A day in the Motorcoach Country Club - Indio

Wednesday | 17 January 2007 | Indio, California:  A word about exercise in the Motorcoach Country Club: one lap around the outside street of the MCCC is 1.58 miles. I walked it three times, so was over my 10,000 step minimum before breakfast. Today, I carried my camera along and snapped a few interesting photos for you.

Yes, this is a RV Park... campers here also have (electric) boats

Here is something you don't see everyday - palm trees being delivered and planted by landscapers. I talked with the foreman and he said the tall trees are date palms. They are old and do not produce well anymore, plus the pickers do not like to climb so high... so date farmers sell the older, taller trees to landscapers for $3000 each. (Delivery and installation is extra.) The smaller trees in the far left corner of the lower left photo are California Fan Palms - the same species found in the canyon at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

There is so much bird life in the Motorcoach Country Club! There are several cranes living in the water in front of our motor home and there are also many grebes and ducks. Fish swim in the waterway too.

Fellow camper

"Campers" at the Motorcoach Country Club must be in A-Class motorhomes - no trailers or chassis-mounted RVs permitted. Coaches must be of a certain size, age, and (shall I say) state of repair. The Motorcoach Country Club offers an 18-hole golf course, pro shop, tennis courts, fitness center, three pools and three hot tubs, launderettes, 24-hour gated security - plus a restaurant and lounge. The palm trees above are being planted at the site of the new "Yacht Club" which will be yet another club house - but this one is accessed from the water or the street. People cruise around the complex in really cool golf carts. Few of the carts actually have a place for golf clubs - they are designed to move people around. It is possible to take your cart down the sidewalk to the nearby supermarket! Everything here is very nice, well-maintained and attractive.

At the Motorcoach Country Club, people own their sites. (We are renting a site from an unknown owner.) After purchasing a site, the site is often left as-is and used as rental property. If an owner is planning to spend a lot of time here, improvements are made. Cabanas are often added. The cabanas frequently include a full bath and full-sized washer-dryer. Sometimes they are used as guest cottages and sometimes they are only used as a garage for the golf cart. Some owners add pools, hot tubs, outdoor kitchens and bars on their property. Some people have added fabulous water features, elaborate flowers or foliage and outdoor fireplaces - complete with huge flat-screen TVs for cozy evenings around the fire out of doors. When the lots went on the market, about five years ago, they were $99,000. We laughed and laughed that someone would pay that much for a parking place. Now, unimproved lots start at around $400,000 and there is actually a double improved campsite on the market down the street for $995,000.

In the morning there is a lot of activity in the resort - people are walking their dogs, exercising, doing chores around their coaches. Landscape crews are busy pruning and mowing, teams are washing and waxing buses and fire pits, built-in grills, cabanas and ramadas are being installed. I hear none of this noise - walking around and around and around the resort. Walking with my iPod, I hear only Jimmy Buffett, singing only to me in a private concert, urging me along.

For dinner we went to the Club House at the Motorcoach Country Club! Hey, why not? The bar was hopping (and I am going to suggest here that it may be hopping every night). We had a table overlooking the pool and the water - very pretty as the palm trees are lit from below. Very dramatic. The restaurant is the fine-dining type of establishment with linen-covered tables and classically-trained waiters. We were impressed. The dining room is very attractive too - one wall is completely glass with a fabulous view and the inside walls are stone. There are also two covered patio's with huge fireplaces (both were roaring) - one is off the bar and the other is off the dining room. Since the temperature was 36 degrees, both patios were empty.

We ordered salads and beef entrees. DT tried the Caesar Salad that arrived with polenta croutons and a wonton cup stuffed with white anchovies. My wedge salad was the inside core of a head of iceberg lettuce, topped with blue cheese dressing and crumbled Maytag bleu cheese. (It is also served with pancetta which I declined.) Garnished with red onion, kalamata olives and a balsamic reduction - this salad was just perfect and I wish I had ordered two instead of a steak.

 
Caesar Salad and a wedge


RV Park Ribeye

The rib eye was just outstanding. It was one of the specials of the evening. It was a 12 oz. grilled steak, topped with onion rings. The onion rings were very sweet, and the batter was loaded with black pepper - a very intriguing combination. It was served with mashed potatoes (didn't eat 'em) garnished with a sweet potato chip. Vegetables included yellow cauliflower and purple broccoli, baby carrots and asparagus (ate 'em). The dish was decorated with a handful of cilantro sprouts - very refreshing green! DT's dinner looked very similar to mine, so I did not snap a photo. He had a ground sirloin steak - his plate was garnished with gravy - and his meal was also delicious! Our server, Mary, was charming and she recommended a few restaurants we should try in the area. I think we will go back to the restaurant in the resort again - we heard lunch is also great.

RV Park: Motorcoach Country Club in Indio