“Marlena under Foster Grants
She’s undercover from the dawn’s advance
That girl is travel-drained
And the neon-mercury vapor-stained Miami sky, it’s red as meat
It’s a cheap pink Rosé.”
~Joni Mitchell
Tuesday morning, I packed up camp and left the BLM land south of JTNP. I drove into Indio and picked up as many groceries from Walmart as I could fit in the van. I will not likely be in a place where there is a real grocery store for several months, and I thought I would take advantage of the cheap prices at Walmart.
After that I headed to Fountain of Youth Spa near Niland, CA. I didn’t get my favorite spot, but I did get an adjacent one. I spent the week hopping in and out of various hot tubs and swimming pools, relaxing in the steam room and taking Cosmo to the Dog Park daily. The weather was sunny and in the upper 70’s every day. On Wednesday, my friend Roy drove over from Palm Springs and we caught up and he bought me lunch at the small outdoor café near my campsite. It was good to see him and catch up since I didn’t make it to his house for Thanksgiving this past year.
Fountain of Youth: I enjoy coming here every year for my vacation. I do all the things I don’t normally do when I’m out in the middle of nowhere. The place is a small town, in and of itself. There are 4 different mineral hot springs, each with varying degrees of temperature ranging from “The Lobster Pot” to “The waterfall pool.” I prefer the Lobster Pot as the heat feels so good on my weary old bones. They have a gym, laundry room, pool room, dog parks. There is a small store, with reasonably priced necessities and an outdoor café where they have some entertainment each night, ranging from Karaoke, to Trivia Night to Dancin’ to the Oldies. The community is 55 plus (emphasis on the plus.) When I see the old people getting in and out of the mineral baths, I always think of the movie Cocoon. In my mind, I’m the young Steven Guttenberg, but when I look in the mirror, I’m much closer to any of the other male characters.
Even so, I’m on the youngish/thinner side of the spectrum. I had given serious thought to possibly buying a place here when I get too old to drive anymore or when my van just won’t run anymore. They have many cheap single-wides, or smaller trailers for sale. They would feel like a palace to me after living in a van. I could write a check and move in today, but the lot fees are quite steep—often close to $10,000 a year. And even worse, the “year” here consists of November through April. The other months are too hot and I’m told that the smell from the Salton Sea in the summer and the horseflies make living here unbearable during those months. There is certainly an allure to living in a resort, but there is certainly a huge downside for me living this close to so many people.
I think it will remain a great place to vacation, but probably would not be workable as a permanent residence when I’m too old to drive anymore.
Everyone here is nice. Roy pointed out that that the vibe is definitely vacation mode where everyone is friendly, and everyone says hello as you pass or join them in the hot tubs. They have a nice farmer’s market here on Tuesday’s and Fridays. Great selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, but fairly steep prices. Cosmo has enjoyed the dog park, and I have enjoyed long, hot, indoor showers without worrying about how long I take or how much water I use.
Lessons From The Road: I learned a couple of BIG lessons this week. As most of you know, if you were paying attention, an acquaintance of mine decided he should chastise me by sending a rebuke of my political beliefs to everyone on my e-mail list. I met this man in Quartzsite last year. We hung out one afternoon and he seemed nice enough. He had somewhat of a “farm boy” mentality and didn’t seem overly educated but had a basic sense of decency and kindness. I was leaving the next day, so I took him out to breakfast. Months later, we ran into each other by accident, camping on the same BLM land. Actually, he was on his way out as I was on my way in. He recognized my van and stopped to say hello. I can’t remember the specifics, but somehow he asked to be put on my e-mail list so he could keep track of me and receive updates about where I was and what I was doing. I gladly obliged. We’ve texted on and off over the year, but never seemed to be heading to the same place at the same time. I’m not sure why—probably he read some meme I shared on Facebook about the orange felon, and didn’t like it—he decided to reprimand me by hitting “reply all” on my most recent e-mail. I guess he underestimated my audience, because several of you let him know you didn’t appreciate someone who wrote at a 3rd grade level criticizing “the far left.”
I don’t know if any of you notice, but I always try to temper my political insults, and I think of everyone I know on my mailing list and try to think of how the most conservative would interpret my political opinions. Since I didn’t really know Isaac, I never gave him a thought. Anyway, the lesson is that only REAL friends get this e-mail from now on. Acquaintances can read it when I post it to my blog.
Which is a good segue into my next huge lesson. While I was sitting outside at JTNPBLM last week, I looked up to see a car pulling into my site. I wondered why and the driver’s side window rolled down and I figured the driver had a question. It turned out the driver was someone I dated over 15 years ago. He was a pretty horrible person and I cut him out of my life, blocking his phone calls and e-mails. That he showed up unannounced, at my spot in the wilderness was an unpleasant surprise. He had moved to Palm Springs and I guess he has followed (stalked) me for a while, and from the posts on my blog, figured out where I was and decided to show up. He said he wanted to visit if that was all right. I let him know it was NOT all right and he left. It could have had a very different outcome. So from here on out, I will not be posting details of where I am staying on my blog until after I’ve already left. It never occurred to me that anyone would track me and pay a visit when I think I’m far from humanity. So by the time you read this blog post, it will only reflect where I was, not where I am