More from DeAnza Springs ‘Clothing Optional’ Resort…

Continued: Except for the lack of grass at the RV spaces, I was quite impressed with this resort. It’s unusual to find such a remote resort with a working bar and cafe. The first night I was there, enjoyed meeting some fellow campers in the bar, and yes most were guys, and most were nude (I wasn’t – it’s optional). The bar tender (clothed) was an interesting gal who lives a 3 hour drive away when she got this job. She was really excited about moving here permanently. Really likes the place and the work. I can see why, nice small laid back bar with a mostly absent owner, bar visitors mostly retired successful business people who either live here for 6 months of the year, or travel here from San Diego or El Centro to spend a weekend. Young folks occasionally who enjoy the nudist lifestyle. And occasionally, for spicing things up, a large biker group will stop here for a weekend.

Thought I’d show a few shots of the place, ‘cus why not?

It was dinner time and looking through the hole in the wall the waiters use to access the bar, you can see the cafe was packed. Everyone is clothed…no nudes in a cafe.

I went back to my RV and got my camera an hour later (above couple photos were taken with my phone camera) after the cafe had pretty much emptied out. That was interesting how it went from packed to empty so suddenly. Looked pleasant enough. And the menu was fairly complete and economical, with a Mexican flavor of course. As was the decor. Kitchen was clean and organized. Had dinner later in the bar that night. Very good. Back inside the bar, and you can see the beer list shows at least 2 ales. I like the Stone IPA myself. And there’s hard liquor too. Here’s the bartender. She’s very nice.  A peek outside. Plenty of room for big groups. The pool has a nudes only rule. But another rule is that you always carry a towel and use it to sit on when sunbathing, on a chair or chaise, or around the pool or buildings. Nobody swimming presently, but a couple days later when it got hotter, this area was pretty crowded. They even have an ol’ timey shuffle board. Lots of LCD or LED flat TVs for watching games. That’s always a plus. And the bandstand. I believe there was a band scheduled for a couple weekends later. The next day I hung out at home and didn’t do much. Took a short bike ride around the park and noticed a few hiking trails. So the day after, decided to hike one of them…here’s a look at the topography in the area. I don’t know about you, but I am a child of the desert (grew up in Kennewick, Washington) and like this sort of landscape.Couple hundred yards up the trail into the hills, and you get a good view of the RV park and resort. They let you know with dick pics that this is a naked trail area. I didn’t figure out why the ‘No Bike’ rule. Trail was very well maintained, loose pea gravel. Probably because bikes would tear up the pathway and cause the need for too much maintenance.

Much care was taken in  the creation and maintenance of this trail. The entire length of the trail is bounded by these rocks. That ancient tin can left on a rock to look at as a reminder of the history of this place. Pretty cool, huh? Definitely a labor of love for some folks to go to all this trouble of making and maintaining these trails up here. There were many, many bushes, plants, and cacti that could stab you if you weren’t careful. Explains the bounded trail. And a peace symbol. Something from my people. Yeh!

Nasty place to stumble and fall. So I avoided that. I anticipated the walk would be best with shoes, and there was even a sign that forbids flip-flops, so I was prepared when I got to the trailhead. You’re never really very far from the RV park as the trails wander to and fro. Such a weird geology this area has. It’s quite striking if you grew up in a forest or in the mid-west.  A cavern. I left the marked trail to investigate. Empty, but animal tracks indicate a puma comes by occasionally and rests in the shade here. I’d poked my head inside and found nothing, than noticed the cat tracks as I exited. Doh!A dry ravine that really suggests lots of water flows here on occasion. I did hope that on one of my hikes on these trails I’d see a bunch of naked people off in the distance that I could get a discrete picture of for the blog but that didn’t happen. Did see many nudists just wandering around the RV portion of the park and I’ll tell ya, they nearly all had a deep tan. The ladies I saw there seemed a bit more reluctant to go full nude…

And then there is the skin cancer epidemic and everything. So I didn’t feel the least bit out of place even though I stayed clothed the majority of the time I was there.

