May 17, 2022, Indio- Time was, that I would bull my way on back to Prescott, in either heat or cold, from a visit along the southern California coast. While I could still have done that, this afternoon, staying the night in this Colorado Desert town that has become something of a resort , in the style of Palm Springs, seemed prudent. It does my heart good to see Indio do well. The Coachella Music Festival, and a subsequent makeover of the area, have helped along those lines. Indio is not pretentious or hipster-like, in its relative prosperity, and most of my overnight neighbours are campesinos, looking for field work or whatever they can find.
Still, the eastern California desert is a fine place to rest, before the final alley-oop to Prescott, tomorrow. The rest of the week, once I get back, is full of activity-and includes service in Phoenix and near Flagstaff, as well as online activity around Home Base.
It was a pleasant stay, last night and this morning, at House of Trestles, in San Clemente. I could easily stay there again, especially as there are few hostels that would abide my joining a Baha’i online gathering, sans earphones. Dana Point, where I met longtime friend, J, for lunch, is also an ever-welcoming place. I enjoyed a cup of “Killer Dana” coffee, at CJ Beans, in the town’s central business district, then J and I had a nice meal at Harpoon Henry’s , along the harbour. There are proposals to “expand’ the harbour, owing to a shortage of boat slips. This would probably result in some shops and restaurants being closed and any remaining establishments being “upscale”, so as to generate revenue that would pay for the harbour expansion. I hope that doesn’t happen. More is not often better, when it comes to adding to already considerable material wealth.
Besides, with the rapid sequence of events, that occur without respect to wealth or social status, (i.e. the Laguna Niguel house fires), I get a feeling that too swift a move into scaling up, in either size or level, may be a fool’s errand.
A Sagittarian Seeker 
I’m glad you saw the wisdom of stopping part way back to Prescott! It’s a long drive, even if begun early in the day!. I,too, hope they can keep the character of Dana Point Harbor — I’m not sure how they will expand it, and there is a lot of local sentiment towards keeping it as is. There has been a LOT of building in town, adding apartments that may or may not meet the State requirement to increase low cost housing. The old post office, where “Going postal” began many years ago, has been replaced by 4-stofy apartment buildings, as have many other low structures along that part of the town. The character of virtually every town in the State will be forever changed in this way!
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4-6 story buildings may end up being the norm, in many, if not most, towns along the three coasts-and in “desirable” areas, like the mountains and lakesides. My own hometown, in Massachusetts, has adopted a four-story limit-much to the chagrin of a major developer (one of my former classmates, no less), who wants to see 6-10 stories as permissible. Here in Prescott, our limit, for some hotels and a few apartment complexes, is six stories.
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