park.

Emily King gave us all her good Palm Springs recommendations, and we started our time there at Great Shakes, with 4 big shakes including date-walnut, a local specialty.  Our favorite was pistachio.  We liked Palm Springs so much, we probably spent too much time there.  Before hitting the road again, we went to visitor information and printed off the 4th grade National Parks Pass that we needed in order to get our pass at the park.  One of the many perks of having Xanthe repeat 4th grade!  Just kidding.  But repeating 4th grade has been the best thing we ever did for Xanthe.

Anyway...we drove around Palm Springs for a bit, but not much looked familiar to Scott, so we continued on.  This part of the trip was largely unscripted, but it worked out completely right.  The entrance to Joshua Tree came up before we got to our hotel, so we did that first, which was good, because we just did not have enough time to explore the park.  It was a magical place.  It seems like once you enter a national park, you feel free and easy, and uplifted by the beauty as well as the foresight of whomever it was who set aside these lands.  They're special.  Our drive through the park included some short rock climbs, some photo shoots and some extreme admiration for the sunset in this incredible place.  And the road took us directly to the opposite entrance and our hotel, right outside the park.  Like I said, months of planning couldn't have yielded a more perfect result.  Except that we didn't have enough time.  We'll go back, for sure.

At the Spring Hill Suites, there was a heavenly combination of melatonin, WiFi and the Utah game. Life does not get better! Ruby got some homework done on the computer in the lobby and Scott quietly cheered his team to victory while the babies conked out and I caught up on everyone else's fall break adventures via Instagram.  If a perfect day has to end, that's a good way for it to do so.

 I love all these pictures.  The light was perfect.

 Um, Ruby??

 Um...Circe?  Har har

Thanks for the free NP pass, Xanthe!

Sunday, the drive home.  We were still 10 hours out, but we were covering new ground, so it was fun.  After an early hotel breakfast, we took on historic Route 66.  Just like in the movie Cars, this stretch of highway has been completely forgotten, since the modern interstate took a different route.  Parts of it were pretty eerie.  Who is it that lives in those dilapidated trailers and boarded-up houses, miles from nowhere, with just scorpions for neighbors?  I shudder to think what could be hidden in those rusty abodes.  Probably nothing, but still, they're creepy.

This famous landmark was pretty creepy too, but the gas station attendant was nice.  He gave the kids each a candy bar after we stocked up on engine oil and cookies.  Also, I had the opportunity to run out of the bathroom with my pants down after coming butt to face with a big, hairy spider.  The desert may not be for me.

But the road is.  Once we hit Vegas, traffic was insufferable, though.  Loads of Utahns returning from fall break and somehow unable to drive as fast as I wanted them to.  There was construction and there was rain, and there were accidents.  The drive took 12 hours.  The kids were so nice, though, and who can complain when we were fortunate enough to make it safely home?