Day 7 - Joshua Tree and Route 66 (10.10.2016)

We start the day in Palm Springs with a short but refreshing swim in the hotel pool. After a shower and checkout, we leave the hotel and make a quick photo stop at the wind parks in front of Palm Springs. The number of wind turbines is very impressive.

From there, we drive approximately 2.5 hours to Joshua Tree National Park where we buy our National Park Pass ($80), which is valid for all National Parks in the US. This pass allows all vehicle occupants to visit all parks without additional cost. This offer is very good considering that a park alone already costs $20 per car.

So we continue driving and admire the beautiful view as well as the combination of rocks and Joshua Trees that line the road. After a short break at a rest area, where we eat our melon, we continue through the park and stop every now and then to take some photos.

In the end, we arrive at Keys View (which is at a dead-end), where we have a beautiful view over the Coachella Valley.

From the viewpoint, we head towards Kingman, where we have booked our next overnight stay. On the way there, we also drive a small section of the legendary Route 66, with winding curves that bring us a lot of joy. We experience sunset on Route 66 and then continue driving the Route 66 almost alone in the dark towards Kingman.

Along the way, we encounter a few donkeys and a cow on the road, but they don't seem to be bothered by our presence. Once we arrive in Kingman, we check in and have dinner at Cracker's Barrel. Here we get very good home-cooked meals (all made from scratch) at a reasonable price.

Once again, it's getting late until we finally get to our room and can lay down in our bed. But the packed itinerary was definitely worth it, and we are very glad that we booked all our rooms in advance for this trip. This way, we have much more time for our activities and don't have to interrupt them to search for a room or hotel.