Some campsite!

Tuesday to Thursday (Oct 6, )

Rita was ready by noon and we were on our way to Palm Springs.  The ride there was very interesting as we once again crossed the desert mountains in an easterly direction.  We were headed to Palm Springs via Salton Sea. 

Salton Sea is a land-locked body of salt water with its own unique ecosystem of birds, fish and insects located 235 ft below sea level.  It is a very warm spot and many Canadians used to go to the area in the winter months.  We stopped at one of the beaches and were surprised to see a beautiful sandy beach, many pelicans in the water and a generally nice spot, but there was not a single camper in sight!  They whole area looked like it was in the midst of a depression.  The marina did not have a single boat in it, and the nearby homes looked derilic, with broken down fences and garbage everywhere, and at ¼ of them seemed semi-abandoned.  I imagine the root problem of this situation is found in the state of the American economy, but in this location it was worse than anywhere we had seen.

I talked to an older gentileman who like use just drove into the beach area to take a look.  He told me that he had not been back to this spot in 45 years!  When he was young this area was a favorite swimming hole and fishing spot for his family.  When they moved away, he was never able to return.  You could see that he was very sad and disappointed at what had happened to such a beautiful spot in his youth.  He said that the lake level had receeded considerably since his youth, and that he read pollution and the warming water temperatures had killed much of the fishing in the lake/sea.  Although the area was extremely depressed economically, the the derrilic marina and its adjacent sandy beach with full rv services (for only $15) seemed like a great spot to spend a night or two, but this was not a spot that Adrienne fancied so we moved on.

Oddly enough, as we travelled north of Salton Sea (only about 3 miles), the land suddenly turned a lush green.  Irrigation was everywhere with a variety of crops ranging from ground crops to date palm plantations.  Even one of the towns had the unlikely name of Mecca.  From this point most of the way to Palm Springs, massive irrigation projects have turned the desert into an oasis—however much of the water was going to feed the isatiable demands of the enormous walled residences that make up Indio, Palm Desert, and Palm Springs.

With the help of our trusty GPS we located Dave and Meg inside one of these walled complexes (Emerald Desert).  It had duplex condos and rv pads located around a pool, hot tub, and gym complex that was landscaped to perfections with various types of grasses, flowers, and palm trees—very nice.  Also on the complex was a driving range, tennis courts, and a dog run.

Palm Desert is a very unusual town.  Golf carts are an accepted means of transport on the road.  They have their own lane at the side, like a bike lane!  In driving my scooter around the area for miles, I could not find a one stand-alone single family residence.  Everyone lived in these enormous walled complexes, of which a number had their own golf courses!  They were really quite grand.  For about $200,000 you owned a half of a beautifully designed duplex/condo (plus strata fees monthly!).  However, almost  no one lived in these units from late spring, through summer and into September.  For these months, the temperature never went lower than 100 degrees in the day, and did not cool down much at night!  However, for the fall and winter months, the place is paradise.

In the 4 days we spent at Emerald Desert we had a great time with the kids and little Finley.  The pool complex was just perfect as the daytime heat went to about 90 degrees.  I even worked out in the well equipped air-conditioned gym.  It was a treat to have Adrienne join me one day.  There were no takers for tennis but it was a most enjoyable time.  The days we spent at the pools constantly amazed us, as for 90% of the time, we were the only ones enjoying the facilities, inspite of the fact that there were a good number of huge diesel-pusher rigs parked on their pads with older couples, just kind of “hanging-out”.

On Thursday, we went to an enormous farmers market in downtown Palm Springs.  They close off the main street and vendors set up for a distance of about 5 blocks!  Every vendor had to make all the merchandise that he sold so there was no imported or “copy-cat” merchandise for sale.  The several hundred merchants sold everything imaginable from massages, to veggies, to crafts and arts that ranged from $5 nicknacks to $10,000 paintings and sculptures.  That night Palm Springs downtown was quite a “happening” place as in addition to all the street vendors and the very large crowd on the street, the regular store merchants were also open and doing quite well.  The numerous little bars were packed; some had live entertainment, and the dance floors were rocking with an interesting crowd of patrons who ranged in age from 20 to 70.  The area is definitely for the gray-haired set, but quite a number of younger couples and children were mingling on the street.

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