We started our day with the complimentary continental breakfast at our motel (read: cereal and a piece of fruit) before heading off on the final long drive of our Route 66 journey. Driving through rural western Arizona, Jake got the first bingo of the trip when he finally saw the Burma-Shave signs on the side of the highway (he had missed at least three in Illinois).
Our only planned stop for the day was Joshua Tree National Park. To get there, we had to drive between the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. We highly recommend having fully functioning AC if you ever do this drive. Joshua Tree was gorgeous and definitely worth it though.
We saw the cactus garden and climbed some big rocks.
Obviously, we needed to get some pics of the Joshua trees and other drought-resistant plant life.
We capped it off with a drive up to about 5,000 feet elevation to Keys View for a panoramic view of Palm Springs, Coachella Valley, and the San Jacinto Mountains.
We finished off the day by driving down through the mountain pass to get to the Astro Pasadena Hotel for a good night's rest before finishing the Route at Santa Monica Pier in the morning.
