We are still not out of COVID-19. The last year and half has been hard in terms of not being able to travel freely. On a personal front, we as a family has not had a break for a while, other than the 2 day getaway to Bodega Bay we did in March. So we booked this trip, to just take the kids out, and had very low expectations from the trip. We were also ready to cancel the trip, if needed if the COVID situation gets worse. But I am so glad we were able to go on this one, and all of us enjoyed it a lot!
To help those of you who may not want to read the full blog, here is a quick Itinerary of our trip and a few things which helped us in general.
Itinerary
- Drive from Campbell to Joshua Tree ( 8 hrs)
- Day 2 : Exploring Joshua Tree National Park.
- Barker Dam Trail,
- Hidden Valley Trail,
- Keys view for sunset,
- Day 3 : Exploring Joshua Tree National Park.
- Arch Rock,
- Cholla Cactus,
- Skull rock,
- Pioneer town,
- Star gazing
- Day 4 :
- Checking out the Joshua Tree Coffee company
- Drive to Sedona ( 6 hrs)
- Day 5 : Explore Sedona.
- Chapel of the holy cross
- Bell rock hike
- Sugarloaf mountain hike
- Sunset at crescent moon picnic area
- Day 6 : Explore Sedona.
- Fay canyon hike
- Fay canyon Arch hike
- slide rock state park
- sunset at Airport Mesa
- Day 7 :
- Chai Spot
- Amitabha Stupa
- Drive to Coachella
- Day 8 : Stay in Rancho Remuda
- Day 9 : Drive back to Campbell,CA
Few things to consider, use what is applicable for you
- If you have a smaller sedan, then renting a larger 6 seater vehicle would really help with leg space and general comfort a lot. Recommend it if that is something you are considering. We rented a Ford Explorer and was very happy with it.
- In any road trip, it’s important to make sure you give gaps of rest before you drive long distance again. Hence we planned it with enough gaps, that way you are not driving continuously.
- You will need couple of stops for lunch or gas, and bio breaks. So plan for that and keep your driving days only for driving
- In terms of food, what worked best for us on almost all day’s for lunch was the subway protein bowls. The sandwiches are hard to handle for kids to eat in the car, and the bowls work well. We buy two bowls for the 4 of us and share. We also ask for extra plain bowls from the subway and they are usually happy to give us this with extra forks.
- For dinner, it would save some time if you can get some salad packets, pre-made soups and any pre-made stuff. We had got pre-made pizza, salad kits etc which was extremely useful to come back and have at home.
- Carry enough water! We had multiple bottles on us, and also the camelbak backpack which was amazing! Get one for hikes, very very useful.
- Good hiking shoes are a must for hikes in Sedona. The gravel is loose, and this would avoid you from slipping.
- Both in Joshua, and Sedona - try doing your main hikes earlier in the morning. Preferable start at 7:00 am or so and be done by 11 am or so. It gets hot after that. We could not follow this, as kids would not wake up that early. So we essentially did hikes in the morning, and did less intense stuff after during the afternoon hours and continued a bit more of hiking in the evening.
- If you want to do the Cathedral Rock or Devil’s Bridge or any of the other popular hikes in Sedona, you need to plan it well as parking is definitely a big problem and you need to start the hike early in the morning.
- Carry enough sunscreen and apply generously
- The ranch experience may not be for all. The house is very basic, with necessary things, and there are flies, insects, and dust and smell as part of a ranch. But the experience of seeing how people actually run a ranch, and all the horses, ponies and donkeys is amazing. There will be cats and dogs who might come around you and all of this should be ok for you. Otherwise you might not like this so much. We had an amazing time in this ranch!
- We took a bigger car - 7 seater. And this was clearly helpful and had enough space for long road trips like this one.
