The Middle Portion of our Winter Stay in Nevada

Hi there, welcome back to the story. Our last chapter ended on Saturday, October 20^th during our two month stay at the Wine Ridge RV Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. Regular readers will know that Pahrump is our legal domicile, although we rarely spend more than a month or two each year there.

Sunday, October 22^nd, we had the Sunday paper and coffee in the morning. I spent about three and a half hours in the afternoon repairing the toilet in the motor home. The coach is over 13 years old and recently the pipe which leads from the toilet into the black tank of the coach cracked. It happened while we were traveling this summer and I did a quick fix patch, but I needed to make the proper repair by cutting out the broken pipe and splicing in a new one. It took a while, and two trips to Home Depot, but by 4:00 everything was back together and we are back in action. Yea! We spent the remainder of the day in the coach, watching TV and relaxing. Monday we went out in the afternoon to run a couple of errands. We stopped and picked up mail, went to Walmart and then Home Depot to return a couple of things I had bought for the toilet project and then not needed. After our errands we went back to the coach and relaxed, then about 6:30 we went down to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. I had a rough night, ending up about $8 down, but Jackie won about $10, so we were all good. After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Tuesday, October 23^rd, we left the coach a little after 9:00 a.m. and headed over the hill to Las Vegas. Jackie had another appointment with Doctor Winder, her orthopedic guy, about her knee and what the MRI she had last week showed. We also had a bunch of other errands to run. Our first stop was a couple of furniture stores, continuing our search for a couple of replacement dining chairs for the coach. We found some chairs we liked, that were also affordable, at the second place, Living Spaces, but we wanted to check one other store before we bought anything. After the second furniture store we drove to the closest In N Out Burger drive in for lunch, then headed over to the Desert Orthopedic Center for Jackie's appointment. The doctor came in and after some discussion suggested that the best course of action would be for him to do another arthroscopic surgery on her knee. He said it was an easy out patient surgery with little risk. Although he didn't say it directly, and probably wouldn't, I got the impression he thought the first surgery didn't solve the problem. Of course, prior to the surgery Jackie has to have some blood tests, a chest X-ray and an EKG and they have to be done by your primary care physician. Jackie called out doctor's office in Palm Desert to see if our doctor could just order the tests so we could get them done in Pahrump. However, it turns out our doctor is no longer with the practice and they would not consider another one of their doctor's doing the orders without actually seeing Jackie in person. Since we are not going to drive 400 miles one way to Palm Desert, we will have to find a new primary care doctor in Pahrump.

It was kind of funny in that just in the last few months we have been discussing the possibility of changing doctors and getting one in Pahrump. We used to spend months in the Coachella Valley in the winter, but now we are only going there for two weeks. We are spending more time in Pahrump and it would make more sense to have our primary care doctor up there. Now it seems the decision has been made for us since we have to get a new doctor no matter what. The surgery is tentatively scheduled for about two weeks from now and we have to get busy tomorrow and work on getting a new doctor. After the doctor's visit we stopped at the third furniture place and didn't find anything we liked, so we drove back up to Living Spaces and bought the two black faux leather chairs that we liked. Two chairs, along with a five year warranty were less than $150. We had to convince the store to sell us two off the floor because otherwise we would have had to come back in three or four days to pick them up. They were a little reluctant, but finally gave in because they had about a dozen of them in the showroom anyway and I we whined enough. After the chairs were loaded we went to Costco, got some gas for the car and did a little shopping. The last gas we bought was 30 days ago and we only used 6.8 gallons in that time, getting almost 90 MPG for the period. Yea! After Costco we headed back over the hill, arriving back at the coach about 5:30 after a very busy and productive day. We had dinner, watched some TV and then went to bed.

