Palm Springs

 

    This week I traveled down to Palm Springs.  Really, I stayed in Indio, CA, but it is the Greater Palm Springs area.  This was my first time traveling to California by myself and it went pretty well.  It was also my first time traveling with my new seat stick:

    My planned use for this was in the TSA line, possibly in line to board the plane, and other places where I might be waiting and not have a seat available.  I thought it would be helpful because standing is so difficult on my body.  It increases my pain levels and can cause me to feel dizzy at times.  The reality of it for this trip was that the seat stick was more of a nuisance than a help.  It took up one of my hands so if I was carrying a drink or trying to get my ID out of my bag I had to try to balance it somewhere - and more often than not it fell down.  I didn't end up opening it to use it once on the way down.  My husband and I went through the process to get TSA Precheck so the line moved so quickly I barely had time to get my ID out before I got to the security station.  The line to board moved slower, but not slowly enough that sitting down would have been reasonable.  I actually ended up using it more as a cane than I had expected.  The ability to lean on it, and at times to have something to steady me on both sides between the seat stick and my upright rolling luggage, made me feel steadier and took pressure off of my back.  Would I use it again for that purpose?  Maybe in the future but not now.  The reward did not outweigh the negatives.  I'm still glad I brought it to try and I can foresee using it when going to the store with my husband or in other situations where there will be extended standing and I won't have a wheelchair,  but solo travel is not likely a good usage for this tool for me.

    I flew down standby thanks to my daughter's travel benefits from work.  When I checked the flight the morning I left it said there were 10 seats open and 6 people on the waiting list.  The numbers were not ideal, but I've gotten on with worse odds, but I made sure to have a plan B and C just in case.  The announcement that we were traveling with a full flight went out several times and I got a little concerned, but prayed through it and trusted that God was ultimately in control and if I wasn't supposed to get on the plane I wouldn't.  I ended up making it on the flight and even got a whole row to myself!  This worked out really well because I learned that on a 737 my personal bag won't fit under the seat in front on the aisle.  I was able to stow it under the middle seat since no one else was there, but I'll make sure to keep that in mind for the future and I'd like to pack a grab bag inside it with the things I'll need for the flight in case I end up having to stow it in an overhead bin.  My flight was not boring.  Our captain was actually doing his final check flight to receive his certification - which didn't entirely make me feel secure.  There was a bunch of turbulence too - the seatbelt sign only went off for about 5 minutes of the flight and the flight attendants had to be on the speaker ever 15-30 minutes reminding people to stay in their seats.  But we made it safely and on time.

    I've had mixed experiences with Uber/Lyft and I am trying to learn for future experiences the best way to utilize these services.  I checked ahead of time to see how much a ride from the airport to my resort would cost if I scheduled it, and then also checked what the on demand ride price was at different times.  The scheduled cost seemed a few dollars higher than the on demand so I decided to risk it, knowing that I had plenty of time and if surge pricing made the cost go up significantly I could wait a bit a the airport until it came down.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the on demand price was about $3 lower than the scheduled price when I arrived, so I think that's the way to go.  I had a wonderful driver who drove for both Lyft and Uber so I picked his brain a little bit about disability traveling.  He shared that both companies require their drivers to go through extensive training on transporting people with disabilities.  When I asked him if I should order a Lyft/Uber XL when traveling with a folding wheelchair he said that a regular Lyft should definitely be able to accommodate me. I do think that if I had a bunch of luggage though I would still order an XL to be safe.  

    I'm staying at the WorldMark Indio resort, which is one of my favorites.  This is my third time staying here, the other two times were anniversary trips with my husband.  The landscaping is gorgeous with the buildings wrapping around a huge inner courtyard area with multiple pools, a lazy river, many hot tubs, and a stream to pond water feature.  Our favorite building to stay in is #5 which is right on the pond near a little waterfall.  I'm on the bottom floor so I can see the water outside my sliding glass door.  I'm not sure what it is but being near water is a major relaxation factor for me. Ocean, river, pond, pool - it all helps.  I'm not a big person for getting in the water though.  I'll go in a hot tub and I do enjoy the lazy river, but I don't get into pools typically and I only go up to my ankles in the ocean most of the time. I just like being near it.  They have many amenities on property including a spa, an arcade/game room, and a convenience store/cafe. I had my groceries delivered for the first time this trip and it went pretty well.  The one problem I encountered was that my shopper said the gluten free bagels and the backup gluten free bagels were out of stock and then immediately sent me a note saying he was in the checkout line so when I replied in less than a minute asking for an alternative gluten free bread item he said it was too late.  So I ended up with the sandwich fillings I ordered and no bread to put it on.  In the future I will try to avoid having items on my shopping list that are dependent on others to make them useful.  I ended up having so much leftovers from my dinners though that I didn't need extra food for lunches.  I'm just so used to shopping/cooking for multiple people that I over bought when planning for just me.

    The purpose of this trip was to relax and hopefully decrease my inflammation - at least temporarily.  I found on our last trip to Palm Springs that the lower humidity made a big difference in my pain levels.  When I left the PNW the humidity in my hometown was 86% and when I arrived here the humidity was 9%.  It may have been psychosomatic, but I felt better right away :).  It probably didn't hurt that it was sunny and 85 degrees as opposed to the 40 degrees and raining when I left.  Because of this intention, I did not rent a car or plan any activities.  I wanted to sleep in, relax, sit by the pool or in the hot tub (when it is in the shade) and just take it easy.  This is not typical for me.  For one thing, my husband is not one who enjoys sitting.  He likes to get out and explore and do things, so when we travel together I typically do the best I can to keep up with him.  Being here by myself is a totally different feeling.  Don't get me wrong, I miss my husband and I very much enjoy the special time we get together when travelling, but I think this type of relaxing alone is very valuable too.  I don't have to worry about anyone else needing me, what I'm fixing everyone for dinner, what appointment I'm going to today, anything.  If I feel like going to the pool, I don't have to plan it out or wait for anyone, I just go.  I don't have to worry about disappointing anyone or being a burden.  I just get to be me. It's been wonderful.

Here's the thing: I'm so glad I came, and it's something I'd definitely like to do again.  I think this trip has encouraged me to continue travelling on my own.  I often struggle with guilt and fear of loneliness when thinking of going somewhere by myself, but I'm hoping I'll be able to think back to this trip and go for it!