A Few Days in Quartzsite and Another Month at Home in Pahrump

Hi there, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Sunday, January 14^th, when we left Indio, California after a month in the Coachella Valley, and drove to Quartzsite, Arizona. Monday was a stay at home day and both Jackie and I got some cleaning and chores done around the coach. After being on the run for the last few weeks it was good to have a less busy day. Peggy made her penne pasta dish that I love for dinner for the four of us. We had cocktails and dinner and talked until about 8:00. We went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, January 16^th, we left the coach about 11:00 and headed out with the Bullock's for lunch. We first tried to go to the fish and chips place we used to like, but it wasn't open even though the hours listed online said it should be. We ended up going to another cafe we like called the Mountain Quail Cafe. Three of us had breakfast and Peggy had a patty melt. The food was great and we left happy. After lunch we went to Tyson Wells, which is an outdoor market with lots of vendors. We walked around there for a couple hours, bought a few things and then went back to the coach. I made a pot of chili for the four of us and we had cocktails and dinner together again. After the Bullock's left we watched some TV and went to bed.

Wednesday, January 17^th, we went out with the Bullock's again for lunch. We went in their car and drove back to Blythe, California, which is only 17 miles from Quartzsite, to have lunch at Garcia's, our favorite local Mexican place. Jackie had a chili relleno while the rest of us all had the chili colorado, which is some of the best chili colorado anywhere. After lunch we went back to the RV park and then Peggy and Jackie drove to some of the bead stores in Quartzsite. I stayed home and did some office work. That evening we had cocktails and snacks with the Bullocks and visited until about 8:00, after which we went back to our coach and relaxed for the remainder of the evening.

Thursday, January 18^th, we left the coach about 10:00 to take Jackie to an urgent care to have a big, nasty looking bump on her lower back looked at. We are not sure if it is a bug bite of some kind, or just an infected black head, but it looks bad and we didn't want to wait four days to get back to Pahrump. We went to what we thought was an urgent care here in Quartzsite, but it turns out they were just a regular doctor's office. We drove to Parker, Arizona, about 25 miles north, to the local hospital urgent care. It took a couple of hours to get in and they weren't exactly sure what it was either. They didn't lance it or anything, just looked at it and gave her a prescription for an antibiotic. Not the best fix, but it will make us feel better about not having it looked at until we get to Pahrump in a few days. It took us most of the day, but it was worth the time. We had cocktails with the Bullocks, who are leaving tomorrow for Yuma, and then did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner. We stayed and talked with the Bullocks until about 8:30, the went back to our place for the rest of the night.

Friday, January 19^th, I was up and out about 8:00 taking the car over to the Roadmaster Service tent, which is near the big tent that houses the annual RV Show here in Quartzsite. Roadmaster is the company that makes the tow bar that we have used since we bought the coach. Since we want to use the same tow bar on the new car, we have to have mounting brackets installed on the car, a system that is called a base plate and is unique to each model of vehicle. Once you have a base plate installed you can use any Roadmaster tow bar with the vehicle. As I said in the last chapter of our story, I had planned to have the base plate installed in Indio, but the installer crapped out on me. I was lucky enough to connect with Roadmaster at the rally and they told me to come in to their shop in Quartzsite. Technically, they weren't supposed to be open yet since the RV Show doesn't start until tomorrow, but they made an exception in my case. After I dropped the car off and got everything arranged I called Vernon and he came and picked me up and took me back to the coach.

Peggy and Vernon packed up their coach and left Quartzsite around 10:00, heading for Yuma. They were originally going to go to Pahrump with us, but Peggy has to have some radiation treatments and wanted to go to Yuma to get started as soon as possible, so they modified their plans. Since we had no car we had to hang around the coach for the day. We did walk to the Gem and Mineral Show which was right next door to the RV park and walked around there looking at rocks and stuff for an hour or so. About 3:00 Roadmaster called and said the car was ready. It was only about a mile, so I walked over to get the car. After paying for the work I drove back to the coach. We had cocktails and dinner and relaxed the rest of the night with the TV.

