I would like to thank everyone for the great help, we will be stopping a the seven feather on the way down to Palm Springs! ( great tip thanks  Joe)

And we have also booked a night at the Bear Mountain(thanks Jay)

Last I have done a re-route at Bakersfield and will now by-pass LA Yeah!!!!!!!!!

thanks everyone

Jerry

If you dont mind dry camping one night the T/A travel center at the bottom of the grapevine has recently been redone and they have a huge parking lot newly paved. Then its an easy drive to Indio. We do it all the time and saves the out of the way drive to Bakersfield. If you do choose the Bakersfield option you are better off just catching highway 99 near Sacramento and taking that to Bakersfield. Mileage is almost equal. Its the detour from I-5 to Bakersfield and back that adds miles.

Ken  CA native with a hundred trips up/down the central valley.