I made my third trip of the summer to Desert Sun Resort from July 31 to August 5. This'll be a short post because there haven't been many changes since my last trip and most of those have already been reported in another review. Everything seemed to be running smoothly when I was there and I spent some more time chatting with John and Elizabeth. From those discussions and observing their interactions with the resort, guests, and staff, it's clear they care deeply about the resort, its guests, and its staff.
The only things I want to talk about specifically are the liquor license and the statue of the family. Being able to sell alcohol is the only remaining thing to being fully "up and running". As I said previously, the Desert Shadows liquor license was sold to Desert Sun Resort last month. At the moment, it's looking like there won't be a waiting period, but getting the license transfered within the ABC involves a lot of red tape, which is being worked through. The hope is still that it'll be completed this month and that, once that happens, guests will support the bar by buying alcohol there rather than bringing it in, which would avoid the need to enforce any policies regarding bringing it into the resort.
Many remember the statue of the family that used to be in the fountain near the restaurant. It was called "The Spirit of Naturism" and was commissioned by Lee Baxandall. It portrayed a man, woman, and two children along with a group of balloons and was based on the Payne family. Laura removed this statue in April or May of 2007 to show that the resort was no longer a family nudist resort. This statue not only demonstrated the commitment of the resort to family naturism, but is an important part of the history, not only of the resort, but of naturism as a whole. It's important that it be restored to its rightful location.
I had a number of discussions with people at the resort about the statue and am completely convinced I know who it was given to (one of the homeowners). I'm going to contact this homeowner and ask him to return the statue to its rightful place by the time I next return to the resort. If he doesn't, I may need some help and will ask people in this and other forums to contact this homeowner so that he's aware of the number of people who also want the statue back where it belongs.
