Walmart Camping in Palm Desert, CA

We stayed in our first Walmart parking lot last night in Palm Desert, CA.  All the campgrounds here are pricy at $60-110 per night.  We had full water, full batteries, and empty waste tanks, so why not stay somewhere free? 

Palm Desert was actually pretty fabulous.  Mountains all around and a Costco.  What more can you ask for.  However, when we walked into Costco, we thought we had mistakenly walked into a retirement center.  We were the youngest by far.  Please don't think that I am against old people.  I would have been just as shocked to find a store full of teenagers or 2 year olds.  The sheer number of this particular age group is what was notable.  There were young old people all the way up to old old people.  The only people under 65 were the ones working the checkouts.  After taking a stroll down EVERY aisle (Troy-ism), we ate beef brisket, salad, and a raspberry smoothie for a late lunch. 

I went shopping BY MYSELF at Walmart that evening.  It has only been since having kids that I've learned to enjoy a grocery trip - alone.  Now that we are in the Airstream, that alone time is even more precious.  Shopping at Walmart seemed the right thing to do since we were parking in their lot for free.  Silas got a new pair of cowboy boots because Troy and I are tired of him taking so long to put his lace up tennis shoes on all the time.  He also got a pair of those squiggly shoelaces that don't require you to tie them.  Hopefully these two items will make our lives easier.  Morgan got a $4 sundress because I brought too many long sleeved shirts for her on our trip.  They were both thrilled with their gifts, and we now had food to last us through our next few days of boondocking at Quartzsite, AZ.   

The Walmart parking lot was quiet, safe, and we were tucked against a retaining wall, so it felt very cozy.  There was also a  Starbucks just across the parking lot that I walked to in the morning to get some work done while Troy and the kids did their school work. 

time for school

It was an easy day because we only drove 1 hour down the road to our next stop...Desert Center, CA.  It was a tiny town with a 55 years old and older resort called Lake Tamarisk RV Resort.  They let us stay the night there since we were just passing through.  Rumor has it that years ago it used to be an Airstream only park, but after a tornado caused severe damage, it was rebuilt as a 55+ resort.  Some people are in RV's while others are in little houses.  We were right next to the office which housed the laundry room, the showers, and the pool.  I even had a quiet place to work in the club house the next day, and the brand new playground was only a short walk away.  We did not want to leave and definitely hope to stay there again someday!  

Lake Tamarisk RV Resort in Desert Center, CA.