At Home in Pahrump - Part I

Hello there, welcome back. Our last chapter ended on Sunday, September 7^th, when we arrived at the Wine Ridge RV Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. Regular readers will know that Pahrump is our place of legal residency. It is the place where we have our regular mailing address, our voting records and from where our driver's licenses are issued. This year we are planning on being “home” for five weeks, a couple weeks longer than has been the norm.

On Sunday we got the basic setup done with the coach, but since we arrived in the afternoon and the sun was very hot, I didn't do any of the outside stuff. We just stayed in the coach trying to be cool for the rest of the day. Monday I got up early and went outside to do the rest of our setup. I washed the windows and put the sun shade screens on, put up my flagpole and did the rest of the outside decorations. I didn't do lights or setup and fancy patio because it is still in the 90's most of September and we are not likely to be spending much time outside.

After lunch we drove down and picked up our mail in person for the first time in a year. The gal who runs the UPS store was excited to see us. We are in touch with her off and on all year, but don't get to actually see her much. After we got our mail we went to Walmart for some supplies and then headed home. We spent the rest of the day at home.

Tuesday, September 9^th, we went out after lunch to check on the geocaches that we have hidden around the Pahrump area. We currently have fourteen caches hidden here. Over the summer we noticed that all of a sudden most of our caches were being DNF'd by people looking for them. We learned that someone, or a group of someone's, probably kids, have been going around Pahrump stealing caches. We contacted another cacher in Pahrump that we know and he told us they lost a whole bunch of caches. Today we went out and replaced most of the missing caches. We still have three to fix, a couple that needed a little extra construction work because they were special novelty containers. We now have eleven of our caches back up and ready to find. We also changed all of our caches to premium, which means that for someone to see them on the geocaching.com website they need to be paid members. Most kids won't spend $35 to become premium members, they will just get on and look at the regular caches and go steal those.

We went back to the coach and relaxed for a couple hours and then at about 6:00 we left and went to the Pahrump Elks Lodge for a cocktail and to attend the Lodge Meeting. Although we go to a lot of Elks Lodges in our travels, we rarely attend lodge meetings. Since Pahrump is our home lodge we decided to go to the meeting tonight just to be good Elks. We haven't been to a meeting in a couple of years.

We had a cocktail at the bar and played a little on the slot machines before the meeting started at 7:00. The meeting went for about an hour and was a pretty typical meeting. It is still good to go and see the rituals again, they make you feel like a real Elk again. After the meeting we headed home and watched TV until bed.

Wednesday, September 10^th, we were up and out of the coach by about 11:30, heading for Las Vegas, about 60 miles or so southeast. Folks in Pahrump call this “going over the hump” since you have to climb to 5,500 feet over Spring Mountain Pass to get between Pahrump and Vegas. Our first stop was the Jason's Deli for lunch. Jason's is a national chain and the reason I like to go is that they are about the only place outside of Louisiana where you can get a mufaletta sandwich. A mufaletta is ham and salami on a toasted roll with an olive relish. I fell in love with them a couple years ago when we were in Louisiana and a year or so back I discovered that Jason's Deli served them. I had a quarter sandwich, which is normal because the actually full roll is about 14 inches in diameter. Jackie also had the mufalleta, but with turkey instead of ham and salami. Not a “real” mufaletta, but it still has the olive relish.

After lunch we headed for Sam's Club for some stuff and then on to Costco for some more stuff. This was a fill the freezer back up trip. We also picked up one geocache in the Costco parking lot, just so we could have a Las Vegas cache. After Costco we headed back over the hump to home. We got to the coach and put away all the stuff we bought, then went to Albertson's for a quick regular grocery run. I guess today was just a supply day. After we got home we had dinner and watched TV until time for bed.

Thursday, September 11th, Patriot Day. Of course, we spent some time in the morning watching the news coverage of the attacks, and talking about where we were. Being on the west coast, the all three planes had already hit in Washington before we had left for work at 7:30. I watched the towers fall while I was at work. Actually, not a lot of “work” was done that day, we mostly stood around and watched the TV.

After lunch we headed out to fix the last three of our caches that needed to be replaced. After we got those taken care of we went out to find a few caches because we were within three of our next milestone. We got four new finds before we decided it was too hot, one of which was number 6,600. Yea! After caching we headed down and picked up our mail then went home for the rest of the day.

Friday morning, about 10:30, my brother Russ and his wife Zen came up from Las Vegas to visit for the day. My brother has lived in Vegas for about 25 years and works as a boxman on a high stakes craps table at the Golden Nugget Casino downtown. We usually get to see Russ and Zen once a year when we come through Pahrump. We either go down to visit them or they come up to see us.

