Arrival at Ocotillo Wells

We left the Colorado River Oasis Park right at 9 AM (8 AM Pacific Time). As soon as we crossed the bridge we were in California and on Pacific Time so we already gained an hour on our trip. It was an uneventful drive and we averaged 8.4 MPG with the truck for the 163 mile trip which still isn't too bad. We had forgotten how long and boring the long drive through the desert was. It was a welcome sight to get to the Coachella exit and head down rte 86 to our turnoff at rte 78 south of Salton City. Eventually, we made it to the campground at about 11 AM.

Josie and I both were wondering if we had made the right choice as we saw nothing but sand and sand covered hills on the last 10 miles of the drive. Suddenly, this park appeared and looked like an oasis in the desert. The manager and his wife were happy to see us and we talked for about 30 minutes before they instructed us to pull into a temporary site while they relocated their own rig to a site that was created behind the office building so that we could take their vacated site, site #101. We finally got settled in our site (below) and talked for another hour or so with Jeff, the owner of the campground.

The owner is a very nice individual that explained the whole story about the Park and his plans for the future. This is going to be a destination resort someday as he is planning to add another clubhouse and pool and rebuild the adjacent cafe into a 7500 sq ft restaurant and store. The park is already beginning to look like a great resort as you can see that the sites are huge and he has planted trees everywhere which will someday make this park absolutely beautiful. There is a shot below looking toward the clubhouse and swimming pool and shows the size of the park

The clubhouse complex is in the center of the park so you can get a feel for how big it is.

The manager and his wife invited us to dinner at their rig, along with the owner which was very thoughtful. The owner actually lives in Escondido and is only at the park Thursday through Sundays. His wife doesn't arrive until Friday and they stay in a beautiful motorhome on the grounds. We discussed a lot of things about procedures, hours, duties, etc. and by the end of the evening we felt like sponges absorbing all this new stuff. The final picture is of one of the mountain ranges that surrounds the park:

Today begins our first day of work and we are scheduled to work for eight hours today. Most of the day will be spent looking over shoulders to familiarize ourselves with everything. Tomorrow is a short day for us - 4 hours - and then we have off until Tuesday or Wednesday. There is no formal schedule yet so we'll update our schedule as we go on. One thing is for sure - this is a very different and, hopefully, exciting stay for us...