In La Quinta for month of March. Please help with suggestions . Golf and tennis no problem, but ATV Tours, whitewater rafting, etc, to far from Grand Canyon??? helicopter tours etc. Thanks. Emmise

It's a LOOOOOOONG way to Grand Canyon. But I loved Joshua Tree National Park, and if you can get away for an overnight, a stay at the funky old hideaway called 21 Palms is a must.

Of course, do the tram up the mountain in Palm Springs, but be prepared for a major drop in temperature.

Sorry, unless they recently cut 8 of them down, the place is STILL called 29 Palms.

http://www.29palmsinn.com/

Hi again, Patick. You sure do get around.

Why do you like the 29 Palms? And how far is it from Palm Springs, or Palm Desert. And finally, what does one do in Joshua Tree National Park? Do you just drive around and look at the funky trees or is there more to it?

- Balloons Above the Desert hot air balloon rides

- Desert Adventures red jeep tours

- Not sure about heli-tours. But there is a concession operating out of Thermal Airport that gives rides in a couple vintage aircraft. The planes are aerobatic capable and based on what I have seen them doing above my house they seem to take advantage of this fact.

- you can go tandem skydiving from Bermuda Dunes airport.

- Joshua Tree is climber, camper and hiker heaven. Good rock scrambling, cragging, free climbing, technical etc.

- If you are staying in LQ for a month you could definitely do some side trips like the Grand Canyon (which is a good stretch).

you could always drive to san diego for a day to enjoy the beach. or the wild animal park for a day.