Hello friends, welcome back to our
story. Our last chapter concluded on Sunday, April 7th,
when we arrived at the Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are
here for a week long rally with the Monaco International Chapter of
FMCA. We arrived three days early, so Monday was a free day for us.
We left the coach about noon and drove to North Las Vegas where my
brother Russ and his wife live. The RV park is at the south end of
the Las Vegas Strip, so it was about a 20 mile drive.
We had quite a scare on the way up to
my brother's house. We were on the I-15 freeway heading north in
middle lane. Traffic was pretty heavy, but moving along at about 65
mph. Just before we got to the downtown area I saw what appeared to
be a truck tire rolling towards us in the next lane to our left. I
tried to avoid it, but couldn't change lanes or slow suddenly because
of traffic. I managed to almost get out of the way, but it hit the
rear quarter panel on the drivers side as it rolled past us. It made
a big bang and I was sure that we got some damage out of it on our
still almost new car. When it had gotten closer I saw that it was
actually a large, rubber ring, not a tire. This part of the freeway
is under construction and there are a lot of the orange barrels they
use as traffic barriers scattered about on the shoulders. These
large barrels have a big rubber ring around the base to give them
stability and that is what had apparently been kicked up by a passing
vehicle.
I couldn't stop when it hit the car and
it wouldn't have made any difference anyway, so we continued to my
brother's house. When we got there I reluctantly got out of the car
to look at the damage and was surprised to see that it had left some
black, circular rings of rubber scuffed on the quarter panel, but
there was no damage to the sheet metal, no dents and only one small
scratch. I think the rubber marks will buff out. With that good
news we went into Russ's house and had a nice visit. Russ is the
middle brother, number three of the five of us, about 14 years
younger than me. His wife Zen is from the Philippines and they have
a nice house in North Las Vegas. Russ works as a pit manager for the
craps games at the Golden Nugget in downtown Vegas.
We had a nice visit and Zen, who is a
great cook, made a wonderful, huge lunch for us. We had chicken
curry, shrimp and glass noodles, and egg rolls. We ate way to much
and had a bunch to take home that Zen gave us. We left Russ's place
about 3:30 and went back to the RV park. I spent a half hour or so
cleaning off the marks from the rubber ring we hit, and except for
one small scratch that I will need to sand down and put some touch up
paint on, there was no permanent damage. Yea! At 5:00 we had happy
hour with the Bullock's and a dozen other people who are members of
the Chapter and here for the rally. We have met the majority of them
several times before at various rallies and it is a very friendly
group. After cocktails we went back to the coach and relaxed for the
rest of the night.
Tuesday, April 9th, was
another free day, the last before the rally starts. We left the
coach about 11:30 and drove up to the P.F. Chang restaurant that is
only a couple miles north of the RV park. We met the Bullock's there
for lunch. We had a wonderful lunch with way too much food. After
lunch we went back to the RV park. We had a relaxing afternoon and
at about 3:30 I took all my audio equipment over to the rally meeting
room and set everything up. As with the Overland Trailblazers
rallies in Indio last January and Tucson in March, I am the “sound
guy” for this rally. Today we were under a wind warning, so we
didn't have happy hour outside. We went down to the Bullock's coach
and just had drinks with them. About 7:00 we went back to our coach
and had our leftovers from lunch for dinner. We then watched some TV
and went to bed. The wind is blowing so hard the coach is shaking,
but I have all the awnings in and nothing outside to blow away. It
is supposed to be this way all day tomorrow too.
Wednesday, April 10th, the
first day of the actual Monaco rally. As with all Monaco rallies,
they always have a catered breakfast, so Jackie and I both got up and
dressed in time to go to breakfast. We figured we paid for the
breakfast, we might as well eat it. After breakfast we went back to
the coach to shower and dress for the day. I returned to the
ballroom where all the activities are at about 10:00 to work the
sound for the first presenter of the rally, a guy talking about
satellite TV and internet services. After that seminar I went back
to the coach and Jackie fixed the leftovers we got from Zen on Monday
for lunch for us and Bullock's. About 1:00 I went back over to the
ballroom to be there for the next speaker, someone who was going to
talk about the history of Boulder (Hoover) Dam. However, we learned
that she got tied up at work and wasn't going to be able to make it,
so the seminar was canceled. I went back to the coach for a while,
then back to the ballroom to work sound for a couple of meetings
having to do with first time rally attendees. At 4:30 they served a
nice BBQ beef dinner, with salad and mac and cheese sides. This
dinner was sponsored by RV Country, an RV dealer that provides a lot
of support for Monaco International. That dinner was over about
6:00, after which we went back to the coach and just relaxed for the
rest of the night. The wind was still blowing all day, but was
supposed to calm down overnight. We shall see.
