Desert Trip, Indio, Coachella Valley, California

<p>P.netters, I could really use some help here. Although this is not entirely a photo trip, I will definitely be visiting as many points of interest as I possibly can, given the time restraints.<br /> I have been trying to plan this trip for several weeks and have come up with so many variables that I decided to ask your opinions.<br /> We have from October 11 - October 24th, inclusive. We want to be in Indio, California on Thursday October 13th, leaving Monday morning October 17th.<br /> We will be leaving from the Toronto, Ontario area.<br /> Our idea is to fly, either from Toronto or Buffalo NY, on the 11th to anywhere in the USA where we can rent a car and arrive in Indio by Thursday. Then we will have from the 17th until the 24th to drive and visit other points of interest before returning the car and flying back.<br /> We can return the car to the same airport or drive to any other in the time available.<br /> Any suggestions at this point will be appreciated. I have never traveled west of the Mississippi in the US and want to see whatever I can in the short time I have.<br /> Thanks all.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Just curious as to why you've selected Indio and Coachella Valley as your first trip west of the Mississippi. Any additional details you'd like to share? Specific things you'd like to see or do?</p>

<p>Regardless of your destination (and I'm curious about that, too), I would definitely avoid flying into LAX, if possible. It's a nightmare. San Diego, San Bernardino, even Las Vegas would be much better flight destinations...</p>

<p>H O T!</p>

<p>Around Indio, if you're into nature, take the tram up Mt. San Jacinto for a day hike in cooler temperatures. Explore the palm canyons in Anza Borrego, or walk into the washes in Canyon Sin Nombre (take lots of water). Joshua Tree National Park. Owens Valley and Death Valley are a half day's drive. Yosemite is a day's drive. Rent a 4wd so you can leave paved roads.</p>

<p>In Riverside, the aircraft museum at March AFB is excellent.</p>

<p>+1 on the San Bernadino airport as the best flight destination. Las Vegas if you are interested in the parks N.E. of Vegas. October is peak time for Zion and other parks so reserve lodging early.</p>

<p>On grand tours of National Parks, you have a week after Indio so a visiting couple of parks is doable. The scenery while driving can be spectacular but don't plan to fill up all your days with driving ... stop, relax, and enjoy the parks.</p>

Fly to San Diego and enjoy it for

a day or two. Rent a car and stay

at the Old Town Inn, which is

excellent and reasonably priced.

Indio is a couple of hours away

IIRC.

 

 

After the 17th, you have a week

to explore. You might go to

Death Valley and Lone Pine. DV

will still be hot in October.

 

 

Alternatively, drive through from

Indio to I15 and continue north

to Zion. That's probably about

eight hours. Zion will be

beautiful at that time of year.

Stay at Flanagan's, or if you

want to save a few bucks, the

Comfort Inn in Hurricane is

excellent.

 

 

Arrange to leave the car in Vegas

and fly back from there.

I suggest you prioritize your wants and needs first, how much driving yall want, and what (and how much)

y'all want to see? Your question is very open ended...with that time frame, you could drive to yellow stone or Seattle...

 

I'd think about how much driving y'all want to be involved in, your trip's general vicinity and what you like to see, explore and photograph.

<p>Gup, I realize things have changed to some degree over the years. I've worked out of Indio for several weeks back in 1980, but I don't have any serious memories from this place. Went there repeatedly over the next 10 years and still nada. Unless you are visiting someone, I'd choose one of the other 1000 towns in Calif.</p>

<p>Although DV and Joshua are great suggestions, I wouldn't go there till January. In fact I was there first week of Nov (2014) and it was just too miserable to enjoy.</p>

<p>The West offers some wonderful vistas....and the distances are usually quite vast. I'd choose Zion/Bryce and perhaps even G. Canyon (North Rim)....it may still be open. There are a slew of places (like state parks, etc) in between. Anyhoo, fly into Vegas and you'll be near lots of spots in the desert.</p>

<p>Here is a taste of Bryce....sort of a <em>temple</em>.</p>

<p>Les</p><div></div>

<p>In addition to what's already been suggested,</p>

<ul>

<li>Do the whole tourist thing in Pam Springs</li>

<li>Visit Salton Sea (about 30 minutes away) - it is always, uh... what's the right word... interesting</li>

