Hi there, welcome back. Our last
chapter concluded on Saturday, December 8th while we were
still in Pahrump, nearing the end of our three month stay. On Sunday
I went out and got the paper and other than that we didn't leave the
coach. We had a nice, relaxing day, getting a few things done and
just laying back.
Monday, December 10th, we
took Jackie to her PT at 1:00 and afterwards we stopped at the Dollar
store for a couple of things. About 6:30 we went down to the
clubhouse for poker. I lost about $7 and Jackie lost a couple of
dollars. After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV
and went to bed. Tuesday we were supposed to go out to lunch with
the Duffin's, but Jackie woke up with what she thought was a minor
bladder infection, so we canceled the lunch date and just stayed home
for the day. We got some chores done and spent the entire day
inside.
Wednesday, December 12th,
Jackie was feeling better today. Shortly after we got up I noticed
that the furnaces had quit blowing and when I checked on things I
discovered that we had run completely out of propane. I had signed
up to get refilled when the truck came through the park, but that was
not until next Wednesday. We had the tank filled six weeks ago, but
have been running the furnaces a lot because it has been colder up
here than what we are usually used to in the Coachella Valley. The
store just down the road has propane, and it is a lot cheaper than
what they charge for the mobile service, but you have to pack up the
coach and drive there. We didn't have any choice, so I took down all
the Christmas stuff, we packed up the coach and drove down to get
propane. It only took a few hours, but it was a pain in the butt.
Had I been paying attention I would have had the tank filled LAST
Wednesday when the truck came through. Oh well. We got back to the
park and back into our spot. Jackie went to her PT appointment and I
spent most of the rest of the afternoon getting set back up again. I
didn't get all the Christmas stuff back up, but I did do most of it.
About 4:30 we went down to the
clubhouse for some activities. The first was a spaghetti and wine
dinner. Normally the wine dinners are catered by the Symphony
Restaurant, which is next door to the RV park. However, they were
closed for a private event tonight, so the RV park staff cooked the
dinner. It was OK, but a little light for a $15 dinner, even with
the wine. After dinner the park had it's annual “pound auction”
event for charity. The idea is that people buy something that weighs
a pound, could be candy, cookies, a book, a box of rocks, it doesn't
matter. You wrap it up and then it is auctioned off. Last year I
paid $15 for a bag of black beans. The money all goes to the Marine
Corps Toys for Tots drive, so no one minds when they get a gag item.
Jackie and I each won one of the auction items. I paid $11 and got a
very nice looking coffee press with a couple of coffee mugs.
Actually a pretty nice item for that price, although we won't use it.
It will probably be re gifted somewhere along the line. Jackie
spent $20 and got a box of dog biscuits, and we don't have a dog.
Our friends Ray and Suzi Babcock just got a new dog, so we will save
the biscuits for her. The auction raised over $300 for Toys for Tots
and it was fun. After the events we went back to the coach and
relaxed for the rest of the night.
Thursday, December 13th, I
spent a little bit of time in the morning finishing up with
reinstalling the Christmas decorations on the coach. About 12:30 we
left and went to Red Sky BBQ for lunch. Red Sky has the best baby
backs anywhere, and for a reasonable price. We both had full racks
and took half the rack home for another meal. After lunch we picked
up our mail and then did a Walmart run. A couple of other little
errands and we headed for home. About 6:30 we went down to the
clubhouse for poker. Since they didn't play last night because of
the auction, they rescheduled for tonight. I should have stayed home
as I had no luck, losing about nine dollars. Jackie won ten, so I
guess I know where my money went since she was playing at the same
table. After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV
and then went to bed.
Friday, December 14th, we
took Jackie to her PT at 1:00 and I did my walk. We picked up mail,
made a quick stop at the grocery store and went back home. About
4:30 we went down to the clubhouse for tonight's social activities.