Ran into another trailhead. Hmm. Where am I now? Found my way home (easy) and came back here and did both these trails the next day. Fun, and good way to get daily exercise. Really intrigued by the looks of this pile of boulders. WTH is going on there geologically? Also, that’s the eastern part of the park, in the area where they sell model homes or RV spaces for permanent or semi-permanent residents. That’s a more established area of the park. And a telephoto shot of that pile of rubble. Well, anyway, heading back westerly on the trail, time to again pass this other pile of rubble.  Looking off to the north.There was a bunny in there somewhere, I kept getting a glance of it paralleling my path, but I couldn’t get a picture. It was always gone by the time the camera was ready. Stealth bunny.

On the other side of another pile of boulders…more caves. None of them went very deep. This big rock sitting there was kind of interesting as it didn’t seem to match anything nearby…an erratic. And this is the view from the most western portion of the trail. I’m not sure if the buildings here are part of the DeAnza Springs or perhaps some other cluster of people. Maybe employee’s lots or homes? Many remote business do that, make a space for employees. And the bartender said she was excited to move here to be closer to work…maybe this is where she’d end up. I don’t know. Don’t care either, just rambling. Look carefully, and you can see 3 segments of the trail in this picture. Look at all the work that went into setting up this trail. I kept thinking how great it was that people went to all this trouble just so we could hike around the area safely. Without worry of getting feet or other parts of the body punctured by cactus spines. Oh, wait…OK, yeah, now I get it. So that was the extent of my visit to DeAnza springs. I stopped into the bar a couple more times, but I’d been missing for a couple three days when I did, and the office gal and the bar tender both mentioned that they thought I was gone already. Jeese. Don’t go into the bar for 3 days and they think you’re dead.

Did spend a lot of time touring this huge park on my bike every day, several times per day. Interesting park. Like I said earlier, it’s 500 acres so there’s lots of stuff to see as I rode around. Hundreds of RV spaces plotted out, some improved, some with electric only, many with just a bare dusty outline of what it could become. Many park model buildings, many permanent RV slabs. ‘Park Models’ are those small dwellings people are buying these days as a get away home. They look like a RV in many cases, long and narrow, with the same kind of RV setup inside. But permanent. Scattered around the park are some older trailer style rentals and the occasional manufactured home permanently grounded. Noticeably from years past. And from the looks of things, many people have decided to live here at the resort permanently. And the office has a sales person on staff for those interested in buying here. There are many, many unsold plots though. Like I said, place is huge.

I did notice a lack of trees and the long drive to any stores. Very few shaded lots for sale. There were many occupied lots that have mature trees, but the newer plots don’t. But those owners who had their little plots all set up didn’t seem to mind if they lacked trees. Also, you can plant your own, and if you’re only there a few months a year, you can contract with the park to maintain your property…which includes watering. I’d imagine that at 2600 feet, the middle of the summer would be kind of uncomfortable but the 9-10 months between summers would be pretty nice with a very mild winter. And of course, I saw lots of heat pumps next to the buildings, so these days summer would be bearable too.

Of course, I hiked the trails several more times. Lots of fun to be had here, what with the bar, pool, tennis courts, hiking trails, etc., etc.. The kids I saw here mostly came on the weekend to camp and hike, and use the pool, mostly the pool. Their parents introducing them to the nudist lifestyle. Many tent campers with kids made it here too.

Well, anyway, I really enjoyed my week here at DeAnza Springs Resort and will seriously consider stopping here whenever I’m traveling nearby. Like into and back from Baja.

Thanks for reading my blog…next time on the blog we start the long trip east. Leave DeAnza and head over to Yuma for a few days, than northward to escape the heat that’s developing here in the southwest. My plan is to head for Forest City, Iowa to have my Journey by Winnebago worked on at the factory. There’s a few minor things I want them to do to hopefully extend the life of the rig. Also on the agenda is a visit to my daughter and her BF in Minneapolis, and a visit to an old friend in Fairfield, Iowa who is converting a school bus into an RV.

So bye for now!