<li>Go up to Big Bear (about a 2 hr drive) - enjoy the mountain air, lake and trails</li>

<li>Visit the Calico Ghost Town (2.5 hr drive) - a bit touristy, but was one of the largest silver producers in the 1880's</li>

</ul>

<p>Have fun!</p>

<p>I'm not sure that the Indio area would be my heart's desire for my first trip "out west" but I'm assuming that there are non-photographic reasons why you need to be there. There are certainly things around there worth photographing. So here's a few thoughts, on the basis that you don't have a lot of time before you're due at Indio, and a bit more afterwards. </p>

<ol>

<li>The journey. Agree with the suggestion to avoid LAX at all costs. Its a terrible airport and a poor drive to get to where you're headed. If you consider flying in/out of different airports make sure you can do so without major drop-off charges on the car rental. My thoughts would tend towards using Las Vegas both ways, and when you get there either spend a day there ( the neon boneyard is fun-fee, booking needed) or if you're very much an anti-town and pro nature kind of family, cut south to Joshua Tree which is an easy drive from Indio. </li>

<li>Whilst staying at Indio. I've stayed at Palm Springs a time or two and can't get excited by it and its environs. I do prefer the Salton Sea area though its past its best- too decayed in large measure . But if you get off the main roads and stick as near the lake as you can there's some relics of attempts to turn the area into a holiday destination . The star to me though is in an area called Slab City near Niland at the south east of the lake where there's a construction made out of local adobe and painted ( and goodness, has it been painted!) called Salvation Mountain. Its weird, and unlike anything you'll see elsewhere. You can also get to Anzo Borrego easily from Indio though it isn't one of my favourite natural areas especially after a long hot summer. The good thing about southern California is that its an area where people haven't been afraid to be , well, unusual - and sometimes unusual people make interesting things if you look around. </li>

<li>On the way back. You have a week. I'd be very tempted to drive back up towards LV and spend the time in some of the following picking 2 or at very most 3 to give a taste of the varying national parks in the area. Think it would be a pity not to see a couple of these on your first trip west. Death Valley; Zion NP. Grand Canyon N Rim -day use only , stay Kanab), Valley of Fire. Bryce NP. Any two of these will combine decently, and show you a decent variation as well as a good time. Bear in mind that the best photography in all these places is early and late in the say so plan stopping points accordingly. If at Bryce you might be able to drive over to Cedar Breaks one afternoon (it faces west so a better pm bet than Bryce actually) so long as there's been no snow yet. </li>

</ol>

<p>Meant to attach a photo of Salvation Mountain</p><div></div>

<p>Well, barring any further information about your trip and desired outcomes, it's difficult to make recommendations not already mentioned by others here. A couple observations, though ...</p>

<p>- Your trip begins as an historic rock concerts ends ... the Oct. 7-9 event in Coachella Valley featuring the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and many others. (LA Times article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et--ms-mega-concert--coachella-20160502-snap-story.html) Not sure if there will be any issues with securing local accommodations a few days after the concert ends. But it's something to keep in mind.</p>

<p>- Although you are open to flying into any city, you are a bit limited by having to be in Indio by Oct. 13. Everything out West is spread apart. And highways in that part of the country don't always go directly between places. So, travelling between locations may result in a bit more time spent driving than you'd expected.</p>

<p>- As already suggested here, you might consider flying into Las Vegas. Even if you're not a gambler there are great shows and restaurants there and the amazing Hoover Dam is not too far away. You might also consider flying into Phoenix, which also offers visitors many fun and varied things to do. (The Grand Canyon would be an obvious destination but probably is too far to journey considering that be-in-Indio-by-the-13th deadline.)</p>

<p>- Although it will be October when you visit, temperatures can still be an issue in desert areas. For example, high temperatures are expected in the mid 90s in both Phoenix and Indio at that time of year. Always travel with an adequate supply of water!</p>

<p>Good luck! And have fun!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you all so much! The information is all being carefully assessed. <br>