We talked and caught up until close to 1:00 when we decided to go to lunch. We went to a place called the China Wok, which just a couple days ago opened at a new location in Pahrump, right on the main drag. They used to have a small place in a strip mall behind the Walmart, but over the last year they built a big new, standalone building and it just opened on Wednesday. We had eaten in the old place a couple times and enjoyed it. The new building is very nice and we had the buffet. It didn't seem like the buffet was as extensive as others we have been to, but that may be because we were there for lunch. They did have a sushi bar which pleased Jackie. I thought the food was OK, but a little bland for my tastes.

After lunch we went back to the coach. Sometimes when they come up we do some geocaching because we got Russ and Zen started in caching about four years ago and they really enjoy it. However, today it was close to 100 degrees and very sunny, so it was way to hot to go out in the desert caching. We sat in the coach and just talked and enjoyed each other's company until they left to drive back to Vegas about 7:00. It was really great spending time with Russ and Zen and we will probably see them again before we leave since we are staying here for an extended period this year.

Saturday, September 13^th, was a stay at home day. I got a few administrative chores done, but mostly we just played and relaxed. Sunday we had a relaxing morning with the Sunday paper. After lunch we went out to one of the local casinos, Gold Town, for a little gaming. We played for a couple of hours, both losing about $20 or so in the process. After the casino we stopped at Walmart for some groceries and then headed home for the rest of the day.

Monday, September 15^th, we went out after lunch to do laundry. That took a couple of hours, after which we picked up our mail and Jackie stopped to get a haircut. We then went home and had a nice pork loin cooked on the BBQ for dinner and watched TV the rest of the night. Tuesday was another stay at home day. Although it was really hot, in the middle of the afternoon we suddenly had about fifteen minutes of heavy rain. Although the weather was talking about the remnants of another Pacific hurricane, there was no thunder and after the rogue cloud passed, the skies cleared up and it was nice again.

Wednesday, September 17^th, we were up and out early, about a quarter of nine, to drive over the hump to Las Vegas so I could go to the ophthalmologist about the floaters in my right eye. I went to see him last year and he said it wasn't anything serious, just annoying, but to come back if it didn't clear up. When we got back in town I made another appointment because they don't seem to be any better. After an examination he said that I had some allergies that were causing film on my eye, as well as excessive watering and he told me to get some drops and use them for a week to see if that helped any. If not, to call him back.

After the doctor we stopped at Outback for a late lunch. We both had a rack of ribs, so no dinner tonight. We couldn't do any caching because the doctor dilated my eyes and it caused it to seem way too bright. Jackie had to drive home because the light was bothering me too much. After we got home we just settled in and relaxed the rest of the night. I did go to the pool for a little while, which was really nice in this heat.

Thursday, September 18^th, we left the coach after lunch to do some geocaching. It was a little cooler today, in the low 90's, the humidity had left and there was a breeze, so it wasn't unbearable. We went out and found six new caches in about an hour and a half. Because we have cached so much in Pahrump the one's we haven't found are quite a ways away, which limits the numbers we can get in a set time period.

After caching we dropped off our requests for absentee ballots at the County building. We are going to be gone from the area in November when the election comes around. We then went down to the Verizon store so Jackie could upgrade her phone. She has been dying to get a new Samsung S5 and had to wait until our contract period was up so she could get an upgrade. We spent over an hour at the store, but we managed to upgrade her to a new Samsung and I took her old Motorola, so I now have a smart phone for the first time. We also upgraded the MiFi because we could for only fifteen dollars. We also changed our plan to 12 gigabites of data shared between the three devices, and unlimited text and talk. We had 12 before, but it was 10 for the MiFi and 2 for Jackie's phone. This way I didn't have to get another data plan to keep Jackie's old phone. We also saved $20 a month by upgrading the plan. After Verizon we headed home and spent most of the evening fooling around with our new phones and stuff.  Jackie took her first picture with her new Samsung, a pic of me for her contact list.

Friday, September 19^th, we went out after lunch to do a few geocaches again. We were able to get four new finds, along with a couple of DNF's before we decided it was getting too warm to desert cache. We then made a quick run to Walmart before heading back to the coach. About 5:30 we left to go visit some caching friends of ours who live here in Pahrump. John and Nancy Bingle have lived here for about ten years and are avid cachers. They have several hundred caches set out just here in the Pahrump area, as well as several hundred more in other areas. We first met them a couple of years ago at a geocache they had put out near their home. We have run into them a couple of times a year since, mostly at caching events or when we are here in Pahrump. We had been in contact with them today because one of our DNF's was one of their caches and when we filed the DNF online John called us. He invited us to come over and visit this afternoon.

They have a very nice home on an acre of land only about a mile south of the RV park. We sat and talked with them for several hours, mostly about caching, but also about Nancy's ongoing battle with breast cancer. We left their place a little before 8:00 and made a run to the local Carl's Jr. for a hamburger for dinner. We then went back to the coach and watched TV until bed.

