SO LETS TALK ABOUT GLAMPING…

 With an “Adios” to LA LA land we drive a couple of hours and land in Indio, CA.  It’s 80 degrees… ahhh… bliss…

We stay at the Indian Waters RV Resort.  The spaces are large and Dimples is dwarfed by the behemoth RVs favored by the snowbird crowd filling the park.  WIFI is good, staff friendly, grounds manicured, and the common areas clean.

Day two the weather changes.  We are experiencing a major cold front…. Arghh!

So cold weather activities are once again on the agenda.  We catch a showing of the Life of Pi that we both enjoy thoroughly.   Foraging is great.  We pick up fresh tortillas at Cardenas, the local Hispanic market and gourmet fare at Jensen’s the local finer foods market.

So since the weather is not conductive to lots of outdoor activity, lets talk about glamping.  The definition of a glamper is one who loves the outdoors with a penchant for luxury and fine living. Anyone who knows us will attest that we enjoy the best that we can afford and will not settle for the mediocre.   Dimples is the "Classic" model equipped with Corian counter tops and solid Hickory cabinetry, so we started with basic luxury.  But she only sports an interior of approximately 200 square feet and we have equipped her with all of the additional luxuries that we think we need.

Custom Drawer

Glamping involves fine dining.  To that end we extend the capabilities of our kitchen with the addition of a portable induction cooktop, Cuisinart griddle-grill with the additional waffle plates, a fuzzy logic rice cooker, a Thermal cooker, Cobb BBQ, Weber go-anywhere propane BBQ, and Auspit Rotisserie.  Cookware is Al-Clad and Le Creuset,  cutlery by Shun.  A custom bin drawer stores a plethora of hand tools and flatware. A bin under the refrigerator can hold up to eight bottles of wine. (A far cry from the 300 bottle climate controlled cellar we enjoyed in the stix and brix home, but downsizing does have some limitations.)  To start every day off – we enjoy an Americano, Latte or Macchiato with the push of one button on the Jura ENA9.  Our meals are enjoyed off of French china plates for everyday and Annie Glass for special occasions, Japanese lacquer ware bowls, and crystal stemware.  (Check out stuff here.)

Colorful Natural
Fiber Bedding

After spending the day exploring we can look forward to an exceptional nights rest.  Our bedding is all natural fibers: high thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, Merino wool mattress pad, Down pillows, Chinese silk comforter for warm weather, eiderdown comforter for cold nights, silk and satin duvets, a couple of throws (one cashmere and another Pendleton wool) to ward off the chill and custom throw pillows enhance the décor. We recently replaced the stock mattress with a Sleep Number RV bed. (Ah heaven!)

The shower is outfitted with soap dispensers filled with luxury body wash and aromatic shampoo. I enjoy fluffy microfiber bath towels and Chris prefers Egyptian cotton.

So for us, living in a tin can is actually quite comfortable and we can change our view, our neighbors and our GPS location on a whim….

Well… it looks like warm weather is on it’s way back… time to get out and do a little exploring…

k

ADVENTURES OF DAVE AND DIMPLES VOL 1.28

THE ADVENTURES OF DAVE AND DIMPLES VOL 1.27

WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY…

Minnie

 Departing the desert, we venture into the suburbs of the greater Los Angeles basin.  We overnight in the Anaheim hills at the Canyon RV Park.  This is a little gem in a nature preserve off highway 91.  This also gives us a day to acclimatize to the energy of Southern CA.  The next day we do the short jaunt to the Anaheim Resort RV Park.  This is the closest RV Park to Disneyland.  It’s a bit cramped, but clean and we score a spot near the laundry room with only one neighbor.  The staff is exceptionally friendly and helpful.  We are able to buy our Disneyland multi-day park hopper tickets here.  There is even a shuttle that leaves every half hour to take us to the Magic Kingdom (for a fee of course LOL.) Can’t be much easier than this!

Carthay Manhattan

Disneyland at Dusk

After settling in, the first item on the agenda is foraging… out pantry is pretty sparse after three weeks in Death Valley… so we head off to Trader Joe's and stock up.  On December 21^st we head over to “the happiest place on earth” to spend the last day of the Mayan Calendar.  Seems like a lot of others are of the same ilk.  Both Disneyland and California Adventure are decked out in holiday bling and packed with revelers. We Spend time in both parks and end the day with fancy cocktails in the Carthay Circle Lounge.

Monstro

The Holidays are spent with family… with lots-o food and drink. 

Carousel Horse

J. Cricket

We make the most of the area and take care of business. (OK, OK our “business” is more like do-da-ing around, but we still have stuff to do besides play everyday.)  We drop off a couple of our camera lenses that need service after years of use and abuse at the Canon Service Center in Irvine.  Service is fast and reasonable.  Dimples gets detailed by The Wash Crew. They do a beautiful job removing the desert.  A little primping and polishing and she looks brand new! Of course we can’t neglect Dave so he gets a deluxe spa treatment over at the Puddles Car wash.

Hot Snowflakes

Ginger Girl

After Christmas we take advantage of Camping World’s after X-mas sale and finally replace the stock mattress with a sleep number bed.  HUGE IMPROVEMENT!!! If we could do anything over in this adventure, we would have replaced the mattress immediately after we brought Dimples home.  Live and learn… sigh.

More time is spent with Mickey fans (and there are really a lot of them every day at both parks!!!)  We also catch Django Unchained at the local Cineplex.  All in all a great couple of weeks in Mickey’s back yard.  The only thing missing is warm weather… so it’s off to the Palm Springs area… desperately seeking sunshine…  
k