Wednesday, October 24^th, we mostly stayed in for the day. Jackie spent some time on the phone in the morning and found us a new primary care doctor at the new medical center they opened last year. Our new doctor is Dr. Wiggins. We had to chuckle because we are old enough to remember the old Carol Burnett show when Tim Conway would play the office manager and Carol would be his secretary, “Miss Wiggins.” Funny how certain words or names can trigger memories. She was able to get an appointment for next Monday to see him and arrange for the pre-op tests she needs done. I spent a couple hours rearranging some things in the bedroom to make room for storing our old dining chairs. We don't want to discard them because we need them when we have extra people eating in the coach. After our chores we just relaxed for a while, had dinner, and then went down to the clubhouse for poker night. Jackie had a great night, winning about eight dollars, I lost four. After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Thursday, October 25^th was mostly a stay at home day. We did go out after lunch and dropped some stuff off at the Elks Lodge for their garage sale and then we stopped and voted in the general election. Nevada has two weeks of early voting before each election, so it makes it pretty convenient for us. The line wasn't too bad, we were only there for about a half hour. We also got to vote for a dead guy. The republican candidate for the local Nevada State Assembly district the includes Pahrump was a guy named Dennis Hof. Hof has been running for this office for several years and this year he beat the incumbent in the primary. Even though this is a very heavily Republican district there were indications, according to the news, that some republicans were having trouble bringing themselves to vote for Hof because he owns a number of brothels in Nevada, including three in and around Pahrump. Last Monday he celebrated his 76^th birthday with a political gathering here in Pahrump, one which included former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpio, then he went to an apartment at one of his brothels in Crystal, a little community north of Pahrump. The next morning he was found dead in bed, no mention of whether the hooker he was with had been with him when he died. Since it was only two weeks to the election the ruling is that he stays on the ballot and can be elected. If he does win then the County Commissioners will select a replacement from the Republican party. According to the newspaper he now has better odds of winning than he did before he died. Politics! After voting we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Friday, October 26^th, we went out after lunch to do our laundry. That took most of the afternoon. After we finished we came back to the coach, put everything away and relaxed for the rest of the day. Normally we would be going to the clubhouse for the Friday social hour and karaoke, but it has been put off until tomorrow when they have the Halloween party. Saturday was a stay at home day for the most part. We got a few chores done. About 5:00 we went down to the clubhouse for the Halloween party and karaoke. We don't do costumes, other than each of us has an orange Halloween tee shirt. Mine says “Forget Candy Give Me Beer” and Jackie's says “I'm The Good Witch.” There were a lot of people at the party, many of them in costumes, some were really great. There was lots of good snacks to eat and then there was a couple of hours of karaoke. After the party, about 9:00 or so, we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Sunday, October 28^th, I was up early, went out and got a Sunday paper, then drove to one of the local gun shops so I could do my annual shooting qualification to keep my Federal concealed carry license active. Although being a retired law enforcement officer with this permit exempts me from all State and local concealed carry laws, it does require annual renewal. I did a little shooting, got the instructor to sign off my paperwork and I was back home by 10:00. About noon we left and drove to the Lakeside Casino and RV park where we met Millie and Dick Duffin, some friends of ours that met several years ago at the RV park here in Pahrump. We met today for lunch so we could talk to them about the Escapees Co-op park here in Pahrump. They have just moved into a site at the Escapees park. After talking about it and thinking about it for several years we have decided that we would try to get a site at the park. We have been Escapees, one of the largest RV clubs in the country, since we bought the coach in 2005. The club has about a dozen co-op parks around the country, California, Arizona, Texas, Oregon, Nevada and several others. The basics are that you have to be a member of Escapees and then you can apply to purchase a lot. You have to put a $1,000 deposit down and they put you on the waiting list. When a lot comes up because the previous owner dies or otherwise gives up the property, the next name on the list is called and asked if they want that lot. You can turn it down if you don't like the placement or whatever, but only three times. Then you go to the bottom of the list. The length of the list depends on the park and Pahrump has one of the shorter lists.

Most of the people we know only had to wait a year or two for their name to come up. Once your name comes up and you accept the offer you have to pay a one time fee of about $7,000 plus the depreciated cost of any permanent improvements to lot, like concrete patios, fencing, etc. The average total is around $12,000 to $15,000 here in Pahrump. After that you only have to pay for your electricity and a maintenance fee, which is about $75 a month here. When you decide to sell your lot for whatever reason you get all your initial investment back. We have visited the park and it is not a luxury resort, but it is nice, with a clubhouse and some activities. We have just decided that we needed a place to be in a few years when we decide to slow down our traveling a bit. We had a nice lunch and talked to Millie and Dick about the process and what they think so far and everything we heard was positive. We will probably go down and talk to the park ourselves in a few days. After lunch we stayed at the casino and gamed for a couple hours, then headed back to the coach where we relaxed the rest of the day.

Monday, October 29^th, we left the coach around 10:00 and drove to the new medical building in town so Jackie could meet what we hope will be our new primary care doctor. She went in to see Dr. Wiggins because she needs to get a bunch of pre-op tests done so that the orthopedist in Las Vegas can do the arthroscopic surgery on her leg in a week or two. I didn't need to see the doctor today, but I did fill out all the new patient paperwork and got an appointment for next month to see him and get my prescriptions renewed. Jackie had a nice meeting with the doctor and then was able to get her blood work done, chest x-ray and flu shot all in the same building. This is a nice facility. After the doctor's stuff we went to Mom's Diner for lunch, then stopped and picked up our mail and did a quick Walmart run. After Walmart we went home and relaxed for a bit, then around 6:30 went down to the clubhouse for poker. Tonight I broke even and Jackie lost a couple dollars, but we had a good time. After cards we watched a little TV then went to bed.

