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Jumbo Rocks campground (Joshua Cogan) NOVEMBER 2006 ISSUE • Table of Contents • Laos: A Tour That Even Loners Can Love • Buenos Aires . . . Then What? • Road Trip: Joshua Tree • Trip Coach: Switzerland • 40 Best Vacations

Day 4: Indio to Palm Springs

Our first stop of the day is Shields Date Gardens, an old-fashioned roadside attraction that opened in 1924. The Coachella Valley produces 95 percent of U.S. dates, and the preferred way of eating them is in a date shake, or so I learn. I'm not a sweets-for-breakfast guy, but Shields' date shake--a blend of ice cream, milk, and two kinds of dates that've been dried into "crystals"--is delicious, even at 9 A.M. I savor it while watching Romance and Sex Life of the Date in the movie theater. The film, made in the 1950s, explains the process of growing and picking dates, and inspires hours of "cheap date" jokes.

Chiriaco Summit, 30 miles east, is mostly a rest stop, as well as home to the General Patton Memorial Museum. In 1942, the general headed a desert training center for soldiers bound for North Africa; it was the largest simulated theater of operations in the history of U.S. warfare. The museum is filled with World War II memorabilia, including 15 tanks outside.

It's lunchtime, so we grab a bite at the Chiriaco Summit Coffee Shop. One General Patton burger and bowl of chili later, we're making our way toward Oasis Date Gardens in Thermal. There's just enough time to work up the appetite for the second half of our date-shake taste test. We take a self-guided tour, and I can't resist breaking the rules and donning a hard-shelled costume (resembling a wide-eyed smiling date) left in a corner. I pose for funny pictures under the palm trees outside. As for the shakes, Shields's takes the blue ribbon.

We're nearly 15 miles from the Salton Sea Visitors Center and already we smell the sulfur. Even on this beautiful day we're tempted to put the top up. The smell is due in part to the high salinity levels of the sea; it was created in 1905, when the Colorado River overflowed, flooding the Imperial Valley's salt beds. At 35 miles long and 15 miles wide, it's California's largest body of water, but of interest only to bird-watchers.

So we drive further south to Niland, gas up, and then turn around. Palm Springs is 80 miles away, and the sun is setting. We decide to race it, even though we know who always wins.

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Finding your way

Joshua Tree National Park is at its most crowded from March through May, when the wildflowers are in bloom and the temperatures are still mild; if you're hoping to avoid the crowds, such as they are, consider visiting in the fall. Most major airlines serve Palm Springs International Airport, but if you're in the Los Angeles area, a day trip to the park isn't out of the question--the North Entrance (3.5 miles south of Twentynine Palms) is about 160 miles east of the city. Just be sure to enter the park with a picnic lunch and a full tank of gas, because there's nowhere to refuel once you've crossed the border.