Saturday, January 20^th, was a travel day. We had the coach packed and ready to go about 10:30. It took about a half hour to get the car hooked up for the first time because I had to be sure the wiring for the lights was correct. I also wanted to double check the towing requirements so we didn't screw up the car. We finally hit the road at 11:00, headed north towards Nevada with our new Ford in tow for the first time. We went about 160 miles north, through parts of Arizona and California, ending up in Calnevari, Nevada, a wide spot in the road on Highway 95 just north of the California/Nevada border. We used this same RV park a couple months ago when we came this way. It is a full hookup spot for ten dollars a night under Passport America. We were back on the road Sunday morning about 10:00 for the final push to Pahrump. After a quick fuel stop in Las Vegas we arrived at the Wine Ridge RV Resort in Pahrump, our “home” of record, about 1:30. We got settled in a nice spot just two down from where we were a couple months ago and spent the rest of the afternoon getting set up. We then relaxed for the rest of the night.

Monday, January 22^nd, we went out about 10:30 and took Jackie to the Urgent Care again, since the one in Parker had done nothing for here last Thursday. The bump on her back was bigger, redder, and worse looking than ever and she was in pain and sick to her stomach. This doctor did something, they determined it was an inflamed cyst, so they cut it, and squeezed much of the stuff out of it. Jackie said it hurt worse than anything she has ever felt and she actually passed out briefly while they were doing it. Yikes. They dressed it and sent her home feeling better despite the pain. We stopped at Jack in the Box for a quick lunch, then went home so Jackie could recuperate for the afternoon. We did some chicken on the BBQ for dinner and relaxed for the rest of the night. Tuesday we left the coach about 12:30 and went to do our laundry. After the laundry was done we did a Walmart run, then went back to the coach. We put everything away and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, January 24^th, for the most part was a stay at home day. We did go out briefly in the afternoon so Jackie could get a haircut and we ran a couple of errands. We had cocktails and dinner and spent the rest of the evening with the TV. Thursday we left the RV park at 12:30 and went to lunch at the Red Sky BBQ with a group from the park. Every Thursday they have what they call a lunch tag-a-long for people at the park. They go to different restaurants each week. We have been to Red Sky before and it is our favorite BBQ in Nevada. I had the ribs which are wonderful and Jackie had Lamb Chops which she said were great. My half rack with two sides, a beer, and Jackie's lamb with two sides (and four good size chops) was less than $35 and outstanding in quality. There were about a dozen people at the lunch and we had a great time visiting with people we knew and new people too. After lunch we ran a couple of errands, then headed back to the coach for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Friday, January 26^th, we left the coach about 1:00 and went out for a late lunch at Mom's Cafe, one of our favorite local places. I had liver and onions, which is always wonderful. Jackie had a late breakfast with a chili and cheese omelet. After lunch we stopped at the Verizon store to see what offers they might have for upgrading our little MiFi unit. It is about eight years old and seems a little slow, so we want to upgrade. They didn't have any screaming offers, so we will probably wait until we get to Yuma in a few weeks. We then did some grocery shopping before returning to the coach. About 5:00 we went down to the clubhouse for the Friday night social and then a “Pound Auction” event for charity. The social hour was fun, lots of snacks to nibble on. After the social hour the pound auction began. The first pound auction we went to was about four years ago in Indio. People bring wrapped items, which are supposed to weigh about a pound, and then the items are raffled off. You don't know what you are getting until you win the bidding. Since it's for charity, most of the stuff is trivial. I bought a can of soup for $7, Jackie won a pound of uncooked black beans for $20. After everything was auctioned off a couple of guys who live in the park started playing some music, a guitar and bass, and singing a few songs. We listened for a while, then about 7:30 we left, went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Saturday, January 27^th, we went out after lunch and visited a couple of second hand stores in town. We then did a quick Walmart run and then went back to the RV park. We did a few chores for the remainder of the afternoon. We had some pot roast for dinner that we had cooked all day in the crock pot, and then about 6:00 went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. It was a fun night with mostly pretty good singers. We were done around 9:00 and went back to the coach where we watched TV for the rest of the night. Sunday I went out in the morning and got a paper, which we enjoyed with our coffee. After lunch we went out and visited the Pahrump Valley Museum. We have been coming to Pahrump for ten years now and this is the first time we took the time to visit. It's not like we didn't know it was here, we have a geocache hidden at the end of the street right next to it. It is an interesting place with a lot of artifacts collected from local ghost towns, long time residents, and other sources. They have a whole exhibit area dedicated to the Nevada Test Range, where all the nuclear bomb tests were done in the 50's, 60's and 70's. They also have a big section on Yucca Mountain, the currently defunct Federal underground nuclear waste facility that the government has spent billions on, only to buckle under political and environmentalist pressures and stop work. Yucca Mountain is less than seventy miles from Pahrump. After the museum we stopped at Gold Town Casino for an hour or so of gaming. Didn't win, but had fun. We then returned to the coach and spent the rest of the night relaxing.

