Fountain of Youth Spa and RV Resort, and the Salton Sea

I like to include a map from time to time to help my New Zealand friends, and others see where in the country we are. This week we are at the Fountain of Youth Spa and RV park, which is just east of the Salton Sea in California.

Although Google Earth put the red bubble in the sea, we are actually on the east side of it. This area is called the Imperial Valley, and you can see the textured green areas both north and south of the sea indicating intense irrigated agriculture. Although, as we drove up from the south we saw some food crop fields, most were in hay. Wikipedia has a very good article about the Salton Sea. 

The Fountain of Youth Spa and RV Resort is a large, older 55+, commercial park that is a Snowbird destination.  Based on the conversations I had while in the pools, many of the occupants have been coming here for the winter for many years. There are numerous casitas and RVs that appear they have not traveled for a long time. I guess this, not because of their conditions, but because of the extensive add-ons of sunrooms, awnings, and furniture. I heard that there is an age limit on rigs and casitas, and that last year they removed quite a few of them. In addition to the more permanent structures, there are a lot of RV spaces and many of them are occupied by newer, large class A rigs.  A nice mix. I am comfortable here.

The main draw seems to be the two large warm pools, one of which is a saltwater pool, and the four or five large hot tub spas. One of the hot tubs has mineral water from the hot springs in the area. It is said to be very good for relief of pain caused by arthritis and other joint and muscle pain of the elderly.

Based on the activity board and weekly park news, there are many clubs and activities to participate in. As visitors we did not explore these, but it looks like no one needs to be bored or lonely spending a winter there. However, if you want to eat out, or shop at city malls, shops, or grocery stores this may not be the place for you. There is a small, well stocked general store and a cafe in the park, but anything else is pretty far away.

We have spent a very relaxed low key week here. Craig still has a cold and had been resting and reading.

Poolside music

After a few weeks, my booted foot bones seem to be healing. I no longer feel a burning pain across the top of my foot. 

According to the web, carefully walking in a pool is therapeutic at this stage. It helps keep the muscles working while limiting weight bearing. So, although my cold is not quite gone, I have been going to the pools for an hour or so every day. I have tried them both, but favor the saltwater pool.

The rest of my time has been spent relaxing with my feet up while I listen to TV and color. I love my new Prismatic Pencils!

From one side of the coach we can see the Salton Sea. 

In the other direction we have a view of a rugged mountain range. Because our days are running at a slow pace, we have noticed a remarkable show of light and dark, sunshine and overcast, and a remarkable range of natural color on the rocky faces. 

Finally, we have enjoyed colorful sunsets almost every evening. This is the view through the side window of the Alfa.

We head over to Quartzsite on Friday. It promises to be yet another type of adventure!

  

[From Craig]  This is our second Fountain of Youth, not that either seems to have done much for us yet. The first was in St. Petersburg, FL in November of 2014.