October in Pahrump, Nevada

We have now been here in Pahrump for three weeks. Most of our "residency" work has been completed and we are just enjoying the peace and quiet of the desert. A couple weeks ago we took a day trip to Death Valley, which is less than 100 miles away in California. We went through the visitor's center then spent the afternoon driving around National Park. Very impressive - I certainly wouldn't want to break-down on some of the back roads we were on. Of course, we had to stop at the lowest spot in the continental United States and get the obligatory photo! We may come back here during the Death Valley Days Encampment for a day, but not to camp. The Death Valley desert makes the desert around Quartzite look like Manhattan.

The weekend of October 19th our good friends Barry and Colleen came up from Indio to visit. They drove their car rather than their motorhome since they were only going to be here two nights. They stayed with us and we had a great time. Went out to eat one night, had a BBQ the second night. Barry loves to do karaoke with Roy so they spent hours in the back of the coach singing.

That Sunday we had to move the coach from the Western Horizons park (Charleston Peak) to another park in Pahrump. We were only able to stay in Charleston Peak for two weeks, then we have to be out for one week. We moved over to an ownership Park called Seibt's Desert Retreat. It is located about six miles north of Pahrump on Highway 160. It was a fairly nice resort, but the spots were kind of small for individually owned sites. The resort has a spectacular clubhouse with a fully equipped spa, restaurant and bar. The restaurant and bar are not regularly open until after the first of the year when the real snowbird season starts. The rates for the resort are very reasonable so for that reason I would recommend it for a short stay, week or two perhaps, for anyone passing through the Pahrump Valley looking for place to stay.

On Wednesday, the 24th we took a drive into Vegas, about 60 miles one way. Jackie's brother Dennis was in town so we went in and had lunch with him at Caesar's Palace. Had a nice visit with him, then went downtown to say hi to my brother Russ who is a floor manager at the Golden Nugget. Did a little gaming then drove on back to Pahrump. We did see a glorious sunset as we came over the mountain into the Pahrump Valley. The smoke from the California fires was blowing into our area and it made for a golden sunset. The next couple days were really bad with the smoke. You couldn't see the mountains at all. It finally cleared up on the weekend.

We can certainly empathize with the people dealing with the wildfires because it was exactly one year ago Saturday that we were trapped at Silent Valley, near Banning, in the Esperanza fire. That was a very worrisome time, something I don't want to have to deal with again.

On Saturday, the 27th we went up to Beatty, Nevada for the Beatty Days celebration. Beatty is an old mining town located on Highway 95 about 60 miles north of Pahrump. The population is about 1,500 and the town is in the middle of nowhere. They had a great little celebration in the park with food booths, games, and crafts and other vendors. They also had bed races down the middle of the street. When given the signal to go, the team had to make the bed up with full linens, then one person would get on the bed as the "driver" (although most had no functional steering) and the other five would push and pull the bed down the street. When they got to the end of the block they had to change "drivers" and then race back to the starting line. The race course was two city blocks long, so they were racing a total of four blocks. Most of the teams were pretty whipped by the time they finished the run.

They also had mock gunfights in the street as well as a car show and motorcycle show. All in all it was a pretty good time for a small town in the desert. There were several hundred motorcycle folks there, mostly from the Vegas area who rode up for the day. Ran into a bunch called the Marine Riders who were all former Marines and members of the Vegas Marine Corps League.

On Sunday the 28th of October we moved back over to Charleston Peak RV Resort for another two week stay. We were going to leave Pahrump on the 11th of November, however, we found out that we need to be at the Pahrump Elks Lodge on the 13th for the meeting so we can be introduced to the Lodge as new members. We applied for a transfer from the Indio Lodge to the Pahrump Lodge so that we could keep all of our resident eggs in one basket. The dues for the Pahrump Lodge are also lower than those at Indio and since both Jackie and I are Elks, the level of the annual dues is an important issue. Anyway, when our two weeks at Charleston Peak are up we are going over to another Pahrump RV resort called Preferred. We will be there three nights. It is located right in the middle of town, behind one of the casinos, and is said to be a very nice resort.

We'll probably next update the blog when we move from Nevada down to Casa Grande, Arizona in mid-November. Unless something interesting happens before then, we'll talk to you in a couple weeks!

Free At Last!

As of Thursday, October 11, 2007, we have been freed from the clutches of the People's Republic of Kalifornia! We are now officially residents of the Great State of Nevada, Pahrump, Nevada to be exact. After getting a Pahrump mailing address we obtained our Nevada driver's licenses and registered to vote here in Nye County. We then spent most of Friday doing address changes from our old Indio address to the new one here in Pahrump. You don't realize how many places have your address until you start to make a change.