Monday, January 29^th, was a stay at home day. Did a few chores, including installing some LED accent lights in the front of the coach. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse to play Texas Hold'em for the first time this trip. Jackie lost her $5, but I won it, ending up $5. After cards we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime. Tuesday the mobile repair guy came over about 9:00 and installed the slide motor in our front slide. This is the one on which the motor brake went out halfway through our summer trip. Since the slide would creep out when we drove, I had to use a vice grips on the mechanism to keep it in. It was only a hundred bucks to have the guy install the motor, which I got on Amazon for about $300. It would have cost twice that to take it to a repair shop. We left the coach after lunch and went to pick up mail, then Jackie went to the Chiropractor for an adjustment. After the chiropractor we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Wednesday, January 31^st, we went out about 3:00 so Jackie could get a pedi. While she was in the shop I went to Walmart and did some shopping. After Jackie was done we got our mail and went home. One of the things that came in the mail was a new Direct TV receiver to replace the one in the bedroom that went sneakers up a few days ago. They are really on the ball as I only ordered it yesterday. I got that installed and running. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse for poker again. We did well tonight, with Jackie being up about eight dollars and I was up three, plus I won another $27 for the high hand of the night, four jacks. Yea us! We went home, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Thursday, February 1^st, the first month of the new year already gone! We left the coach about 12:30 and drove to the China Wok buffet restaurant for the weekly tag along lunch. We had the usual crowd, about eleven people, and had a very nice Chinese lunch. This is one of the better Chinese buffets that we have been too. We spent about ninety minutes eating and chatting with friends. After lunch we went out and ran a couple of errands, then went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the coach. Friday was mostly a stay at home day. We are going down to Las Vegas tomorrow to spend the weekend with our good friend Helen Reilly, so we spent some time packing and getting ready to travel tomorrow. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke night. We had a nice evening, got to sing a few songs with friends, and had a great time. After karaoke we went back to the coach, watched a little TV then went to bed.

Saturday, February 3^rd, we had our bags in the car and were on the road headed for Vegas by about 11:00. Jackie's great friend Helen is a bit of a high roller in Vegas and the Mandalay Bay Casino comps her a couple times of year, including a big Super Bowl party weekend every February. She gets a nice, two bedroom suite for the weekend, plus passes for the big invitation only Super Bowl party with all the food and drink you can handle. Since we were going to be in Pahrump during this year's game, Helen invited us to join her for the weekend. We got into the hotel about 12:30, took our bags to the room, and then went to lunch with Helen. The hotel also comps all the meals for the weekend. The room is on the 17^th floor and overlooks the airport and the mountains to the west of town, a great view. Helen also brought one of the waitresses, Chris, from her restaurant in Massachusetts with her for the weekend. They shared one bedroom and Jackie and I had the other. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon gaming in the casino. Helen also had two other old friends in for weekend, although they were in a different room. Jim Crawford is a retired Hawthorne, California cop and he and his wife have known Helen and Jackie for a very long time.