- Two days in Sedona is not enough. You need a min 5 days to really see the place and do more hikes at leisure
- Royal Thai (Thai)
- Hadley Fruit Orchards - Date Shake
- Joshua Tree Coffee company
- Red Dog in Pioneer Town (Mexican/American)
- Chai Spot
- ChocolaTree
- Berry Devine Açaí Bowls
- Stuft Pizza, La Quinta
- El Pecado Crafted Mexican Food. Cochella
Day 1 - Drive from Campbell to Joshua Tree
We had packed almost everything yesterday night. Today we woke up the kids and after a quick freshening, started our journey around 9 am. Our first destination was this AirBnB in Joshua tree. Our target was to reach somewhere between 4-5 pm. The kids were so accommodative during the entire 8-9 hr drive. We stopped twice for breaks. Once around 11 am to buy subway sandwiches for lunch( realized the subway bowls are much easier to have during road trips than the 6-inch) and the other time around 2:30 pm or so when we got something to drink. We had enough snacks in the car, so the kids and us had enough to munch on.
 |
| Start of trip |
We enjoyed the journey quite a bit with chit chat, beautiful scenery which kept changing every hour from green meadows, to mountains to dessert train. The long road ahead was very cinematic! We listened to music - mainly tried to play the road trip songs like Yuhi Chala and Dil Chahta Hai.
We reached the Airbnb named ‘The Cactus House’ around 5 pm. This place is very unique with an awesome backyard of cactus plants, a 3 bedroom 2 bath home. The place was so uniquely decorated with so many quirky and cute things around. I took a pic of almost all for memory.
There was a tub outside, so the kids had fun playing in it. Sree did some essential grocery shopping and we all had dinner. The kids had Mac-n-cheese and chicken while we had salad and soup.
We spent a good amount of time in the backyard around the fire pit and looked up at the beautiful night sky! Something you don’t get to see or do in our home in Bay Area.
 | |
 |
| Around the fire |
Day 2 - Joshua Tree National Park
We woke up around 7:30 am, made some light breakfast of toast, eggs and sausages. We all got ready and left to Joshua tree National Park around 9 am. Stopped at a nearby subway to get two subway bowls with extra containers and forks for lunch.
Our first stop was Hidden Valley Trail. This was around 8-9 miles inside the park. But since there was no parking, we decided to do Barker dam trail. All these trails are around 10 miles into the park. When we reached Barker Dam, there was no parking there either. So Sree dropped all of us at the parking lot and went and parked in the overflow parking lot 15 mins away. We waited for Sree and the kids started to feel a bit restless. Around 10:45 am, we started the hike. This is a short hike, but it felt longer because it started get really hot around 11:30. The loop after the dam did not have much shade either, but we could walk within a lot of Joshua trees :). We took breaks to have water. The camelbak backpack with the water sprout that Sree had was so useful! We took the petroglyphs trail back which ended up being longer to the overflow parking lot after stopping over near the small cave area for a quick snack. The kids were hungry, tired and cranky by the time we reached the car. We hogged on our subway bowls sitting in the car.
 |
| Barker Dam trail |
The sun was scorching down and we decided doing another trail now might be a bad idea, especially with kids not cooperating. So we decided to go to Cabazon. Miss Orissa, Pranav’s preschool teacher had mentioned the yummy date shakes that we should try from Hadley Fruit Orchards. It was an hour drive, but we decided to check it out. The kids got a good hour sleep. We reached the place, this is a shop with a lot of the things they make on their own - snacks and goodies. Some preserves, and date snacks. We first stood in the line for the date shake, they look to be pretty famous for it. The kids and Sree had the original date shake and I tried the banana date shake. This was a much needed drink on a hot day! We also went into the shop and got some snacks. After enjoying the shake, we decided to drive to a place where they have huge dinosaur models. The kids enjoyed seeing them. We spent around 10 mins here and decided to go back to the park and do the Hidden Valley trail.
 |
We went to Cabazon dinasaurs. |
 |
| The yummy date shake from Hardley Fruit Orchards |
We reached the park around 4:30 and started the trail. The weather was perfect and some parts of the trail were shaded too. The kids cooperated very well and we had an amazing time exploring this place. Tara enjoyed climbing all the rocks and seeing some amazing scenery. We kept drinking water to keep hydrated. Again the camelbak water sprout was so useful here.
 |
| Hidden Valley Trail |
We could see the full valley below! The sunset was around 7:00 so we waited there till the sun set. It was a beautiful sunset and we spent time taking pics. The place was crowded as many had come for this same reason. We were glad we came in early.
 |
| Sunset from Keys View |
We started back, and wanted to see if we can wait till 8:00 to see the night sky. We waited for about 20 mins but realized the twilight will be there for another hour or so. Of course the kids were cranky a bit due to the long day. So we decided we will plan to check this out tomorrow.
