Other Half and I have a love hate relationship with the desert. As Mid-Westerners, the desert has never been a factor in our lives. Obviously, we knew it existed and we knew a good hunk of our country was covered by it. But the reality of actually living in the desert was not something we had a clue about. Not that we do now, but after a couple of extended stays, we have a much better idea.
Last year was our first experience with time in the desert. Granted, we are living in a darn nice Big Rig so it’s not like we’re sleeping on the sand. Just the same, being surrounded by miles of desert and endless dry heat was new to us. (BTW, it is true, dry heat is less hot than humid heat.)
This year we are staying at Sam’s Family Spa in Desert Hot Springs. The campground is sand – big surprise there – but right in the middle there is a beautiful oasis. I did not expect to find a small lake surrounded by palm trees and waterfowl. It felt lush, which is not a feeling you get often in the desert.
The beauty and peacefulness of the desert is easy to love. We sit in our zero-gravity chairs, surrounded by the mountains and talk about hiking. We don’t do it. We talk about it. My clod incident gave us an excuse – for this year anyway.
We count the Jeeps that come and go from the campground. It’s easy to understand why there are so many. You need a good off-road vehicle if you’re going to explore the terrain. Heck, you need an off road vehicle to negotiate some of the driveways we’ve seen.
The other thing about this area are the wind turbines, lots and lots of wind turbines. Obviously that can mean only one thing – lots and lots of wind.
And therein lies the tough part of our relationship with the desert. Wind. In the desert wind means dust, sand and grit everywhere. And I mean everywhere. It gets in your eyes, your hair even your mouth. Forget about keeping the Big Rig clean – not happening. The option is to keep it closed up and run the air. Depending on the dry heat, sometimes that’s the best choice.
So there you have it. We love the desert and we hate the desert. Rigby feels the same. In this pic, she’s loving it.
Our time here is coming to a close. We are beginning our trek back east in a couple of days. On one hand we are sorry to leave. Other Half will miss golf with his high school bud. On the other we are glad to go.
One thing is for sure, despite the wind, we’ll be back. With sunsets this beautiful it’s hard to stay away.