Tuesday, October 30^th, the weather turned much cooler and windy. After lunch we took a drive to the Escapee's Co-op park, talked to the manager and picked up the paperwork we needed to get on the list to get a site one day. We took the paperwork home and filled it out, transferred a $1,000 into the checking account, went back to the park and turned in our paperwork and a check for the $1,000 refundable deposit. We are now officially “on the list” to get a permanent spot at the Escapee's Co-op in Pahrump. We are number 52 on the list, at the bottom until someone new comes in or someone higher on the list refuses three different offered sites and goes to the bottom of the list again. Of the 52 names the first 16 are “inactive” which means they have asked to be passed over either because they are not ready to get a site yet, don't have the money, or whatever. As of a few months ago this is no longer an option, your name comes up, you say yea or nay, and after three nay's you go to the bottom. However, the 16 who were on the list already as inactive were grandfathered in and can stay on the list.

The manager told us that this park cycles through the list a little quicker than most of the other Escapee parks, and that it could be anywhere from six months (unlikely, but possible) to about two years before we get to the top of the active list and begin to get offered sites. The down side is that you don't get to pick a site. When when comes up you can only say yes or no. For the most part the sites are all pretty much the same size and all have a wooden storage shed on it. There is actually one large wooden shed that is split in two between adjacent sites. The sites are number 1A and 1B, 2A and 2B, and so on, up to 94, so there are 188 sites on the property. The differences are where are they in park, in relation to the clubhouse, the entrance, the ends of the rows, etc., and what improvements have been added. The most common things are concrete pads and fences. Some people have also added electricity to the sheds, shelves, windows, etc. The sheds as originally built were just a wood box with a door, no windows, no interior walls, no electric. So, we are now on the list and will just sit and wait for our name to come up. We are going to go through the park before we leave here in December and make notes of the sites that we really like, the ones that are just OK, and the ones we would prefer not to have. That way when we get the phone call we can refer to our notes. Our friends also videoed the entire park so they would have a reference and we may do that also. After turning in our papers we went back to the coach and relaxed for a bit.

About 3:30 we left again and went to an early dinner at a place called Tower Pizza with a group of people that are friends with Regina and Richard. They go out for pizza just about every Tuesday afternoon. There were about 18 people there, including us and Regina and Richard. Several of the couples we had already met because they live, or at least stay frequently, at Wine Ridge RV Resort where we are. The others live elsewhere in Pahrump and are friends of theirs. Jackie and I both had the Philly Cheese steak, which was only OK. Lots of meat, but not a lot of flavor. The pizza looked pretty good and if we join the group again we may have to try the pizza. We were there for a couple of hours and had a good time talking to new people. After we ate we went back to the coach, had a cocktail and watched TV for the rest of the night.

Wednesday, October 31, Happy Halloween! Boo! For the most part we stayed home. We did go out briefly in the afternoon to pick up mail and run a couple of errands, but mostly did chores around the coach. About 6:30 we went down to the clubhouse for poker. Both of us lost a couple of bucks tonight, but had a good time playing cards with our friends. After cards we watched a little TV and went to bed.

Thursday we left the coach about 11:00 and headed over the hill to Las Vegas so Jackie could see her orthopedic doctor for the pre-op exam. We got into the area a little early so we stopped at a place called Distill, a restaurant and bar just a block from the orthopedic center. We were pretty rushed, so we had to take half our stuff to go, but we will definitely be back when we have time to relax with our meal as the menu choices were great and the food was really good too. We got in to see the doctor and basically just got a briefing from the aide, the surgical nurse, and the doctor about what to expect tomorrow at the surgery. They also went over all the pre-op tests that we had done on Monday. After the doctor's appointment we went back to Pahrump and just relaxed for the rest of the day and evening.

Friday, November 2^nd, we left the coach about 9:30 and headed over the hill again, this time to the Desert Orthopedic Center's surgery center, which is not too far from the airport in Las Vegas. Jackie's surgery was scheduled for noon and we had to be there at 11:00. We got there right on time and they took Jackie right in to get her prepped. I was able to sit with her when the anesthesiologist came in and then they took her off to surgery. The surgery only lasted about 20 minutes and the doctor came out and showed me some pictures, explained what they had done, and said that Jackie was doing well. They had two different areas of the knee that had to be repaired, including one very large flap of loose meniscus. I don't see how the first doctor missed those things last year. By 1:00 I was loading a very groggy Jackie into the backseat and heading back over the hill. She will be laid up for a day or two, then should be able to get around a little bit. She spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the couch, just drifting in and out from the anesthesia.