Thursday, April 11th, we
were up, showered and dressed by 8:00 and both Jackie and I went to
breakfast. Breakfast was what they called a French toast casserole,
I guess because it was made with pieces of bread rather than slices.
It was very tasty. The first session after breakfast was on makeup
and was put on by Cathy Hickland, who is the wife of Todd Fisher, son
of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Cathy and Todd live in Las
Vegas and Cathy owns a cosmetic line called Cat. She was also an
actress, mostly known for her work in the daytime soap opera “One
Life to Live.” She was mainly selling her line of cosmetics and
demonstrated on a couple of the women who were in the audience.
After this session I was able to take a break as the next session on
microwave cooking didn't need my audio stuff.
Lunch was a really good taco buffet,
rice and beans, salad, and chicken or beef filling. After lunch I
had to go to a Monaco International Board meeting. As a regional
director I am on the Board of the Chapter. That meeting went until a
little after 3:00, after which I was done for the day. There was no
dinner or entertainment tonight. They did have a wine tasting
session outside, but since we don't drink wine we didn't go. We
spent the rest of the evening in the coach. About 6:30 Peggy and
Vernon stopped by and had a cocktail with us. They had spent most of
the day, from about 10:00 to 6:00 at the emergency room. Peggy was
having a real problem with her breathing and she wanted to get it
checked just to make sure it wasn't a serious issue. It was not her
heart, which was good, but the doctor did diagnose her with COPD,
which was not good. They gave her some treatments and a bunch of
tests and actually considered admitting her, but they eventually sent
her home with some prescriptions. After they left we watched some TV
and went to bed.
Friday, April 12th, I went
down to breakfast at 8:00, Jackie didn't feel like going this morning
as she had no pressing commitments for the morning. After breakfast
I worked the sound for a seminar on fire suppression in RVs, then was
able to take a little break. At noon I came back to work the sound
for the ladies luncheon, which included a fashion show. The lady who
put the show on is a friend of Jackie's from Pahrump who owns a
clothing shop. At 3:00 there was a presentation by Sky Med, an air
evacuation “insurance” firm, which pays for transportation in
case of illness or death while on the road. At 4:00 I was the star
of the show with a karaoke session. I was afraid I wouldn't get any
takers as it was early, i. e., before cocktail hour, and this group
seemed a bit “high brow” to be into karaoke. I was surprised
that I had a half dozen volunteers and we had a great time. I found
myself wishing I had more than the hour they gave me. After karaoke
we had cocktails and then dinner, which was catered Chinese food.
The food was OK, not the best but edible.
After dinner we had the first paid
entertainment of the rally, an entertainer who goes by the name of T
Fox. He was a middle aged black guy with a huge, dynamic personality
who was primarily a singer, but was also very good at interacting
with the audience and getting everyone excited about the show. He
was a bit like the old lounge singers of Las Vegas, but modernized
and supercharged. He did a lot of songs, starting with the 40's and
working up to the 90's. He tried to do impressions of the singers
whose songs he was doing, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Nat King Cole, and so
fort h. Sometimes the impressions worked, but more often not so much. Nonetheless, he was still an excellent entertainer and had the room dancing most of the night. He spent as much time off the stage and down among the audience as he did up on stage. Almost everyone stayed for the entire two hour show, and for a group of mostly senior Rvers, that is saying something. We had a great time and liked him well enough to talk about getting in touch with people from FMCA about having entertain at a bigger area or national rally. After the show we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.
Saturday, April 13th, the
last day of the rally. I again went to breakfast on my own as Jackie
didn't feel like breakfast. After breakfast I did sound for the
first presenter of the day, a history professor from the University
of Nevada, Las Vegas, who gave an hour long presentation of the
history of Las Vegas. He was extremely knowledgeable as well as very
entertaining. For a history professor he was a hoot, great sense of
humor and great presentation. The next seminar was a brief
presentation by a variety of people involved with Monaco
International on upcoming rallies. We are now signed up to go to the
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta again this October. This will be the
fourth time for us. The Bullock's also signed up. The last time we
went was 2015 and the Bullock's were with us that time also.
