Hot in Phoenix, Arizona, or cool in Santa Barbara, California? Desert, sand, cactus, and brown mountains or ocean, cool breeze, and flowers? We left behind the Plomosa Mountains near Quartzsite shortly before crossing over the Colorado River en route to the coast, where it was a beautiful 71 degrees (22c) versus the raging sun blistering the citizens of Phoenix with 108 degrees (42c) temperatures. Disclaimer: I did not shoot this image on our way out to California but instead took it on our way back; I wanted an image showing the area we’d passed through.