ESCAPE TO A NATURE RETREAT

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE'S DESERT STUDIES CENTER

Escaping to the Zzyzx Desert Study Center for a weekend workshop is a once a year ritual for me—it’s a retreat that takes me deeper into the natural world and away from my to-do lists.

        Finding myself entranced with the desert south of Vegas, I signed up to the class "Natural and Cultural History of the Mojave National Preserve." Instructor Rob Fulton, is the affable onsite manager and a biologist. The next year, I took a class that introduced me to pictographs and petroglyphs, and instilled me with a deep appreciation for the ancient native peoples who created the first desert art. And disgust for those who deface these invaluable cultural records.

At Zzyzx you can rub elbows with people who’ve come from across the country for a “Botanical Illustrating” class or one of the other weekend workshops offered fall and spring through (mention institutions (or meet Las Vegans you might never meet otherwise). While some of us are here to add fresh credit to resumes, most of us are here for recreation, for the chance to integrate our hobbies with our free time.

It all begins Friday evening with tapas-snacks like smoked salmon and thin crust pizza that I gobble while mingling with fellow classmates. Then we filter into the cavernous bunker of a lecture room. In cool darkness slides flash and I scrawl fascinating factoids. My brain is operating at the boundaries of all I don’t know about the desert, about the natural world that I have always enjoyed, but never understood.

I spend my Zzyzx nights drifting into unconsciousness in a large room of thick white washed walls, wake to a clanging bell and mosey down Sunset Boulevard to breakfast and Chef Eric, who spices all his meals with warm personality.

The Zzyzx exit sign on the I-15 (just past Baker) inspires curiosity by its very name. And, the curious have been arriving since the 1940s when Doc Springer started his mineral resort and created the name.

A friend dubbed my need for these weekend getaways as "vacationing on the left side of your brain." …. I know I’ve enjoyed sitting among the rows of little front porches with like-minded strangers, contemplating the views of playa and mountains from one of the many benches throughout the compound, and the posing questions out in the field Ito the expert teacher ready with easy answers.

Zzyzx just exudes history and authenticity, and it’s a lot like going to camp. The past is present, from the imported palms, their wide skirts of dried fronds lining many of the earthen roads, to some of the concrete buildings that date back to six decades. This month, the Desert Study Center has a special cause for celebration—a 30^th anniversary.

My educational vacations at the Zzyzx Desert Study Center have been full of sensory delights, and great exercise for my gray cells. They’ve provide fresh fodder for my dreams of who I want to be when I grow up—this time.

ESSAY BY ROSIE DEMPSEY ORIGINALLY AIRED ON KNPR