The day following our trip to Channel Islands National Park was supposed to be spent at Ventura Beach, however when we woke up it was overcast and chilly. Instead, we decided to get on the road and head towards our next destination of Palm Desert, CA.
Because this was a big trip and costs can add up quickly, we tried to be frugal when possible. For us, this meant packing a lot of our own food and splitting our time between camping and staying in AirBnb’s. It’s funny to look back at all the different places we had stayed: a haunted hotel, camping in 20-degree weather by a river, in the heart of Yosemite Valley, a sketchy KOA in blazing hot weather, a run of the mill AirBnb, and now rounding it out by staying at a nice Marriott Resort! We don’t treat ourselves very often, so we were excited about staying here. We enjoyed some time relaxing and eating poolside, it was perfect.
The next morning, we were up early to make it to our last park of the trip, Joshua Tree National Park, before it got too hot. Because it gets so hot here in the summer, we were actually visiting in the park’s off season. There were signs everywhere reminding you to “Hike before 11 am to avoid death.” I really wish I would’ve taken a picture of one of these signs! While in the park we drove the scenic road, and hiked a few trails (before 11 am 😉). It was definitely hot, and we both decided that the desert parks aren’t really for us, we’re more of mountain park girls. Nonetheless, Joshua Tree was very unique and had some cool rock formations.
After our time at Joshua Tree, we headed back to Utah with one last stop ahead of us. We had permits to hike Kanarraville Falls, so we stayed the night in St. George and got up early the next morning to hike. The water was cold, and we wished we had packed our hiking poles, but it was a fun adventure end to our road trip!
Krista Was Here 