Normally Friday night is social hour and then karaoke. Tonight they
had a soup pot luck dinner provided by the park. They had two kinds
of soup, potato and split pea. Then the attendees brought appetizers
to go with the soups. After dinner they had a white elephant gift
exchange. That is the type where each person brings a wrapped gift,
usually an inexpensive item, gag gift, or a re gift. Every person
draws a number and when your number comes up you get to either pick a
wrapped gift or steal one of the gifts which have already been
opened. If you steal a gift, then the person you stole it from can
steal another, or take an unwrapped gift. It is a lot of fun. We
ended up with a drinking game of tic tac toe and a cute RV coffee
mug, although we had several other gifts before the end came. After
the festivities we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV the
rest of the night.
Saturday, December 15th, we
went out after lunch to scout some sites for new geocaches. There is
a lot of open space in and around Pahrump and we need a few more
caches here. We finally found a site out in the open desert, just
off a paved road, in the southwest part of town. We put an ammo box
out there, put some goodies in it, then went back home to submit the
cache. Now we just have to wait for it to be approved. We spent the
rest of the day in the coach, had dinner and watched TV until
bedtime. Sunday we enjoyed the paper in the morning, then about
12:30 we went down to the clubhouse for another of the Dilly Muffin
parties. There were probably 30 people there and it was a pot luck
with lots of great food. Everyone visited, we played some games and
we ate. It was a very nice, low key party. After the party we went
back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day and evening.
Monday, December 17th, we
went to Jackie's PT at 1:00 and after PT we picked up mail and did a
quick Walmart run. We went home and relaxed until about 6:30 when we
went down to the clubhouse for poker. Both of us lost a little,
again! After poker we went back to the coach and watched TV until
bedtime. Tuesday was laundry day. We went to the laundry after
lunch and did our clothes then went back to the coach. We stayed in
for the rest of the day. Wednesday was another PT day in the early
afternoon. After PT we went back home and I did some work on the
newsletter for the Full Timers Chapter which I edit. After dinner we
went to the clubhouse for poker and for the first time in a couple
weeks we both won, not a lot, but we both ended up a few dollars
ahead for the night. Yea! We went back to the coach, watched some
TV and went to bed.
Thursday, December 20th, was
mostly a stay at home day. I cooked up a big pot of chili for the RV
park's chili contest tonight and did some office work and other
chores. About 4:30 we went down to the clubhouse for the chili cook
off. There were eleven entries, most of which were similar to mine
as far as the recipe. One made a chicken chili, and one a pork
chili, but most were the usual with only the spices differentiating
them. I didn't win any prizes, but I liked my chili, so that's what
counts. After the judging everyone had chili for dinner. After the
contest and dinner we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest
of the night. Friday we went out in the early afternoon for Jackie's
last PT session up here and a quick grocery run, then spent the rest
of the day around the coach. Jackie made a chili relleno casserole
and we had our friends Regina and Richard Rubenstein over for an
early dinner. The four of us had a nice afternoon and a great
dinner. About 6:00 we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. There
wasn't a very big crowd, but we had a good time and got to sing a lot
of songs and listen to our friends. After karaoke we went back to
the coach and watched a little TV before bed.
Saturday, December 22nd, we
left the coach around noon and went out to Denny's for breakfast. We
then picked up mail and did a Walmart run before going back to the
coach. About 3:00 we left again and drove over to our friends Len
and Debbie Forrest's house for dinner. Millie and Dick Duffin were
also invited, and Debbie's mom, who lives with them, was also there.
There was a Christmas party being held at the RV park, but we wanted
to spend a little personal time with friends today. We had a great
time visiting for a couple hours, and at 5:00 Debbie served pork
roast, potatoes and veggies for dinner. Jackie had brought a salad.
We had a great dinner and more conversation. We left around 7:00 and
went back home, then watched TV until bedtime. 
Sunday, December 23rd, we enjoyed our
usual relaxing morning with the newspaper and coffee. About 1:00 we
went down to the clubhouse for a Christmas party put on by Millie
Duffin. Millie always has had a Christmas Eve party here at the
park, but this year the clubhouse was not available on the 24th,
so she set it up for Christmas Eve eve. There were about 30 people
at the party with lots of food, visiting, fun and games. The party
went on until about 5:00. One of the highlights was that one of the
Duffin's sons, who live in Park City, Utah, drove down to be with
them. Although Dick knew they were coming he didn't tell Millie.
