We stayed at Aloft hotel, which was the most hip hotel of our road trip. The room was comfortable with a modern design. That morning, Kid C continued with her ritual of drawing on hotel paper. We also took some fun family shots before we checked out:
Kid C busy drawing
Cheeeese!
M & the kids
At 10:00AM, the temperature had already reached 86 degrees and would reach the high 90s by the afternoon. Our plan for the day was to have breakfast, fill up on gas and head out of Phoenix.
We ate at Matt’s Big Breakfast, which was featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. The service was excellent – servers were accommodating to our kids (and happily cleaned up a big water spill courtesy of Kid A) – and breakfast was very satisfying.
Kid A petting the pig statue
The kids were fascinated with this pig
Matt's Big Breakfast: The Chop & Chick
Matt's Big Breakfast: Homemade waffle with thick-cut bacon
Kid C's Look of Concentration
After breakfast, we felt energized and eager to finish the final leg of our road trip.
Views on the road in Arizona:
We were surrounded by miles and miles of dry terrain, flat desert with mountains in the backdrop. I noticed there weren’t as many rest stops on this stretch of road and M pointed out that the temperature was 103 degrees. It’s no wonder why the speed limit was 75MPH.
Views as we reached the AZ/CA border:
After much anticipation, we finally reached the state sign we were most looking forward to seeing.
As we passed the California welcome sign, we cheered “Pacific Standard Time!” and felt a sense of relief and excitement. The kids, on the other hand, were not aware of this momentous event.
Sleeping Kid C
Sleeping Kid A
The first part of our drive into California was mostly desert. We decided to stop in Indio for lunch. When in California, a stop at In-N-Out is always on the agenda. The staff was especially nice at this location – they gave the kids stickers and a few of the staff even signed a hat with notes welcoming us back to California. (I had a brief conversation with the cashier and mentioned that we were driving cross-country.)
Kid A greeting customers at the drive-thru
We finished up lunch and continued our drive. It would take over 3 hours (without traffic) to get to Ventura.
After we passed Palm Springs, we saw hills upon hills of huge windmills. We later learned that this was the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm.
After taking the 10W to the 210W to 118W to the 23S, we saw this sign:
Shortly after, we saw these views:
We made it to Ventura about 7PM, just in time for us to have dinner with Nana & Grandpa.
It had yet to sink in that we made it through our cross-country adventure. We drove through 14 states, about 3500 miles, in nearly two weeks and Team Noren was still intact!