Once we pay our 10 months of California State income tax for 2007 we will have no more state income tax returns to file! YEA! Also, unlike gun-hating California, Nevada actually has a simple and quick procedure in place to qualify retired out of state law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons under the 2005 Federal law. For two years I was unable to get any California law enforcement agency to allow me to qualify with my weapon at their range. Here, it took me ten minutes to set it up and I will be on the range next Tuesday.

We are enjoying our stay here at the Charleston Peak RV Resort. We have wandered around town, visited a few casinos, and had a good stay so far. Lots of activities here at the resort. We are doing karaoke in the clubhouse on Sunday. Will let you now how that went later.

Bye for now.

Migration Part 2 - Adventures In Nevada

On Sunday, September 30th we left the Carmichael Elks and headed east on I-80 towards the Silver State. Two days prior the Donner Summit had been closed for a while due to a snow storm, however, the skies were sunny and clear for our travels. I-80 between Sacramento and the Nevada State line is, by far, the worst stretch of roadway we have travelled in our two years on the road. From about 30 miles east of Sacramento all the way up the Sierras to the state line the road is concrete which has been broken down by traffic and weather. I have driven on gravel roads that were smoother than this highway. Once we crossed into Nevada the road was nice smooth asphalt that was being well maintained. The People's Republic of California should be ashamed of their roadways.

Sunday and Monday were spent in Fernley, Nevada at a very nice little RV park called the Desert Rose. The park is about 40 miles east of Reno and kind of out in the middle of nowhere, but it is a Passport America park with pull-throughs, full 50 amp hookups, and nice facilities for $14 a night. (Passport rate) During our stay we drove over to nearby Fallon, Nevada to visit the Elks Lodge. Small but friendly lodge located in downtown Fallon. They have very limited RV facilities not suited for large rigs like ours.

Tuesday morning we headed south on US-95, known as the loneliest road in the country. It is 400 miles from Fernley to Las Vegas and there are only a couple small towns along the way. Spectacular desert and mountain views, but you can't help but think about what would happen if you had vehicle problems along the way. Very Very Not Good! Fortunately, we had no problems and arrived in beautiful downtown Tonopah mid afternoon. We stayed the night at the Ramada Hotel and Casino which has a small RV park in the back. Tonopah is exactly half way between Fernley and Vegas, so it is the logical place to stop if you are not in a hurry and want to limit your travels to a couple hundred miles a day as we do.

The next morning we saddled up and headed for Las Vegas. We had scored a coupon at one of the rallies for five free nights at the Las Vegas Outdoor Resorts. We wanted to spend a few days in Vegas so we could visit with my brother Russ, who is a floor supervisor at the Golden Nugget. The Vegas Outdoor Resorts is a nice property, but the lots are much smaller than the lots at the Indio Outdoor Resorts. It also does not have the amenities that Indio has, no golf course and a much smaller clubhouse with no restaurant or bar. Nonetheless, the listed price for the lot we were parked on was $180,000. My brother and his daughter came over to visit while we were there. We went out to dinner and had a nice visit. Russ is also a former Marine.

On Saturday night we went to the clubhouse for an open house put on by the resort's homeowner's association and Monaco Corporation, which is the developer of the resort. They had light snacks and an open bar - yippee! They also had entertainment, a very nice band made up of homeowners and employees of the resort. They also had a couple of local professional session musicians sitting in with them for the evening. They were quite good, playing mostly contemporary soft rock in with a bluesy/jazzy style. Apparently this group formed a couple years ago and entertains regularly at the resort during the winter season.

Sunday morning found us making the gruelling 50 mile trek from Vegas to Pahrump, Nevada. Our intention is to relocate our official residency from California to Pahrump. We will be staying in Pahrump for five weeks during which time we will be trying to get a local mailing address, drivers licenses, and voter cards. We have never been to Pahrump, but most people we have talked to have told us it is a nice friendly little community with just about everything you would need.

We are staying the first two weeks at a Western Horizons Resort, the Charleston Peak RV Resort and Winery. Imagine our surprise to have our fellow 100%ers, Bob and Bette T pull into the parking lot right behind us. We knew that they were going to be here during the same time period, but were surprised to see them right behind us. They are now parked right next door. They are more familiar with Pahrump so they should be a nice resource for information while we are here.

Talk to you all again in about a week. Bye for now.