We reached home and made some pizza for kids, and we kept it simple with soup and salad for us, and hit the bed for a fresh start tomorrow
Day 3 - Joshua Tree National Park
We realized that the temperature shoots post lunch and planned our day to do our hikes earlier in the day. With kids anyways very early morning is not possible, but we left around 8 am. We packed some eggs and PB&J sandwiches with us. We entered the park this time through the second entrance near 49 palms and the Cholla Cactus was our first stop.
This was very spectacular! To see all the cactuses together. Just a small loop around them. They have put signs out not to touch or be near these cactuses as their needles can fly and prick your skin and it’s difficult to remove them.
 |
| Cholla Cactus |
After Cholla Cactus, we headed to Arch Rock trail. This was a fun trail too. We explored some big boulders and climbed up to take some pics on the arch rock. Me and Sree took turns to get the kids up there.
 |
| Arch Rock |
 |
| Checking out other boulders in and around arch rock |
After this we went to see Skull Rock. It was just by the side of the road, so we parked, saw skull rock, explored a bit in and around there and headed back home.
 |
| Skull rock |
Our plan was to stay at the AirBnb in the afternoon and head out in the evening again.We got some yummy fruits from a seller, along with coconut and coconut water.
We ordered lunch from Royal Siam Thai Food. The food was yummy! We had it and while the kids watched their shows, we watched our series on Acorn TV. Acorn TV is a new streaming app that we found which has some interesting thrillers from Australia and other parts of the world.
Around 5 pm, we decided to checkout the gift shop in town. They followed social distancing protocol to the T. We got a souvenir mug and magnet. After this we drove down to PioneerTown. The drive was very scenic and we figured out where Pioneer Town is, and was pleasantly surprised to see it maintained as old west town. The feel was really good, and lot of good spots for taking some vintage pics. We went into a pottery shop and bought another set of mugs. Sree’s coffee mug specifications are - it has to have a comfortable handle, it has to hold good amount of coffee and it should look appealing. There were some other interesting buildings and shops there. Some were closed as it was already past 6 pm. But we still had fun exploring the area without much crowd.
We got some tacos from the "The Red Dog" restaurant there and enjoyed sitting and munching on the amazing tacos in their outdoor seating area.
 |
| Pottery shop |
 |
| Pioneer town |
 |
| Pioneer town |
 |
| Sibling love as we wait for our Tacos |
After this, we came home, fed the kids, gave them a bath and prepared ourselves with the essentials for star gazing, like blankets and other stuff.
We also packed the Thai food from lunch, for dinner. And headed out. We drove into the park and this is the first time I am doing a night drive in a National park. We could still see cars in the park - all with an aim of looking at the stars
We stopped at hidden valley parking lot to see stars. Though there were stars we felt we should go deeper. So we decided to go to Keys point and see if we can watch from there. We reached Keys point and kids were hungry. So we all ate our dinner sitting in the car, and looking at the city lights from Palm Springs.
We then further drove down almost to cholla cactus, and stopped on the side of the road. Kids had slept, so me and Sree stood out. We gazed for a bit, but it was cloudy and we could not see much stars. But this was the first time I was gazing up with pitch darkness around me. Clearly an exciting experience.
After a few minutes, we decided tonight was not the best day for stargazing and started back. Reached home by 11 and called it a day.
Day 4 - Our drive to Sedona
Today, we woke up and slowly took our time feeding kids and packing everything in this house. We loaded the car and made sure all instructions of checkout was followed.
We had couple of small things to do before we head to Sedona. First was taking some pics in front of the rainbow house :). It was right on our street so I got the kids to pose and posed myself too:).
 |
| Rainbow House |
Next we stopped at Joshua tree coffee company, because we had heard so much about the coffee here. Sree bought coffee beans and we ordered latte and coffee for the drive. Also I felt this place had an interesting vibe with the location and their outdoor space
We then took a quick peak at the doolittlehouse from outside.This is a very differently constructed house and was there in one of the materials the owner of our Airbnb provided us.