Saturday, September 20^th, I was up and out of the coach by about 9:00 to go to the range for my annual weapons qualification for my Federal concealed carry permit. The way the Federal law is worded you have to renew the permit each year and a range qualification is required. The guy I contacted this year uses a range not too far from the RV park and by 9:30 I had shot, qualified and had the signed off paperwork in hand.

I went back to the coach and Jackie was just getting in the shower so we could get out early to do some geocaching. The people we had visited last night had put out a dozen new geocaches that were just published overnight and we were hoping to get a few First to Finds, or FTFs. We don't get many FTFs because we don't tend to be early risers. Well, today was no different. We found when we got to the first cache that we were already third in line to sign it and it was the same for all the rest of the new one's we went to. Nonetheless, it was a nice morning and by noon we had gotten nine new finds, all new caches. However, we were not FTF on any of them. (sad face) We stopped and picked up our mail and then headed back to the coach for the rest of the day. We did a few chores and around 5:00 we actually went outside and sat with some friends of ours who were parked in a site across the street. It had gotten overcast and the temperature actually dropped to 80 and it was comfortable to sit outside.

Len and Debbie are people we met five or so years ago at one of the Western Horizon's parks. They are also full timers, but they travel with a pull trailer, so we don't see them at rallies like most of our other friends. However, they tend to frequent the same parks we do during the winter, so we often meet them in Pahrump, Indio and other places that are frequented by full timers in the winter. We sat and chatted with them and another friend, Phyllis Deal, who we had met a few years back when she was the assistant manager here at the RV park in Pahrump. She and her husband Don liked karaoke and we became friends starting with that. After the park was sold to a private owner, Phyllis worked for a year or so before she left. They actually have a house here in Pahrump. A few weeks ago Don had surgery for a tumor on his lung and, although the surgery was a success, a day later he had a stroke and is now in rehab working on recovering. We have kept up contact with Phyllis through Facebook, but this was the first time this year we had a chance to actually see and talk to her. We ended up staying outside and talking until about 8:00 when we finally went back inside and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Sunday was a relaxation day. We had the newspaper in the morning and I watched the NASCAR race in the early afternoon. Both of us got a few chores done, but mostly had a restful day. I even got over to the pool for a little while before dinner. Monday we went out after lunch to do some geocaching. We did part of a series that we had started last year when we were here and, because the caches were very close together and pretty easy to find, were able to get a dozen caches in just about an hour and a half. After caching we made a quick stop at the Verizon store because Jackie had some questions about her new phone, then we went to the Saddle West Casino for some gaming. An hour, and forty dollars, later we left and went to Walmart for some supplies, then back to the coach for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, September 23^rd, we didn't do too much as the heat was back for a couple days. After lunch I took the car to the car wash for a badly needed cleaning and then we drove down to the pawn shop in town to see if they had an inexpensive digital photo frame. Our last one gave up the ghost a while back and we like having one in the coach. Well, they did have a couple, but they were no bargain. All of the stuff in the shop was expensive, about the same price as you would pay at Walmart. I was a little disappointed. After the pawn shop we hit the nearby Smith's food market to see what they might have on sale that we wouldn't get at Walmart. We got a couple of things then headed home. We had cocktails with Len and Debbie on the patio then BBQed some burgers and watched TV until bed.

Wednesday, September 24^th, for the most part we had a quiet day at home. Around 1:00 we drove to a local Mexican place for a late lunch. We wanted to have a late lunch because we are planning on going to the VFW post for karaoke around 5:00 and we didn't want to have to worry about dinner. We went to a place called El Vaquero which had really good ratings on Yelp and we hadn't been there yet. The food was pretty standard Sonoran Mexican fare, but it was spiced nicely and you got a pretty good portion. Both Jackie and I had the same combo, chili relleno, taco and enchilada. She had chicken in her taco and enchilada, I went with a shredded beef taco and a cheese enchilada. The service was very good and the ambiance OK. We will probably go back to this place at some point, which is more than I can say about the other two Mexican places in town.

A little before 5:00 we left the coach and drove to the VFW for karaoke. The place was pretty busy and we were greeted by a gal by the name of Janice. She was an off duty bartender and was clearly from New York. She gave us hugs, welcomed us and introduced us to most of the people at the bar. Not too long after we sat down with our first cocktail we were joined by Len and Debbie, who where the one's who told us about the VFW karaoke on Wednesdays. They both like to sing too. They had a fairly long rotation, as many as a dozen singers at one point, and some of them were pretty good. There was one black guy named Terell who came in later in the evening who had a fabulous voice. Because of the long rotation I only did four songs, but we had a great time and will probably go back. After karaoke we went back to the coach and watched some of the new TV shows until bedtime.

We still have another two and a half weeks here in Pahrump, and it has been about that long since we published last, so this seems like a good time to get this one online. Until the next time, enjoy life, smile more and stay safe. See ya.