#RSRSeesTheUSA Day 16: AZ-CA
I’ve officially made it all the way to California!
In case I haven’t mentioned it (I’m making it a point to not re-read my previous blog posts before I write the next day’s), the initial “destination” of this trip was a 4-day weekend in Joshua Tree with my college besties. We all turned 40 at some point during the pandemic, and this is our joint milestone birthday party. That starts tomorrow when I pick two of them up in LA.
At some point, then, I’ll have to figure out how I’m heading back east.
But in the meantime, I’m wrapping up this part of the journey in a really idyllic spot. So I’m going to lean into how much I love finding eclectic places to stay, and how much of a joy that’s been on this trip.
This morning started with sunrise in the treehouse in Phoenix.
And after making plans for tomorrow morning’s LA meetup, I booked myself into a glamping tent in Desert Hot Springs, CA tonight, which is where I’m typing this right now.
There is a particular kind of sad itchiness that I get from a soulless or poorly decorated Airbnb. Too many slogan-bedecked tchotchkes make me shudder. The clearly overused, cast-off furniture that wasn’t refurbished before being shunted off to the rental unit? I am clicking away from that listing so fast. Does it feel like a hotel room? Then I’ll just look for a hotel instead, thanks.
What I really love about short term rentals is the chance to stay somewhere offbeat and eclectic and memorable. It’s my love for the idiosyncratic again. I like finding a rental spot that makes me want to spend time in it. It’s not just a place to sleep and shower (my last two rentals didn’t even have showers available). It’s a part of the travel experience unto itself. On a trip like this where I’ve been driving for so much of the time, it’s a fun thing to look forward to a unique spot to discover at the end of the day.
This trip, to me, is a collection of places to see and experiences to be had, and partly that’s mundane realities like getting my first ever Del Taco at the drive through for dinner tonight or the shock of paying $106 for a tank of gas or chilling out at a funky rental place without feeling like I “should” be going out to see or do something new wherever I’m at.
Where I’m at is where I’m at, after all. I’ve really been leaning into appreciating that in-the-moment feeling on this adventure, and my late afternoon/evening hours relaxing in funky rental units across the country have been a really fun part of the trip so far.
Cloud of the day: the sky was bright and dry and pretty cloudless for most of my desert drive today, so instead I’m giving you two others: one sunset sky shot that would put any 1980s California cool Trapper Keeper to shame and one more of my tent here in Desert Hot Springs, California, with the stars starting to twinkle overhead.