About 5:00 Helen, Jackie and I and Chris went to downtown Las Vegas because Chris wanted to ride the zip line that is set up on Fremont Street and Helen wanted to visit a pawn shop she had heard about. We took a cab down to the Golden Nugget and dropped in for a quick hello to my brother Russ, who is a pit boss in the Golden Nugget. He is having to work all weekend because it is super bowl weekend, so we could only say hi. We spent a couple of hours downtown, but Chris never got on the zip line because there was a two hour wait, and Helen couldn't find the pawn shop. We finally took another cab back to the Mandalay Bay and met the Crawford's for dinner at the House of Blues restaurant in the casino. We had a great dinner, then gamed for another few hours, finally getting back to the room around 11:30 or so.

Sunday, February 4^th, we had coffee in the room and then went down the casino for a couple hours of gambling. About 1:30 we walked over to the hotel's convention center for the big party. There were several thousand people in the huge ballroom and they had four giant TV screens in the middle of the room. There were bars and food scattered all over the room, but we were in the VIP section and had a server to bring us stuff, including shrimp and crab claws. In addition to the six of us in Helen's party we had three other people at our table who happened to be from Wickenburg, Arizona, near Phoenix, and owned an RV park. We may visit them later this year. We ate and drank for a couple hours before the game and then all through the big game. Of course, Helen, who is a huge Patriots fan, was disappointed with the outcome of the game, we still had a wonderful time. After the game we went back to the casino and gambled until about 10:00 when Jackie and I decided we were tired and wanted to go to bed. We went up to the room and went to bed. Jackie had a great weekend, ending up about $600, and I didn't, coming in about $300 down.

Monday, February 5^th, my birthday. Jackie kidded me about waking up on my birthday in Las Vegas with three women in a hotel room. After we had our coffee, showered and cleaned up, we packed our bags and said goodbye to Helen after a wonderful weekend. We left the hotel and did a Costco run, then drove up over the hill back to Pahrump. Although we were pretty tired, we still went down to the clubhouse about 6:30 for Monday night poker. We had an OK night, I ended up eight dollars ahead and Jackie broke even. We went back to the coach, watched a little TV then went to bed. Tuesday we left the coach about 1:30, went and picked up our mail, then Jackie went to her chiropractor's appointment. After she was done we stopped by a nearby geocache and traded out some travel bugs, then went back to the coach. We finally got the registration for the new car, so I traded out the California plates for our personalized Montana plates. We also got the last documents we needed to file our taxes, so I finished those and got them electronically transmitted. We had dinner and spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Wednesday, February 7^th, our 14^th wedding anniversary. We had a relaxing morning and went out and did a few errands after lunch. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse for poker. I ended up with three dollars to the good, and Jackie lost five. Thursday was also an anniversary for us, the 20^th anniversary of the day that I reconnected with Jackie after having not seen her for 22 years. We left the coach about 12:30 and went with a group from the RV park on the lunch tag along, this week to the Mountain Falls Country Club. We had never been here before, although we have heard good things. The food and service were very good, and it was moderately priced. There were a dozen people for lunch and we had a great time chatting. After lunch Jackie went to her chiropractor appointment, then we ran a couple of errands. Jackie was able to get into the Nevada DMV office and quickly get her drivers license renewal in about a half hour. Way better than California could ever do. After running our errands we headed back to the coach and relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening.