Saturday, November 3^rd, Jackie had a bit of a rough night, in a lot of pain. We spent the day in, with Jackie in the recliner the whole day. She did eat lunch and I did a lasagna for dinner, so she has her appetite still. I did the best I could to be a good nurse maid for her all day. Sunday we again stayed in for the day. Jackie is still in a lot of pain and having trouble walking, so she was down all day. I got a couple of chores done during the day. Monday was another quiet day at home as Jackie recuperates. Got a few chores done around the coach, made burgers and fries for dinner. Tuesday was another repeat. Jackie is gradually getting a little more mobility and walking easier, and the pain seems to be slightly less. Hopefully a little better every day. I made some chili colorado for dinner and it turned out pretty good. Wednesday, Jackie continues to improve a little each day. We hope to be able to get out of the coach for a while tomorrow. The propane guy finally came and filled our tank. We were getting pretty low and the cooler weather is approaching fast. Supposed to be near freezing at night this weekend.

Thursday, November 8^th, Jackie felt up to at least getting out of the coach for a bit. After lunch we went out and ran some errands. We even walked around the Dollar Tree store for a while. We picked up our mail and some KFC for dinner, then headed back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach. Friday we stayed around the coach for most of the day, doing chores and relaxing. About 3:30 we went to the physical therapy office so Jackie could have her intake evaluation and first PT session. After the session we went back to the coach and had dinner. I went down to the clubhouse for karaoke, but Jackie was tired and hurting from the PT, so she stayed home. After I got back from singing we watched a little TV and went to bed.

Saturday, November 10^th, Happy 243^rd Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! Today was a chores day. I spent a couple hours in the morning finishing up on the plumbing project in the wet bay under the coach. In the afternoon Jackie and I spent some time going through a bunch of memorabilia, old newspapers, magazines, photos and stuff from as far back as the 50's. Some we saved, some we set aside for scanning, some we sent to relatives, and some just got tossed. We did cut the amount of stuff in half, which is a good thing when storage space is limited. We spent the evening watching TV and relaxing. Sunday, Happy Veterans Day. The 100^th anniversary of the end of WWI. We mostly had a stay at home and do chores day, although we did go out in the afternoon for a quick Walmart run. After dinner we watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, November 12^th, the “official” Federal holiday for Veterans Day. We just stayed at home until about 3:00 when I took Jackie down to do her PT appointment. After PT we went back to the coach, had a quick dinner, then went down to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. Jackie lost a few bucks and I broke even for the night. After cards we went back to the coach and watched a little TV before bed. Tuesday we were up and on the road by 11:00, driving over the hump to Las Vegas for Jackie's follow-up appointment on her knee surgery. We had to leave early to avoid getting caught in a traffic stoppage on the road to Las Vegas. They are widening the road as it goes over the Spring Mountain pass and once a week or so they stop traffic for an hour to blast the bedrock. They always do it at 12:45 and the schedule online said it was going to be today. We made it through and were in Vegas by a little after noon. We stopped at Farmer Boys for lunch, then went to Sam's Club to shop a little before her 2:00 appointment. The doctor actually didn't see her, his nurse came in, took off the bandages and talked to Jackie for a while. After the appointment we stopped at Kohl's for a bit, then went back over the hill to Pahrump. Once we got back to the coach we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, November 14^th, was mostly a stay at home day. About 1:00 some friends of ours, Riley and Karen Caton, arrived at the RV park for a one night stay. Riley and Karen are both geocaching acquaintances, as well as friends from the Monaco International Chapter of FMCA. They own a Monaco Diplomat, similar in design to our coach. We had been in contact with them a few days ago and were coming south through Nevada and when they learned we were in Pahrump they altered their route just a little to be able to spend one night in Pahrump. We sat and talked until just before 3:00 when I took Jackie for her PT. While Jackie was in PT I ran a few errands, went to the post office to mail some things, went to the UPS store for our mail and went to the bank. After PT we went back to the coach. At 5:00 Riley and Karen came over for cocktails and then at 6:00 we left and drove to the Red Sky BBQ place for dinner. We had a very nice dinner and talked for another couple hours. After dinner we dropped them off at their coach, we went home and watched TV until bedtime.

It has now been about three and a half weeks since we published and we have about that much time left here at Wine Ridge. That makes this a good place to close this chapter and get it published. Until next time remember that the most important thing in life is not knowing everything, it's having the phone number for someone who does. See ya soon.