Day 6: It’s a LONG drive through the Desert

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It was a gorgeous morning to wake up to in Flagstaff, AZ. The air was cool and the smell of pine was heavy. We didn’t want to leave but we were facing a 7 hour drive to Anaheim and wanted to get there BEFORE the dreaded LA traffic started.

So off we were on Route 66 again…..but this time, it was a completely different drive.

And by that, I mean – there was absolutely nothing to see. No quirky stops like we had in New Mexico and Arizona. Just the road stretching in front of us…..

Crossing into California was uneventful. We precariously pulled over on the bridge that crossed the Colorado River to get the California sign – nothing special is it?

We crossed into California at noon, thinking we could stop in Needles for lunch. Um….McDonald’s mom?? NO thanks! (I think my kids are sick of fast food by now). Not many choices here kids, maybe the next city will have something to eat.

Unfortunately, the next city with food (other than a Dairy Queen) was over 100 miles away. Now, we are not food snobs by any means, but we were wanting something a little different. In fact, we had our minds set on the famous In & Out Burger. So we hunkered down and trekked across the Mojave desert.

Spoiled as we are in our very nicely air-conditioned Honda Odyssey, you would have thought we were crawling on our bellies across the Mojave desperate for water the way were were complaining. Of course all I wanted was a diet coke – NOT any of the water we had. And though my kids were placated with the bag full of snacks, this momma couldn’t bear the thought of eating another peanut butter cracker.

So we sang songs – Madonna’s Immaculate Collection and Beatles LOVE album worked for awhile.

And we played games – One that got us laughing was “Would You Rather” – kids were cracking up at these questions:

Would you rather wear a superman cape or footie pajamas to school?

Would you rather live in a spaceship or a submarine for a year?

Would you rather eat a bug for one meal per day or eat food that has been walked over by flies for an hour?

We told jokes.

We told each other what our dream vacations would be (my kids are super creative!).

And we survived the long trek – seriously, it was only 138 miles, but it felt like forever. And we finally found what we were looking for:

It was 2pm in Barsotw, CA and In & Out was packed. They have a fairly limited menu, so we ordered, found some seats and waited to get our burgers. Meanwhile, everyone around us has the amazing looking french fries covered in cheese and bits. Um, THAT wasn’t on the menu! Come to find out, In & Out has a “secret menu”!!??? Did you know? Thank goodness we have a whole week here to come back and try the “secret stuff!”

Onward we trekked. I can see the end!!

As the traffic got busier and the freeways got bigger, we knew we were getting closer to our destination – Anaheim, CA. Amazingly enough, Siri directed us perfectly to our hotel for the night, the Hyatt Regency Orange County. We weren’t there 20 minutes and this is where I found my girl:

The perfect little California girl. We are enjoying our break – went swimming, enjoyed a nice Italian meal, and relaxed in our Family Suite:

Just want this traveling family needed to rest up for our big week in California.