Hey, I might have hiked right by your house! Back in late May my wife and I hiked the bottom 200 miles or so of the Pacific Crest Trail, which goes right across San Gorgonio Pass and under I-10. We got water at a spigot just after descending to the pass. We then stayed at a place informally known as the Pink Motel (it's actually just a house trailer with some pink stucco, but to a long-distance hiker it's like Eden). It's owned by Don and Helen Middleton. Do you know them? They're technically in Whitewater.
All I know is that was a pretty tough day for us. Descending out of the mountains (dropping nearly 4,000 feet in one day), only to face horrific sand-blasting wind in our faces, was brutal. We couldn't even think of pitching our tent in the pass because the wind would have yanked the stakes right out of the ground, or ripped the tent apart.
You were in the neighborhood. Whitewater is about 20 miles east of Cherry Valley. Whitewater is right at the edge of the bottleneck end of the pass area. Many moons ago hiked to the peak of Mt. San Gorgonio...yep...hot dry and windy when you reach Whitewater. :)