After leaving Santa Fe, I stopped for a few days (28 February - 1 March) in Indio, CA. There were a few reasons for stopping here: the place I wanted to stay in Santa Barbara wasn’t available until 1 March, I wanted to see Joshua Tree National Park, and I wanted shorter distances to drive each day.
Joshua Tree was incredibly beautiful, I’m so glad I spent a day there, and would love to go back and spend more time there. Indio seemed nice, for a suburban area in Southern California.