Friday, February 9^th, we had a stay at home day. I did a few chores and did some work on the car, trying to get the brake buddy working so we can use it when we tow. About 5:00 we changed clothes and went to the clubhouse for the Mardi Gras party. The park cooked up some Louisiana boil with shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn on the cob, and also some red beans and rice. All of the food was very good and there was plenty of it. They also had rum hurricanes to drink. We had some beads and costume items from New Orleans that we had borrowed from one of the Pahrump Elks Lodge officers that we know from playing poker here. He had been to the Elks convention this year in New Orleans and had a bunch of stuff. After a great meal we went outside for a few hours of karaoke. The usual singers were there and we had a great time. Phyllis Deal, the lady who used to be the manager of this RV park when it was Western Horizons, also came by. Her husband died several years ago and she has since remarried, but still lives here in Pahrump. We had not seen Phyllis for several years now. We even got to sing a song together, just like the old days when I used to be the karaoke guy here when we stayed here. After karaoke we went home, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Saturday, February 10^th, we had another stay at home day. I was able to finally get everything set up for the brake buddy for when we tow the new car. Yea! I spent the rest of the day doing light chores and relaxing. While we were eating dinner, around, 6:30 the power to the outlets in the coach quit after a lot of flashing and noises. Long story short, it appears that the inverter has failed again. The way this coach is built is that most of the 110 volt outlets in the coach are fed by shore power through the inverter. When there is shore power the inverter simply “passes through” the 110 volt power. When shore power goes off the inverter switches over and starts to feed the outlets with converted power from the batteries. What happened four years ago, and apparently tonight, was that the board in the inverter that handles the pass through function shorted out, or burned out or whatever, it quit working. This also means that the battery charger function will also not work, so we have to watch the 12 volt batteries until we get the inverter fixed or replaced. I did manage to run a bunch of extension cords and reroute power to the lights and audio visual equipment. We spent the remainder of the night watching TV.

Sunday, February 12^th, I spent a couple of hours in the morning removing the inverter from the back bay and then bypassing it so we would have shore power throughout the coach again. I was able to restore the 120 volt power, but because we don't have an inverter installed we have no built in battery charger for the coach batteries, and if we lose shore power we have no inverter backup. We would have to go without power or start the generator. I put my small battery charger on the coach batteries, just to ensure that they don't go too flat and get ruined. I undid all of my extension cords from last night and, at least for the time being, we have power. I spent another hour or so taking the top off of the inverter so I could inspect the boards inside, to see if I see anything obviously wrong. I did not, but knowing how electronic things work, that doesn't necessarily mean everything is good. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach.

Monday, February 13^th, I made a phone call first thing in the morning to the Magnum Energy authorized repair facility in Mesa, Arizona, which was where we had the inverter fixed four years ago. I talked to a technician, described what was going on, and we chatted for a while. He gave me some tips on what to check, some expected resistance readings, and so forth so I could troubleshoot. His opinion is that the inverter was overloaded, which makes sense since at the time the microwave was going, the car was charging, and everything else in the coach, like the TVs and so forth, were on. He explained that if that total load exceeds the 30 amp limit of the coach's circuit breaker that feeds the inverter, the breaker will trip and the inverter will lose it's 120 volt power. I will run these tests tomorrow and maybe I will be able to reinstall the inverter and just reset everything without having to make any repairs.