She was very happy and that made everyone else happy. After we got
back to the coach we just relaxed with the TV the rest of the
evening.
Monday, December 24th,
Christmas Eve. My brother Russ and his wife Zen drove up from Las
Vegas to spent the day with us. He works in the Golden Nugget Casino
downtown and has to work tomorrow, so they came up today to celebrate
Christmas. This is the first year we have done Christmas here in
Pahrump, most have been celebrated down in the Coachella Valley, so
it was nice to have family for the holidays. We sat and talked, and
Jackie prepared a very nice Christmas feast with turkey, stuffing,
sweet potatoes, and cranberries. Zen brought some hors d'oevres and
also an apple pie and ice cream for dessert. A complete meal. Yea!
We had dinner, talked for a while longer, then had our desert. Russ
and Zen left about 6:30 and headed back over the hill and we just
relaxed for the rest of the evening, watching for Santa to fly by.
Tuesday, December 25th,
Merry Christmas! Since we had already partied with our friends up
here in Pahrump, and already celebrated with the only family we have
close by, we had a quiet Christmas with just the two of us. We
celebrated the holiday and relaxed for the entire day, never leaving
the coach. A very nice Christmas. Wednesday was mostly a stay at
home day. Since we are leaving Pahrump on Saturday I spent a couple
of hours taking down the Christmas decorations inside and outside of
the coach and storing them away for another year. Other than that we
just hung around the house for the day. About 6:30 we went down to
the clubhouse for poker, our last session for this trip. Both of us
won a couple of dollars. After cards we went back to the coach and
relaxed with the TV until bedtime.
Thursday, December 27th, we
left the coach about 10:00 and headed over the hill for Jackie's last
followup appointment for her knee. This time we got to talk to the
doctor himself instead of just the staff. They gave Jackie a
cortisone shot, but in the place below the knee where the hamstring
muscle connects to the leg. They thought this was a likely place for
at least some of her pain to be coming from. They also gave her a
prescription for a course of oral steroid pills. After the doctor's
visit we stopped and had lunch, then did a Costco run and stopped for
haircuts. Once we were done with our errands we headed over the hill
and back to home, where we stayed in for the rest of the night.
Friday, December 28th my
brother Ken's birthday. We spent the day getting ready for travel
tomorrow. I took down the screens and other outside decorations and
Jackie did some work in the coach. After lunch we did a Walmart run
and stopped for mail. We then returned to the coach and stayed in
for the rest of the day and evening. There was no karaoke or social
in the clubhouse tonight. Saturday was a travel day, our first real
travel in three months. We left Wine Ridge about 10:30 and started
south, heading ultimately for Cathedral City in the Coachella Valley,
but stopping overnight in Hesperia. We got into the Hesperia Elks
Lodge about 3:30, after making a lunch stop at the Mad Greek in
Baker, a regular occurrence when we take this route, and a fuel stop
outside of Barstow. We got settled in for a one night stay, doing
the minimal set up.
Sunday, December 30, New Year's Eve
eve. We left Hesperia about 9:30 and continued south and east to
Cathedral City. We stopped for propane along the way, but still
arrived at the Cathedral Canyon RV resort about 12:30. We quickly
got registered and parked and began the set up process. We will be
here for a week before moving 20 miles east to the Indio fairgrounds
for the FMCA rally. Peggy and Vernon Bullock are parked right behind
us, having also come in today, although from only a dozen miles away
at the Thousand Trails park in Palm Desert. We have not seen the
Bullocks since early September when we saw them in Redding,
California. After we got set up we relaxed for a while, then about
5:00, we went over to the Bullock's for cocktail hour. After
cocktails Peggy served her penne pasta dish, which we both love, for
dinner. We sat and talked until about 8:00, when we went back to our
coach and watched TV until bedtime.
Our departure from Pahrump after three
months marks a good spot to close out this chapter and get it
published. As I mentioned, we will be in the Coachella Valley for
two weeks, then we move on to Quartzsite for a week and then Yuma for
a full month. Until next time, remember that life is like a roll of
toilet paper; hopefully long and useful, but it always ends at the
wrong moment. See ya soon.
