Lots of Dreams 2.0
Indio, California: The Motorcoach Country
Club scheduled a second open house - Lots of Dreams - today. As owners build-out their
"campsites", the contractors (and the proud owners) want to show-off their
designs, so once or twice a season, everyone gets to traipse through and see
what amazing new ideas people have woven into their lots at the resort. There
were 11 lots to visit this afternoon.
Building regulations constantly change. When the resort first opened,
shade structures were required to be just that - ramadas - a shady area
built with four corner posts and 2x2 slatted roofs. Years later, owners are now
building (basically) houses. Three years ago, our build-out was one of the very
first to have one solid wall. Now owners are using
sliding/folding glass doors as walls and installing air conditioning. Furniture
has transformed from outdoor/patio furniture to residential - upholstered sofas
and leather chairs.
Today I will post a ton of photos, with captions and will place a horizontal
line between different "campsites" so you won't get confused. After a while, they all become a blur
and don't forget, every owner was pouring wine!
Enjoy!

This is an "over-sized" lot (like ours). Larger lots can have up to 600
square feet of covered area.

Beautiful interior with residential furniture and cabinetry

Plenty of food for visitors

Our friend, Bill, inspecting the outdoor kitchen

This lot is a normal-sized lot, with a fantastic view of the mountains, golf
course and lake. They can enjoy gorgeous sunsets every night. A typical lot can
have 400 square feet of covered area.


I especially love the stonework on this casita - and their wine rack

Kitchen

More food - wraps are the thing today

Dave, Crystal and Brent admiring the living area, and view over the pool and spa
to the golf course and lake

Clever! Instead of having their fireplace bump-out to conceal a pop-up
television,
this owner installed a drop-down television.

Our next stop was to a "privacy" lot - meaning a back-in site with most of the
property behind the bus. These lots run around the perimeter of the RV resort
and are very popular with people with pets or owners who want lawn or a larger
pool on their site.

Kitchen - more food for visitors

Pounded copper sink? Nice.

More clever television hiding tactics: the panel behind the painting opens up
and spins around
to reveal a big screen TV on the back.

Brent and Rick enjoy an adult beverage

Storm clouds were brewing and the wind was howling as we entered the next
privacy lot on our tour


As you enter the site, they have a water feature, a beautiful olive tree and a
table with outdoor fireplace. No wraps here - they were serving Chinese noodles
and potstickers from tiny individual take-out boxes. Cute!

Beautiful living area

Dining area with wine bottle chandeliers - note the woven tile wall on the left.

Up against the back wall, they have created a little oasis. A dining area on one
side with a grill, a water feature - with a fire wall on the top, of course.
Beautiful at night! The lawn is artificial - very common in this part of the
world. No need to mow, but the true beauty is no need to water. This is a
desert, after all.

Mid-way through our tour, we stopped to pose with our MCC posse:
DT, Bill, Tom, me, Rick, Colleen, Crystal & Brent

And we ran into Captain Jim and Mary - with friends who had flown-in for a quick
visit.

And now for something completely different - a waterfront lot, facing the canal,
everything inside is light, bright and modern

Where most casitas feature dark wood cabinetry, these owners opted for shiny
IKEA overhead cabinets.

Love the grey tile and stainless combo

They also chose to place a massive window instead of closing-off the wall. They
have a view into a green space next to one of the auxiliary buildings housing a
pool, spa, bathhouse and laundry center.

An outdoor kitchen as well


And, even though there is a swimming pool next door,
they added a huge infinity pool overlooking the lake and their boat dock.

Another privacy lot, but the owners situated their casita sideways

Which left them plenty of room for a pool and spa

Great stone fireplace and, again, residential furniture

I wonder if there is any granite left on the planet after touring through these
beautiful casitas. Splendid!
This concludes our tour. Please exit through the front of the bus and don't
forget to tip your driver.
We returned to our simple, plain (hose-off-able) casita so I could prepare a
complicated recipe for our Oscar Night Dinner for Two. I rarely attempt
complicated recipes, but the photo of a tart from Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi
looked too yummy to pass up. (Lisa gave me her copy of the cookbook because she
felt many of the recipes required too many steps and have too many ingredients
for a busy young mother to attempt - and she is an accomplished cook. I am going to try a few of his recipes and
decide for myself.)

Even I will admit, my finished version looked as good as the
photo in the cookbook... but... so... many... steps: First I had to line a tart
pan with puff pastry and par-bake it with pie weights (oh, wait, first I had to
order pie weights from amazon.com because who has pie weights in their
RV???... and no, I don't like to use/waste dried beans as pie weights because they
just don't weigh enough... and now I am that lady with pie weights in her RV
kitchen).
Next I had to peel three heads of garlic. Ended up with 47 cloves. The cloves
had to be poached in water, drained, sauteed in olive oil and poached again. Then
balsamic vinegar, a dash of sugar and herbs are added and simmered until all the
liquid evaporates and the garlic cloves are caramelized and dark.


Next step on my culinary trek? Two
different goat cheeses were sprinkled over the bottom of
the tart shell, the garlic cloves scattered over the
cheese and then a custard base of eggs, cream and creme fraiche was poured over
- and baked until set and golden. I
served the tart with a romaine and tomato salad. DT felt
it was too rich - and it was very rich. Maybe
I would make it again as bite-sized appetizers? The
garlic could be caramelized a day or so before.
If you would like to attempt this dish,
the recipe was posted several years ago on Martha Stewart's website. Good
Luck.
We were about 45 minutes into the Oscars, when our
DirecTV went out. Nothing. I tried every trick in my
book but our receiver would not power up. Finally a
total reboot was required. Apparently we missed some
sort of LEGO dance and song routine before all was right
with the world again.
As we headed for bed after the presentations, it started to rain! It rained hard
for several hours. Yeah! The desert always loves rain and southern California is
suffering through such a serious drought and even artificial lawn needs a good
cleaning now and again.
Until my next update, I remain, your vampire-free correspondent.
You may also like:
Lots of Dreams in January 2015
RV PARK: The
Motorcoach Country Club
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