After this we started to Sedona. The drive again was beautiful. We spent it with lot of chatting, taking a quick lunch break at a gas station, me driving the rental etc. We also stopped at target to get some quick pre packed dinner
But the highlight of the trip was our stop at Priya’s house. I know Priya through my friend Divya, and this was an impromptu meet up. She saw an instagram story pic of mine and asked where I am, and when I said I was in Joshua tree, and will be driving to Sedona, she generously invited us over for a pit stop at her place in Chandler! It was lovely to catch up and talk to her, look at her fruit trees and flowers in the backyard and munch on the Sabudina vadas she made and enjoy the filter coffee :). Kids got a break too and it was all over lovely!
We then said our byes and drove down to Sedona. We reached our AirBnb by 8:30. The night sky pleasantly surprised us as we could see more stars here!
Our Airbnb was a small 1 bedroom place with an extra pullout for the additional bed.They had lovely herb garden outside more :).
We made a quick dinner of soup and salad and pizza ( all bought from target) and then settled down to figure out our plans for tomorrow. After some discussions and research we now have an outline for tomorrow’s exploration :)
Day 5 - Sedona Day 1
We woke up early today and got some quick pancakes done for breakfast. It was our first day in Sadona, and we started out around 9:00 am and got subway bowls for lunch. Our first stop was the Chapel of the holy cross. Chapel is only open from 9 to 5 pm. We went in and loved the silence we felt there and moreover the views were amazing.
 |
| Views from the Chapel |
After spending some time here, we left to the bell rock trailhead. Luckily we got parking quickly. The cathedral rock trail head was so full that we had less hope here. But we started walking up the bell rock trail and then took the bell rock climb. This was fun for the kids and provided panoramic views. Very beautiful! At one point it became too steep for kids and there was no clear path. And I tried to climb up a bit, but it felt too steep. So I came down. We were almost half way up. Pranav was so upset, but we tried to console him as we came down that we will go another time.
We went to slide rock state park, this had a huge queue, and it took us around 20 mins to get inside. When we got in, we realized that we forgot our swimming trunks etc at home. Here is where you slide into the water etc. so we got some water shoes for all from the shop there and got an ice cream and drove back. We decided to bring our stuff and try tomorrow.
We drove down to sugarloaf trail head and walked up that trail. This was suggested by our airbnb host and it took us a good 1 hr to get up. The kids did these fine and the views were fantastic. We got up to the summit! So amazing! It gave us a 360 view of the town of west Sedona and the mountains surrounding it.
We took a break there and then started back. Climbing down was easier. Pappu enjoyed jumping on all the rocks.
After this we tried to go to Chocolatree to get some food, but it was closed by 4 pm. So we went and got açaí bowls. Our plan was to go to crescent moon picnic spot and do the oak creek trail and stay there until sunset. We did not realize we had to have flip flops or water shoes for this. We had to plough through the water to get to the spot where we could enjoy the cathedral rock in all its glory. This was an interesting experience with kids and our shoes were completely drenched.
We had our açaí bowls there and enjoyed the time there. Kids loved playing in the water. We met a nice family from Florida there. I asked them about their cathedral rock hike and they said it was steep. But views were great. I was in two minds on whether to try it or not. But with kids it’s going to be really difficult. So the only option is for me to start the hike early in the morning on my own. For that I would need to call an Uber early in the morning then go, finish the hike and come back. The YouTube videos showing the crevice that you need to climb up looked a bit scary, though I know some of my friends have done it. I think what bothered me most was that I will have to do it alone with no company. That was the thing that bothered me most. I toiled the idea of either doing Devil’s bridge or Cathedral rock for a while in my head.
After the beautiful sunset, at the crescent moon picnic area, we had to walk out quickly as Pranav wanted to go the restroom. Sree took him and ploughing through the water, and me and Tara had loads of stuff to carry. So while we were crossing Tara fell into the water. It was ok. But then we had to console her and then walk back. It was a bit scary for a moment, but we were able to handle it fine.
After Pranav went to the restroom, it was still beautiful to watch Cathedral rock from the picnic area. The sun’s ways made it glow!
Later, we wanted to get dinner from Secret garden, but due to long waits, ditched the idea and had MacD.
We came back, and I was giving some deep thoughts to doing either of the trails again and then decided I won’t do either. And made some plans for tomorrow to do stuff with kids.
The fear is holding me back on Cathedral rock and the logistics. Let me see how I feel about it tomorrow.