The other consideration for me is to leave much earlier, drive down from here and have my wife fly down to join me. We would spend the remaining time together and she would then fly back to Toronto or Buffalo. That gives me all the time in the world to travel and sight-see - but alone.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Your trip begins as an historic rock concerts ends ... the Oct. 7-9 event in Coachella Valley featuring the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and many others. </p>

</blockquote>

<p>David, the concert you refer to is being called 'The Desert Trip' and actually takes place on the next weekend also and is the reason our 'first trip west of the Mississippi' is taking us to Indio instead of choosing "one of the other 1000 towns in Calif." My wife's 2 week holiday is dictating the travel arrangements. I wish she would hurry up and retire!</p>

<blockquote>

<p> Your question is very open ended...with that time frame, you could drive to yellow stone or Seattle..</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I love driving so several hours driving a day is not a problem and picking my wife up or dropping her off in Seattle has been considered. Dropping her off there would be best, I think, as I've always wanted to drive along the Pacific and see Oregon.<br>

</p><div></div>

<p>Other side...</p><div></div>

<p>I also have a strong desire to see Austin, New Orleans, Memphis, Tupelo and Clarksdale, Miss., Chicago... all the storied music locales. <br>

I have a camper van and may just leave early and visit those places on my way and pick my wife up in Las Vegas, as suggested. We could then do the west coast trip afterward and she could fly home from Seattle or Vancouver. So many options! That's why I asked this forum for help, it's driving me nuts.</p>

<p>Oh! You are correct that the concert is both weekends. Sorry that I was not aware of that. It promises to be quite a time down in Indio and Coachella Valley. </p>

<p>You do mention a wide variety of options for the rest of your trip. However, your original post made it sound as though you were limited to a week or so in and around the Indio area. </p>

<p>That's true David, if we decide to both fly together and rent a car. But, I do have options which is the reason for my dilemma. <br>

I think they're called 'first world problems'. ;)</p>

 

Yup, first world problem; too damn

many options. Well...let us narrow it

down. Are you interested in nature or

more urban, say, street photography

type shooter? Or, is shooting

secondary to your fun, music and

explorations? I'd, as mentioned, avoid

LAX still....And remember "you can't

always get what you want". And take

the lesser known roads if possible. For

instance, I5 is damn dull between LA

and SF, to say the least...

<p>Definitely nature/landscape Leslie. Prefer secondary highways too. <br>

And photography is never secondary, even at music events. I took my first Rolling Stones pictures in the mid 70's.</p>

If you still reading this...try to avoid the highway between Barstow and Bakersfield, a large portion of it was a pain in the

butt to drive thru. I15 is fine to LV. High 62 north of Joshua Tree through yucca valley and 29 palmS is good. 95

highway between i10 and i40 is fine also...from my recollection.

<p>Yes, I'm still here. Was it a problem due to construction? Or a bad surface? Or traffic?</p>

 

The pain is between is just west of Mojave and perhaps, Edison, east of Bakersfield. The problem is:

 

The road switches back and forth, between a divided 4 lanes highway (2 in each direction) and non divided 2 lane road (one lane each

direction) with no median, dangerous! And the road switches endlessly, it seems, especially west of Tehachapi. On top of that, the road

wasn't lit well. So, cars and 18 wheelers kept their brights on all the time, like they don't know head lighting etiquettes. Lastly, many

passes and overtake speeding during the non divided sections like indy racers. 58HW is very empty and boring, from what I saw. This

was April '16. The actually road pavement wasn't bad. Actually, it was pretty boring from Mojave to Barstow as well, but less dangerous,

if my recollection is correct. I was going between sequoia and death valley park over a long weekend. You seems to have plenty of time

tough. JT, Sequioa, Mojave and DV are all worth it IMO. I didn't goto black canyon, which is next door to Sequioa. Vegas is okay, tho

numerous accommodations, worth 1 or 2 days IMO. I personally like Joshua Tree and the Yucca valley area most. DV and Sequioa NP

are ddefinitely worth it, if you are in the area. And this is just southern Cal...

<p>I have been narrowing down the details somewhat and have more questions. <br>

If any of you are still willing to help I'm going to start a new thread.<br>

Thanks again.</p>