Missing a decision point

We are at the Wal-Mart in Palm Desert (map).

This store is so new that the aerial image still shows it under construction. And, despite "No Overnight Parking" signs sprinkled around the lot, the store does allow it, as verified by a number of RVers who've inquired over the past year. Sure enough, there were quite a number of rigs here last night, and we uncharacteristically parked among them. (We usually try to stay away from what we call the "RV ghetto," parking instead somewhere dark, quiet, and away from customer traffic, usually around back near the loading dock, or the lube bays. However, the folks who asked the store about parking were directed to a specific section of the lot, and we decided it best to follow suit.)

In any case, it was only half an hour from yesterday's stop, which was about as far as we wanted to drive, and there are a couple of dining options here. A good part of the surrounding shopping center is still under development -- I would guess that there will be more dining (and shopping) options in a few months. It remains to be seen whether the store will continue to allow RV parking. Which brings up an interesting conundrum -- the "No Parking" signs are already posted (they were put in when the store was built), but the policy of allowing parking anyway is already widely disseminated in the RV community (or at least the segment of the community that stays at Wal-Mart). So if and when the store decides to prohibit parking, they'll need to find another way to get the word out. Presumably, the roving security patrol will need to inform people somehow, after they arrive.

It has now been a full week since my dental work. Lingering pain in the tooth has prompted us to move slowly, and in that full week we have come only about 150 miles from the dentist's office. The idea being that we could turn around and head back easily if I needed a follow-up visit (which would likely be, unfortunately, for a root canal). The dentist, however, only works Mondays and Tuesdays, and so today would be the day I would have to go back, or else not until next Monday. So I have held in the back of my mind the notion that, by today, a decision would be made, and we would be picking up speed and heading for the border.

That, of course, was before I came down with this bug. I'm pretty much over the hump, and feeling better today than I did yesterday, which was the worst of it. But still in no shape to see a dentist -- I would be miserable in the chair, and he certainly wouldn't want me there either. Just as well, I suppose, because I am really on the fence about going back. About the only thing he is going to do now is pull the crown back off and do a root canal, and I'd rather keep the tooth alive if it is at all possible. And, while I am still having some pain, and sensitivity to hot and cold, the fact is that things have been improving steadily, albeit slowly, for a week.

What I remember from having an inlay done on this tooth a decade ago is that the prep is very, very close to the nerve, and I had residual pain for days and cold sensitivity for weeks after the inlay was done. So I am holding out some hope that this residual pain is still from the trauma of the prep work, which perhaps had inflamed the nerve area. In any case, there will be nothing I can do about it until Monday, but it does suggest that we should continue to dally here a while longer, rather than race off into Mexico. I welcome advice, BTW, from any dentists reading, or even folks who have had a similar experience. Email me or post to the comments.

We will likely continue on our planned route, past the Salton Sea and into Calexico. We have friends (and, apparently, readers) here in the Coachella Valley that we had talked about visiting, but neither of us is in any shape for a visit, so that will probably have to wait for our next time through.