We went out in the night for some star gazing and it was absolutely beautiful to see the night sky. We drove down to a parking lot of one of the trails near by. Tara slept off but Pranav was so happy to see the stars:)
Came back and called it a day!
Day 6 - Sedona Day 2
The whole of yesterday evening and night I was in decision fatigue of whether to do the cathedral rock trail or not. Finally I decided I won’t do it alone because I really wanted one more person with me. I think the only thing bothered me was coming down the crevice all by myself, more than climbing it. I checked multiple videos and it’s very much doable. But having one more person makes a huge difference than doing alone.
So in the morning we got ready and went to Fay Canyon. This was a easy hike for the kids and shaded. We reached the end, and then climbed up a few rocks to get a better view.On the way back someone recommended the Fay Canyon Arch Trail, and we found the trail head. This is one of the hidden trails. I started up first and then met a few hikers who mentioned kids can do it, and I got Sree and kids also to come up. One portion was pretty steep and Sree and kids waited down there while I climbed up to the arch. It was so beautiful. I think this was my most enjoyable hike. Spent a good 5 mins there also explored around the area and clicked snaps. Then, decided to come down. I was literally sliding down on my bump some portions. Sree went up and saw the view while I stayed with the kids.
The kids did get a bit cranky, especially Tara because of hunger. Pranav surprisingly loved hiking! He loves to jump over rocks etc. Tara also likes hiking but has to be fed well :). We reached the car and then had our lunch inside. Thank god for the packed subway bowls! I am sure subway is very happy with such loyal customers.
After this we drove down to slide rock state park. We had everything with us, and were prepped. We all changed into swim wear and walked to the creek.
We thought it was all fine, but realized the water is too cold and the creek is deep in some areas. I think what happened is, Tara was all enthusiastic to go down the slide that we picked the slide at the deepest portion. She then just slid across and was already in deep water and was getting scared. So Sree jumped in and pushed her towards me and I pulled her up. Then pulled Sree up. Some nice folks helped Tara retrieve her shoes which was flowing away in between all this. After this drama, me and Pranav slid across a few times in a lower area and then me and Tara did once.
The water was cold and we were shivering. So we decided to go back. We sat for a while, had ice cream enjoying the sun.We changed and then drove down to airport Mesa for the sunset. We reached there early and waited in the car for a bit and walked down to the view point.
 |
| Slide rock state park - water was so cold |
The kids petted the dogs who were with a family and spent some time in the area. The sunset and the shades on the rocks was nice to watch. But I did feel the sunset on cathedral that we saw yesterday was better.
After the sunset, we started back and found a great Mexican food place for dinner. We went there got seating quickly and had one amazing dinner. We wanted that food so badly! Everyone was happy! I don’t even remember how quickly the Nachos disappeared from the table, and we still had appetite for the main course.
We reached home and all of us took bath and literally crashed. Me and Sree tried to watch some TV, but soon slept off.
Day 7 - Drive to Rancho Remuda
Our plan today morning was to pack, and then checkout the ‘The chai spot’, the amitabha stupa and get food from Chocolatree.
 |
| At chai spot ! yummy chai here. |
We then left to Chocolatree. I really liked the ambience here. I just went to get a to-go order but wished I had spent time here. The moment you enter, it slows you down. The staff there smiles and comes and hugs people they know etc.
I got some chocolates also from there and kale chips and chia seed chips apart from the lunch.
It took a while to get the food and I walked around checking out their outdoor seating and other quirky stuff in the shop. Very zen like place in Sedona with lot of vegan options
I got the food, but when we started I realized the kale chips etc I bought was not in the bag, so had to go back and get it. That was a pain, but did it anyways. Also got a souvenir from Walgreens of Sedona
After this we went to Amitabha stupa. Only me and Pranav went and checked it out. Another peaceful place to sit and spend time. We walked around and then got back into the car in a short while.
After this we started our journey to Rancho Remuda. We stopped in between to have our packed lunches. We loved the pizza and food from chocolatree. Then we drove all the way to Rancho Remuda. The owner had given instructions and we just followed that, instead of the GPS.
Around 6:30 pm, we got into Coechella. It looked very different with loads of date palm farms around. Felt more like an Indian farm.