About 11:00 my brother Russ, who lives in Vegas, drove up to spend the day. He is off from his job at the Golden Nugget Casino on Sunday and Monday. We talked for a while, then left and went to Mom's Cafe for lunch. After lunch we went back to the coach and visited for another hour or so. A little before 2:00 we left and dropped Jackie off at her chiropractor appointment and Russ and I went out to do a couple of geocaches. I took him to several of our caches that we have placed here in Pahrump. After about 45 minutes we went back and picked up Jackie, then did a couple more or our caches before returning to the coach. We talked until about 4:00 when Russ left to drive back over the hill. The weather was looking iffy and he wanted to get back before dark. About 5:30 Jackie and I left and went to the Wings and Things restaurant with a small group from the RV park to celebrate the birthday of one of our friends, Richard. We had never been to this place and the food was pretty good, as well as the service. We had a nice time, visited with friends and had a piece of birthday cake for dessert. After an hour and a half or so we headed back home and relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, February 13^th, I spent a couple of hours in the morning resetting the inverter and then reinstalling it. After I got everything done and turned the power back on and we had power again, the charger and inverter were working correctly. After that we spent the rest of the day in the house, getting a few chores done and relaxing. Wednesday, Happy Valentine's day, Ash Wednesday, and my granddaughter Courtney's birthday. And, in addition to getting my usual second Wednesday of the month social security deposit, our income tax refund check hit the bank. It took exactly eight days from when I filed electronically and when the refund came electronically. Gotta love technology. About 12:30 we went to the Red Sky BBQ and met with our old friend Phyllis and her new husband Tom. We had a great lunch and were able to catch up with Phyllis, having not seen her for a couple years, and learn about Tom. After lunch we went to Elks Lodge to pay our dues and get our new membership cards. I also got my free birthday drink at the bar and we played a little video poker. Jackie ended up winning $80, almost enough to pay her dues for the year, and I won $30, so it was a good day all around. We stopped and got our mail, then did a Walmart run before heading back to the coach. About 6:30 we went down to the clubhouse for poker. The game was delayed for a little bit because they were just finishing up the Valentine's dinner and dance, but we added 15 minutes at the end to make up for it. I ended up about $4 down, but Jackie was $6 up at the end, continuing her winning streak. After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Thursday, February 15^th, we left the coach at 12:30 and went with the RV park's lunch tag along group to Johnnie's Mexican restaurant. There were only ten since a couple members of the group have left the park already, but we still had a good time talking and eating. Johnnie's has really good Sonoran Mexican food and we had a great meal. After lunch we stopped at one of the local casinos to game for a bit. Jackie's luck turned and she lost about 30, which is what I won, so as a team we broke even, just like in Vegas last week. Yea! After our gaming we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Friday, February 16^th, after lunch I unpacked all the karaoke stuff and carted it down to the clubhouse. The park was having a big Chinese New Year party this afternoon and wanted to have the regular Friday night karaoke. However, the professional KJ they use had another engagement and couldn't do tonight, so I agreed to help out and put on the karaoke tonight. After I got everything to the clubhouse I spent an hour getting set up and operational. Then we drove to the chiropractor for Jackie's last appointment her in Pahrump, and then stopped so Jackie could get a haircut. While she was doing those things I ran a couple of errands around town. After the haircut we went back to the park and relaxed for a bit. A little before 5:00 we walked down to the clubhouse for evening festivities. The dinner was quite good, they had a local Chinese restaurant bring in food, three different entrees, egg rolls, fried rice, won ton, and of course, fortune cookies. About 6:00 we started karaoke and had the usual singers, including two kids, one boy of around 12 or so and a girl about 8. Both loved to sing and were not half bad. The boy sang classics, including Sinatra! Nice to know some of the new generation still likes the old music. We quit at 9:00 and I left everything except my computer in the room to get tomorrow and we went home and watched a little TV before going to bed.

Saturday, February 17^th, I went down to the clubhouse about 10:00 or so and packed up all the karaoke stuff and brought it back to the coach. After I got everything put away we had lunch and then went out to do some errands. We stopped and picked up our mail in person for the last time this trip and left them some money for our mail forwarding account. After our errands we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach. Sunday was a stay at home day. I spent a couple of hours getting everything outside packed up and preparing for our travel day tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach.

Our last full day here in Pahrump marks a good place to close out this chapter and get it published. Tomorrow we leave for a month long stay in Yuma, Arizona and will publish the next episode when we are finished there. Until next time I will leave you with this thought. I have been told that there are two things in life that are infinite, the Universe and human stupidity. I am not completely certain about the Universe. See ya soon.