Inland Empire Road Trip

How long do you like your vacations to be?

Since we travel four months out of the year, the length of our trips differ. We will travel anywhere from one day up to one month.

For us an ideal length of time to travel is two weeks long.

When it is longer we get pretty homesick and we start to miss our routine. We also have to spend at least one day at the laundry mat because we do not own that much clothes.

When we travel less than two weeks we don’t have time to adjust to the time change.  We also feel our days are rushed and we are driving past too many cool destinations.

The Café at Shields Date Garden

This is our second time exploring Café at Shields Date Garden and we came here for their breakfast. We had waffles, omelets, and more. If you love dates then you’ll want to try their date pancakes, dates wrapped in bacon and cheese, and the date shake shooter. While the food here is good the main attraction is definitely the garden. Here you walk on a trail comprised of bricks as you look a palm trees and sculptures inspired by The Bible, particularly the life of Jesus. There are also some dates on the trees and generally a lot of vegetation. If you are a religious person, you will love it here.

Located at 80225 CA-111, Indio, CA 92201.

California Citrus State Historic Park

California Citrus State Historic Park is a place that has a lot of things to say. The citrus in this area first arrived in 1803 and by the end of the century most of the common species in this area were planted. Originally Native American workers operated these grounds and then in the late 1800s Chinese and Japanese workers began working in these orchards as well. The Japanese soon became the largest labor group in the citrus industry until anti immigrant laws chased most of them out, the same happened to the Chinese. Afterwards Hispanic employees became the most main source of labor in California and have been ever since. During much of that time the area surrounding this State Park was the most profitable area in California because of how expensive citrus used to be. There is a trail here which let’s you see a large variety of the citrus which made this orchard so grand as well as a citrus sampling station which is open during select times. Tasting the citrus was probably our favorite part. This is simply a spectacular citrus place.

Located at 9400 Dufferin Ave, Riverside, CA 92503.

Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum

Noah Purifoy is a artist who lived from 1917 to 2004 and in 1989 he moved to the Mojave desert. From 1989 till the year of his death he was actively working on the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum. This museum is quite massive, there are plenty of building on this property and all of them are very interesting. Most of what is here seems to be things that would otherwise be thrown away. You have structures made out of toilets, tires, and bicycles. Honestly just think of a common item and it is likely represented in some of these sculptures. There was definitely a lot of time and effort put into this museum and any fan of sculptures should visit.

Located at 62975 Blair Ln, Joshua Tree, CA 92252.

Mojave National Preserve

Kelso Dunes is the largest dunes in Mojave National Preserve. We specifically went to the trailhead and had a picnic. The road to the trailhead is three miles long and gives you a lot of time to view the dunes but when you picnic you get to enjoy their splendor for much longer. We had crackers, dips, fish, and more. While your here you might get to see some of the bugs which have rare conditions. Kelso shield back katydid, Kelso giant sand treader cricket, and Kelso Jerusalem cricket are all clearly named after Kelso. Did you know that Kelso is just some guys name? There was a draw to see who the area would be named after and John Kelso won.

World Famous Crochet Museum

The World Famous Crochet Museum is a photo stand which has been repurposed as a place to hold a collection. This crochet collection has been worked on for 30 years and it has materialized into a small building with crochet all around. As you walk in you’ll be entering into a world of crochet. It sure is a cute place to visit. Outside of this museum are a bunch of sculptures one of which you can climb a ladder to go to the second story as well as an art gallery. There are a variety of awesome things to see when you visit.

Located at 61855 CA-62, Joshua Tree, CA 92252.

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