One-way road trip from Arizona to California - March 29-31, 2013

Technically, it was a roundtrip for me as I flew first to Arizona, but it was certainly (and gladly) one-way for Kaleb as he was transferring work sites to be close to me (awwww).  The previous weekend, we drove a 17-foot U-Haul filled with his sizable belongings, via I-10 and I-5.  The journey was broken up over Saturday and Sunday in order to get together with my brothers and their families in Southern California for dinner, and stay one night at Ed and Angela's.  This weekend's road trip was to move Kaleb's car and personal items.  Similar itinerary as before, except we reserved hotel rooms in Phoenix (as there was no more furniture to sleep on at his place) and in Newport Beach.  Perhaps we were crazy to drive from Arizona to California on consecutive weekends, but it got the job done!

We stayed at the Westin Phoenix Downtown on Friday night.  Instead of paying $28 for valet parking, we found a space on the street adjacent to the hotel as the meters were free after 5pm on weekdays and through the weekend.  There was some risk leaving Kaleb's stuff out on a downtown street curb, but there were other cars parked in the area and it was brightly lit.  Check-in was quick and we headed up to the 16th floor.  Our room was nicer than I expected, and the bathroom extremely spacious.

Heavenly Bed

contemporary design

big shower

safe, coffee/tea, fridge

Since we got to the hotel pretty late, there wasn't much to do except sleep.  The next day, we went to breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, Province.  The menu was Spanish-inspired and tasted good and fresh.

breakfast tacos

omelette

fresh fruit plate

artisan toast

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and continued on our journey.  As we had driven the same route the past weekend, we knew to fill up in Ehrenberg, AZ (exit 1 on I-10) to take advantage of the lower gas prices.  I was also very tempted to get some "Daniel's Really Good Fresh Jerky" in Quartzsite, AZ since I had seen signs for it for miles, but ended up not.

It turned out that Ed and Angela were visiting her parents in Indio for the weekend, so we stopped by to have dinner at Babe's BBQ at The River, how fitting! :)

Babe 'n me

short ribs, tri-tip, sweet potato fries, and baked yam

baby back ribs and delicious honey blonde ale

link sausage, short ribs, baked beans

huge onion rings and coleslaw

dessert sherbet included

The BBQ meats were tender and delicious.  The baked yam was the bomb!  According to Yelp reviews, the yams could run out before the end of dinner service so get there earlier rather than later if you want one.  After dinner, we walked around The River and got some red velvet cheesecake to-go from The Cheesecake Factory.  We also wanted to grab a date shake, a "must try" in the Palm Springs area, but Shields Date Garden was closed by the time we got there.

We went back to Angela's parents' house and watched the end of the Lakers game before leaving for our hotel, the Fairmont Newport Beach.  I would have considered the property more within Irvine city limits than Newport Beach.  It was nowhere near the ocean, situated oddly in a business center complex, atypical of Fairmont hotels.  Valet parking was compulsory for $28/night.  Reviews online said that there was free parking (meaning the guard booth was unmanned and the gates propped open) at the Wells Fargo building on the weekends, but the gates were closed when we arrived.  Another option would have been to park across the street near Jamba Juice and walk across a wide busy road rolling our luggage.  Since Kaleb had his stuff inside the car and no other cars were parked at Jamba Juice, we decided to bite the bullet and use the valet.

standard room

standard bathroom

Le Labo toiletries

Sunday morning, I had wanted to try the Old Vine Cafe for breakfast, but we had a late start and ended up stopping at Subway for a sandwich to go.

Along the way home, there was a rainstorm; a beautiful double rainbow appeared over golden rolling fields. ("Double rainbow in the sky!")

This trip wasn't exactly a vacation, but it was memorable as now Kaleb and I are in the same place. :)  You may think that we wouldn't be traveling as much because the distance is gone, but guess again!  Next trip in the blog pipeline is an extended weekend jaunt over to Lancaster, PA to attend Kaleb's friend's wedding...stay tuned!

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