Ways to Stay: Casino!

You can’t park your RV just anywhere. Many towns and cities have parking ordinances specifically targeted toward RVs. My own town has an ordinance prohibiting street parking of any vehicle which exceeds 25 feet in length; or exceeds 80 inches in width; or exceeds 82 inches in height.

Can’t have people sleeping on the streets! What would hotels and RV parks do? It’s as usual, all about the Benjamins.

In the west, many casinos are located in rural settings with gigantic parking lots. They set aside parking lots for trucks and RVs with the idea that the mere proximity to casinos will automatically tractor-beam people in to lose a couple hundred dollars, and I have to say they are probably right.

After a week of paying to park, I decided to save money and spent two nights in different casino parking lots. The first, at Morongo, had a separate parking lot for trucks and another for RVs, but they were close together and dang, those trucks are noisy with their refrigerators running all night. I slept fine with earplugs, though. It was raining too hard to venture into the casino, even with a door-to-door shuttle.

The next night I took a 10-mile drive after dark in the rain and wind that felt like a 50-mile drive. I eventually arrived at Spotlight 29 Casino near Coachella. Trucks were further away this time, and traffic a little lighter. But it was also hammering down rain, so I huddled inside without venturing in. Two nights, nothing spent, and no shower. This is why I have a gym membership (through AARP called Flip 50, $35 bucks a month) that allows me to go almost anywhere and take a shower and oh yeah, maybe work out, too.

This weekend’s highlight was a trip to the Palm Springs Art Museum. They have a gorgeous art glass collection, lots of western landscapes, some locally designed craft furniture, and a couple large blobby Henry Moore sculptures, whose charm is entirely lost on me.

A perfect rainy-day outing. Palm Springs has 350 sunny days per year, by the way, but you should still go to the museum.

Palm Springs is, per capita, the gayest place I have ever been. It is gorgeous, clean, safe and fun. If this is the way The Gays run things, I say turn the keys over to them.

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All of my pets have had theme songs, composed by me. Now Gladis has a theme song. To the tune of “Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong,” Gladis’s song is “Love Puts Shit Back Where It Belongs” because anything out of place in a 23-foot RV is a disaster. You’re welcome to use it on your children.