Around the second week of February, Wi-Fi support work began to diminish at the resort, mostly because the mass influx of people into the park happened primarily in January. Since there were four of us on the team, we decided to exit a month earlier than planned so we could give our hours to the other two team members. And that was A-Okay with us. We felt like it was more than time to move on. We were asked if we'd like to return next season and politely declined. On to other adventures.
So last Friday, the Wi-Fi superheroes retired their Cal-Am Resort capes (aka, polo shirts), broke camp, and waved goodbye to Valle del Oro and Arizona.
Reflections on Working at a Massive Resort
After four months living at a 55+ resort with nearly 3,000 others, we concluded summer camp for old people is not our thing. We enjoyed meeting residents and solving their internet connectivity issues, but prefer less of a city-like environment. To us, Valle del Oro was not restful. Part of it was because our RV site was located on the park's main road near the entry gate, so all traffic into and out the park passed by our rig. As an added bonus, our site was situated near a speed bump. The jarring sound of trucks clunking over the bump set our pup, Olivia, off on a barking fit. Every. Damn. Time.
We also won't miss the regular occurrence (at least 5 to 6 times a week) of fire engines and EMT trucks rushing by to help park residents in need. Olivia didn't like those either. Or UPS trucks. Or FedEx trucks. Or other dogs walking by.
Then during the last several days of our stay, construction began on a park model directly behind us. The pounding of hammers and the rapid bangs of a nail gun sounded like fireworks and reduced our pup Chester to a whining, shaking puddle of nerves. Poor dude. We played smooth jazz loudly and turned on the fan in our RV. It helped a bit but we were all happy to high tail it out of there.
Larry the Cable Guy
Two nights before we left, we attended a Larry the Cable Guy show at the resort. It's been a while since we've seen him. Like all of us, he's aged, but he still has great timing and voice modulation, and some of the twists at the end of his jokes are very funny. Of course, his humor can be coarse, but he stayed away from political and racist jokes, which we found refreshing.
His opening act, on the other hand, decided to begin his set with a joke that was both racist and supremely unfunny. And the routine didn't get any better.
Hanging in Indio
Before heading home to Jackson, we decided to spend another three weeks in the desert climate as the temperatures are just starting to climb into the mid 70s to low 80s. Lovely. As we dropped into the Coachella Valley, we felt like we were home once again and back with our peeps.
We are staying at one of our favorite RV parks, Indian Waters RV Resort, in Indio, California. The park is much smaller than Valle del Oro with only about 250 sites. It has many of the amenities Valle del Oro has but on a much smaller scale: pickle ball courts, yoga and other fitness classes, a pool and spa, game and movie nights, happy hour once a week, Taco Tuesday, and more.
Of course, since Arizona doesn't do the useless time change twice a year, unlike California, we started out in Mountain Time on Friday morning, switched to PST in the afternoon, and then to PDT today. Although we've explained things to them, the dogs are now very confused about their meal times.
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Enjoyed reading your blog very much. And, enjoyed our time with you and Cliff. Please give Chester and Olivia kisses from me. I miss the snuggles! Wishing y’all safe travels and many wonderful adventures.
Thank you Nadine. It was great meeting you and Andy. Wishing you the best of luck in your AZ house hunt!
So far our dogs have not noticed the time change. At 4:50 PM they start looking toward the kitchen as it is food time. Maybe they can read the digital clocks we have in the LR. Most important, did you get to keep your capes?
Welcome back to "our" desert! We're glad to have you back! That traffic would have driven me nuts, let alone Indie. I can see why you were ready to leave early.
Anderson Island will sure look good when you get back up there😜🌲🌲🌲🌲
Hey Greg! We decided not to return to Anderson Island this summer. We wanted to stay a bit closer to home for several reasons. We are closing in on a volunteer workamp position in Mendocino.
I always love reading your blogs and while you may have left AZ, I am certain that there will be more thrilling adventures ahead. :-) Cheers to the next chapter ----- or book.
You all are real troopers for hanging in at Valle del Oro! Glad you got away early. Love Chester's picture!