Desert Hot Springs - these are the times that try men's souls.....

We departed Phoenix 7:00 PM on July 7 heading for Caliente Springs RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs, CA (We have since renamed it Diablo Hot Springs!).  Our reservations had been confirmed for late arrival and we were told our packet, which included the code of the gate and directions to our site, would be left at the gate for us.  When we arrive at 2:00 AM, road weary & ready to spend the first night in our new home, there was no packet in sight.... Surprise, surprise.  What do we do now?  The exit side of the gate was open so Barb took a walk to see if there might be a packet somewhere else.  She found signs to the office so we managed to wiggle our way through the exit gate and down to the registration office.  The office was locked and there was still no packet to be found.  Since the RV park was extremely dark, we weren't sure where and if we could set up so back out the gate we go.  Next stop, the Wally World parking lot in Palm Springs.  We bedded down by about 3:00 AM only to discover around 6:30AM that the airport runway was adjacent to the Walmart parking lot.  It sounded like the jets were right on top of us!

Since the Caliente Springs office did not open until 10:00 AM, we spent the next few hours perusing Walmart.  When the office opened, we were there to pick up our packet.  When we got to our assigned site, imagine our surprise when instead of a pull thru site, there was a 3 foot berm where one site backed up to the other making it impossible to pull thru.  In order to back into our assigned site, we would have to navigate over a curb... definitely not ideal.  Back to the office we went, on foot this time, to see if there was a pull thru site.  It turned out, there were none.  The staff member in the office was on his second day on the job and was not familiar with any aspect of RVing or what their facility had to offer for sites.  He finally told us to pick any one we wanted and just let him know which site we chose.

We picked a site and Tim backed it in like he'd been doing it for years.  We finished the set up and headed for a much needed shower.  Barb finished her shower first and headed back to the air conditioned comfort of their new home.  She inserted the key into the door lock and just like everything else so far, it did not cooperate.  No matter how hard she tried, the lock would not turn...not only that but the key wouldn't come out of the lock either.  Oh, and by the way did we mention it was 103 degrees?

Tim arrived back at the trailer, after a refreshing shower to find a very hot, very frazzled Barb.  After unsuccessful attempts with the key, we went to the office to use the phone since our cell was locked in the trailer.  AAA said they would send a locksmith, but wouldn't pay for it.  At this point we were desperate so we told them to send the locksmith and we'd worry about the payment.  The help that they sent ended up being a tow truck driver with no locksmith ability.  Because he was of no help, he left.  We then tried a locksmith on our own but were told it would take a minimum of 4 hours for him to arrive. He suggested saturating the lock with WD-40.  Tim then opened the ramp with his key so he could get his wallet & money and go to the auto parts store.  Thanks to the suggestion of the locksmith, the WD-40 worked like a charm and Barb's key was finally freed from the lock.

The site we chose at Caliente Springs RV Resort

Our neighbors