That California Dream…

There is something all too magical about planning a road trip the old school way- starting with a dream-filled conversation, sitting down with a printed map, a few root beers (the vodka ones), and your best friend. Life has a tendency to get away from us, and sometimes we get caught in a moment of “Is this what life is supposed to feel like?”, that’s kind of where I found myself last year when I decided I wanted to book the trip I had been talking about for years.

I wanted to share with you all the awesome places we hit, some of my favourite pictures along the way and maybe inspire you to book that trip you’ve been dreaming up!

Travel Tip: Pinterest/Instagram are an awesome resource when planning/booking trips! A lot of places we visited were in large part due to blog posts found on Pinterest/hashtag locations on Instagram.

Make it stand out

Itinerary:
1) Yosemite National Park
2) Yellow Conference (LA Art District)
3) Joshua Tree National Park
4) Palm Springs
Saturday, August 19, 2017 – Tuesday, August 29, 2017

**Airport Arrival: Fresno, California (Picked up our rental car!)**

Part One: Yosemite National Park

Stay: Yosemite Bug | Rustic Mountain Resort/Hostel

Side note: I heard the spa at Yosemite Bug was awesome, came highly recommended, but we didn’t have a chance to book.

Eat: For the most part we ate at our hostel, the food was awesome, and so were the people. They had brown bag lunches you could buy for your day adventures and delicious cafeteria (meets rustic cottage themed) common area for breakfast/dinners. We loved it!

Explore: We spent our entire time here just hiking and exploring Yosemite National Park.

Pit Stop: Santa Monica Pier

Part Two: Yellow Conference

Stay: The American Hotel

Eat: Cafe Gratitude (Vegan Lunch) // The Springs LA (Picture Below) // Urth Caffé Downtown LA (Breakfast) // Zinc Cafe & Market and Bar Mateo (Dinner)

Explore: Our days in the Art District of LA were spent at the Yellow Conference. “A gathering for creative women who are making an impact and using their gifts, skills and talents to serve the greater good.” We met some amazing women, were inspired by courageous speakers, and introduced to a new way of thinking.

Part Three: Joshua Tree National Park

Stay: Desert Dwelling in Joshua Tree | Airbnb (Absolutely Adorable home! Photo above)

Eat: We just did some home-cooked meals and snacks while at our temporary desert dwelling.

Explore: We spent an afternoon at Joshua Tree National Park but being that we visited in August the heat was only bearable for so long. We decided to take a drive to visit some Dinosaurs.

Part Four: Palm Springs

Stay: The Saguaro Hotel
Side note: If we were to go back I would definitely want to try out The Parker

Eat: Norma’s (Dinner) // King’s Highway (Lunch)

Explore: From the moment we passed the “Welcome to Palm Springs” sign we were both gushing over the sights, from the mountains to the palm trees to the absolutely stunning Midcentury Modern Architecture.

Our first stop was at Moorten Botanical Garden Showplace, to see and take pictures of all of the cactuses! Then we just started adventuring around in our rental car to check out some historical Celebrity houses (Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway, Marilyn Monroe, The Kaufmann House, etc.)

The rest of our time in Palm Springs consisted of stopping into some awesome MidCentury shops & relaxing by the pool at our hotel before heading back to reality.