This is another of our blasts from the past (about places we've lived in our RV before we ever heard of such a thing as a blog). We spent some time in Southern California in late winter/early spring 2004. It was really a good place for us to be at that time.
We stayed six weeks at Caliente Hot Springs RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs. This was a beautiful resort. I kind of hate to recommend places where we stayed so long ago, because you never know what could have happened. But if it's anywhere near as nice as it was then, it's definitely worth looking at. Caliente has beautiful swimming pools fed by natural springs, all kinds of classes and activities, and fairly good sized spaces. The resort really is an oasis in the desert.
Until it got too hot toward the end of our visit, we were able to walk on paths through the desert behind the resort. We were there in late February through early April -- the wildflowers were beautiful that year.
Outside of the resort, activities were plentiful as well. We took the tramway to the top of Mt Jacinto. Here you are in the snow on top of an evergreen-dotted mountain looking down on onto the floor of the desert. It is a spectacular view.
We went to the Palm Springs Follies. It's an old fashioned musical and vaudeville extravaganza that is incredible entertainment. (We went back to this theater last winter when we were staying at Fountain of Youth Resort -- a much longer drive the second time, but very well worth it.) The performers in the Follies are all older than 55 -- several are older than 80. All of them are professional dancers and singers -- retired from their previous careers in show business and back to perform again. They're an inspiration, the show is beautiful and the comedy will brighten your day. Here is the website, which is a pretty good show itself! Click here: We love the Palm Springs follies
One interesting thing about the Palm Springs area was that it was way easier to find a good restaurant than to find a good grocery store. There were tons of "senior" coupons for restaurants, so it wasn't even terribly expensive to eat out. Still we get tired of restaurants after a while and it seemed as if we spent quite a bit of time hunting for a grocery store. Apparently most people who vacation in Palm Springs don't cook.
One of the best things we did for ourselves while we stayed at Caliente was to drive to Joshua Tree National Park several times. This park is one of our favorite places. It is a quiet and peaceful place to walk and meditate and we really needed that atmosphere at that particular time. We also found a place outside of Palm Springs called Coachella Nature Preserve that was a good place for nature walking.
Desert Hot Springs was a good place for us, with just the right combination of social and quiet activities. There are many other RV Parks in the area besides the one where we stayed and several that we visited looked equally as nice.
We would go back, except there are all those exciting new places out there to see.
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