There was a gate to the farm, which we opened and had to drive down to the main ranch house. We were staying in the Casita. We parked and then went and opened it. It was a rustic 2 bedroom 1 bath house with a small kitchen.
Everything gave us the rustic vibe, including the TV, VCR set. They had many dvds and cassettes. All rooms had the old style AC which reminded me of my house in thrissur and also my Chennai apartment where we had these kinda AC.
We entered and was settling in things, when a cat came into the house and sat on the couch. I was so terrified that I just stayed in the kitchen. The kids were super excited and was really working well with the cat. We made a quick call to my friend Shanu who is a cat mom, to find out more about how to deal with him.And in sometime, he went out. We later learned that his name is Tuxedopants :).
Sree had got some frozen food from Walgreens, so we had that and made pasta for kids. We changed and settled in for the day. We tried playing the dvds and cassettes but nothing worked. So we called it a day.
This was our first time on a ranch, and it felt really a rustic place - the smell, the ac, and the entire set up.
 |
| Names of the animals in the ranch :) This is not the full list, I have two more sheets pictured of all the dogs and cats here:) |
 |
| In front of the casita |
Day 8 - Rancho Remuda
We woke up around 7:30 am or so. Sree had already gone for one round of walk around. Then he took Tara for a walk, and then when Pappu woke up we all went out again.
The kids immediately bonded with the dogs. Especially Tara. Cybele the owner allowed them to collect fresh eggs from the chicken pen. This was so exciting for Tara and Pranav. We then fed the donkeys some carrots and also gave some treats to the dogs.
The kids continued to play there while we made breakfast and then all of us got dressed. The kids again went to play with the ponies etc and also brushed some horses. This is a heaven for an animal lover!
 |
| collecting the eggs |
On the way back to the ranch, we stopped over at Walmart to get some pet treats(both dog and cat treats) and also at a produce store and got a 25 lb bag of carrots. I felt like a pet mom:)
After this, once we reached back at the ranch, Tessa a 14 yr old who helps there, was ready to give Tara and Pranav a riding on the horse. Her parents were also there just sitting around. Cybele keeps going in and out to bring stuff for the horses etc. she trains the horses for polo.
Tessa put the saddles on the horses and also brushed them. She allowed Tara and Pranav to brush them too. Tara was initially scared, but the folks in the ranch helped her calm down and then she was ok. Tessa was also very careful. So they had a good 10 rounds on the horse :). The horse she rode on was Tuscany - a nice black one with a white diamond patch like a Bindi :). After Tara, Pranav got his turn. He also thoroughly enjoyed his ride a lot and also got into a chatty mood after the first few rides.
Right after this I called Shanu, who is my childhood friend, and figured out where she is. She was joining us at the ranch for the night.When she was nearby, I went to open the main ranch gate for her. She came in, then we walked around the ranch. She saw all the cats, and dogs and ponies and horses. The kids continued to play with the pets, especially we met more of the cats here - like Cantina and Tuxedo pants more. We then sat outside and chatted a while, while Sree went and got us dinner - Mexican food. After food, we all chatted for a while and then called it a day! Completely forgot about star gazing tonight.
 |
| With a pony |
 |
| Feeding the lovely dogs |
 |
| Tara getting a ride on a horse |
 |
| Pranav enjoying his ride |
 |
| Meeting my friend Shanu |
 |
| Feeding ponies the carrots we got |
Day 9 - Drive back
In the morning, Shanu had to leave early, so we woke up, chatted with Shanu and walked around the ranch area before saying bye to her.
After she left, we again spent some time around the ranch, especially the kids. We got dressed, packed and said our good byes to all the animals and Cybele and started around 11 am. We told our goodbyes to the amazing 6 dogs there - Mickey, Leo, Otto, Spreckles ( its the only girl), Jingles and T-Bone.We stopped at the produce shop to get dates to share with our friends and then started our drive back. The dates were yummy and such reasonably priced! As we left the ranch, we all realized how much we enjoyed it. It was our first time on the ranch and it was lovely to spend time there.
This is a 9 hr drive, so we made a stop for lunch to get sandwiches and then couple more for gas and bio breaks. I took over the driving for a bit too.
I ordered Komala vilas food :), so there will be yummy food waiting for us as we reach our home. Our ‘normal’ home as Pranav calls it :)
