Investigating Glen Eden Sun Club

2015-01-18

We took off to California for a few days. It was cold, and then it was LA congestion. We were treated to a stay in a wonderful house on Huntington Beach staying with relatives during a wedding reception. Still, I broke any recent record for spending time clothed, continuous Saturday morning to Tuesday noon. The only nudity, other than under the sheets and shower, was about five minutes on a second floor balcony overlooking the beach and estuary, sitting in a hammock in the dark.

Some Little Body Always in that Hammock

That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy myself. We had a barbecue on the beach and I also enjoyed jogging there among the birds and waves. The company was good and warm. The second floor of the place overlooks an estuary with representatives of all of the common bird species hanging out at once. A young granddaughter was there. We watched her excitement.

Balcony View

We left the beach’s area and survived those LA freeways, arriving near Corona at Glen Eden Resort. I had not been there, but had been curious for years. The weather was not easy to predict, heck it’s January, so we figured that in the least, we could use the indoor pool and sauna.

We pulled up and sat in the parked car, inhaling slow deep breaths and gathering peace after the stressful couple of hours on the freeway getting lost with aggressive rude drivers and near collisions. I’m not used to that in my laid back little burg of only one million. We were so discombobulated; we even walked in clothed to register! As the highway stress fell off and the lady at the desk explained that we were at a nudist resort, NOT a clothing optional grounds. We enjoyed the anti-textile message, quite the opposite from the rest of the world. Imagine someone shaking a finger at you as you are reprimanded for wearing clothes! No problem.

The sun was coming out and we were out of the LA fog/smog. The clothed person behind the desk assured us that keeping from cold and discomfort was okay this time of year. Some practical covering was acceptable.

We were given a golf cart tour. The local who was showing us around told us that he would wait while we got undressed at our room. It didn’t occur to me until later that it was fulfillment of an expectation before the tour. It was not an unpleasant test. DF took a top and I decided to be barefoot all over. We did however, soon realize that the passing air, as we rode in the golf cart, was creating a 7 to 10 mph breeze. I began to feel a chill. I tried turning my attitude from uncomfortable to thinking, “Whew, this is invigorating.” Well, lying to myself….

Anyway, it is a great grounds. There are no cameras allowed; cell phones are required to have a florescent tape covering the camera, so there are no photos of our stay. The facilities are complete and over 300 units are set up, which line little roads on a series of hills among the many trees. The homes are fixed up eclectic and fun.

We wanted to investigate hiking, and future nude hiking in the adjacent mountains. I had been looking at trails and satellite images, attempting to guess how much of a crowd might be up in the hills surrounded by L.A. sprawl. I stopped in at the registration office to seek any information about hiking. I left out our desire to do it nude, asking under the guise of solitude. I didn’t fool anyone, they stressed that they would rather stay away from any responsibility off of the grounds.

Curiously, as I stood at the counter at the office barefoot head to toe, next to me, a small friendly older lady smiled at me like she had never seen a naked body. It was like she wouldn’t expect a naked man in the office of a nudist club. To this day, I haven’t figured that out. Could it have been some kind of a nudist dementia?

We did cover all of the walks that are arranged around the more than 150 hilly acres.

We followed a trail through a nice glade covered with leaves, reminding me of places in Virginia that I used to play as a kid. This ended up at a gate with a combination lock, which passed through to off of the reservation.

We had been warned about being seen by encroaching development, but really didn’t know what to expect. We hiked maybe a half mile to a mile off property, feeling as a pair of stealth naturist, except I slipped on a sweat shirt and DF a robe for warmth when the winter breezes hit us in the hills. The proprietor’s warnings were overcautious, I guess for the sake of less seasoned free range naturist trekkers that might find trouble out on their own. The area was a ridge-line in one of those typical tall scrub southern California hill areas. There appeared to be no other trails. There were no homes. The brush covered us up from any distant views. It was of no risk and pleasant. Eventually, we arrived to pear down at a tract house development. We watched the sunset and approaching haze. We felt the humidity, which is something unusual for us, and acquired exercise over most of an hour until day went to dark.

A Synchronistic Contact:

Before and after dinner, we enjoyed the jaccuzzi. One of my goals was to contact the person who was the western naturist collection librarian, to see if he knew of any statistical information relating to my little poll that I was doing on the net.

Funny, there weren’t many people on a mid-week in January, but the full time residents. We met this guy as we sat in the hot tub, who told us of the early days and how he was one of the pioneers of De Anza resort. I told him about the poll and asked if he knew who I might contact. His reply was, “That would be me.” Well, that was easy enough. I merely had to sit in a nice tub of hot water and the info comes to me! The library however, was boxed up during some new construction. He didn’t remember anything and confessed that he hadn’t read everything in it. He suggested the nudist library in Florida. They even have card catalog organization.

A Different Kind of Nudist:

The club’s staff is very concerned with the neighbors. They live in a very cozy safe environment, where they don’t venture out and about nude. Any risk doesn’t seem an option. It is an old school cautiousness. Their cautiousness, I’m sure, is partly fueled by need to protect an investment. The place is owned cooperatively by the home owners. A surge of local objection could affect property values, and also, they fear loss of their as cozy nude lifestyle.

Next Day:

We got up the next day and took an extensive walk around the grounds, while attempting to stay in the sunshine’s warmth. The wind picked up in the afternoon, which was a little bit chilly. We stayed comfortable, laying by the pool and soaking in the Jacuzzi. The club is reportedly located in a warm local micro-climate. We had a very good day and used the public showers right before taking off.

Unbeknownst to the staff, we drove away clothes free. We suspected that they might object had we mentioned it, worried that free range activity would be discovered and lead back to them as a local scandal. Living in a safe haven, free range lifestyle seems to appear more risky than it actually is. We just saw our opportunity and took it.

Other than pumping gas and ordering fast food, we stayed nude all the way to Tucson.

We are discussing returning during their Nudestock or Nudapalooza three day weekends. We are dancers and the crowd would be fun. Maybe we could also take a hike in the nearby mountains.

All of the people there are very friendly, it is easy to make conversation. We encountered smiles and waves with every interaction. I do like the cooperative stake organization that runs the complex, rather than having the one owner of the complex with renters. It creates a real-estate situation of membership with property value creation, like say a golf country club.

The Only One Snapshot of Eden

If you are looking for a break in a safe harbor during your free range exploits, this is pleasant.

We didn’t have much free ranging adventure this time, but for a spot here and there, a 500 mile nude road trip, and generally being freely continuously nude for thirty six hours, while out of our usual habitat. We did what we could, like any day.