About 11:30 we had a business meeting
for the Monacos in Motion Chapter of FMCA. Although technically an
independent chapter under the rules, it is really a sub group of the
Monaco International Chapter. The MIM Chapter is established just to
do member guided RV tours, similar to what the commercial companies
do, but at a much reduced cost due to the fact that they don't have
paid staff and don't have to turn a profit, just break even. We have
been members for years, but so far haven't gone on a caravan with
them. They have all either been in the wrong place at the wrong
time, or something that we weren't interested in. They are big on
wine tours, and they are planning another for next year. Not our
thing, since we don't drink much wine. This was a luncheon meeting
and they had some nice box lunches from Panera Bread for us to eat.
The next thing on the agenda was an ice cream social, with really
good ice cream. Then at 1:30 we had the general membership meeting
of Monaco International. Only the Executive Board was on stage, but
I still had to do the sound for the meeting. They held elections and
I am no officially no longer a Regional Director, having termed out
after three years.
At 3:00 there was a craft class,
etching wine glasses. Jackie and Peggy stayed to do that. There was
no need for sound equipment, so I went back to the coach and did a
few chores. I put away most of the outside stuff since tomorrow is a
travel day for us. I went back to the ballroom at 5:00 for the happy
hour and then dinner. Dinner tonight was chicken piccata and baked
salmon, along with the side dishes and salad. This was the best food
of the rally. After dinner we had another entertainer, a stand up
comidian named Mark Cordes. We had seen him back in 2015 when Monaco
International had it's rally in Pahrump. He was very funny then and
just as funny tonight. He did about 90 minutes of nonstop comedy and
everyone really enjoyed the show. After the show I had to take all
of my equipment down and take it back to the coach. Since we are
leaving tomorrow, I had to put everything away once I got it back to
the coach. We just relaxed for bit, no TV even, then went to bed.
Sunday, April 14th, a travel
day. It seems some people were really in a rush as I heard engines
starting as early as 6:30. We got out about 10:00 and headed north
the 52 miles to our home base of Pahrump. A little before noon we
arrived at the Wine Ridge RV Resort, where we always stay, and got
checked in. We spent the rest of the day getting set up and then
just resting after a very busy week. The Bullock's also came up here
with us and are parked right across the street. We are staying for a
month, they will be here slightly less than a month. We had
cocktails outside in she shade at 5:00, then the four of us had
dinner. We had left overs of Cuban pulled pork, beans and tortillas
which had been given to us by one of the members of the rally team
for Monaco International. He had fixed a bunch of food for a
volunteer dinner on Wednesday, which we had inadvertently not
received an invitation, even though we were volunteering. The food
was very good and there was more than enough for the four of us. We
visited until about 8:00 when the Bullock's went home. We watched
some TV and went to bed.
Monday, April 15th, Happy
Tax Day. We had our taxes submitted and our refund back over a month
ago. Yea! Today was a chores and errands day. We left the coach
after lunch and went out to run some errands, stopping first at our
new doctor's office so Jackie could get set up for a mammogram while
we are here. We then went to the UPS store to pick up our mail. We
haven't had our mail sent to us for nearly two months, so we had a
huge stack of mail. We then did a Walmart run and headed back to the
coach. It took us an hour to sort through the mail, which was really
mostly magazines and junk mail, and then take care of the few real
things that required some action. At 5:30 we went outside and had
cocktails with the Bullock's and then went to their house for dinner.
Peggy made a salad and a nice lasagna for dinner. Jackie made some
garlic bread. We had a real nice dinner and talked until about 8:00.
When we left Peggy and Vernon's coach it was dark and on the way
across the street Jackie tripped and fell. Fortunately I was able to
partially break her fall, but she still hit her knee on the pavement
and banged it pretty good. It wasn't the knee she had the surgery
on, but when we got in the coach we saw it was pretty swollen
already. I don't think she twisted it like she did the other one
when she fell, so I think this is just a soft tissue injury, bruising
and swelling but no damage to the joint. After we got settled we
watched some TV while Jackie iced her knee, then we went to bed.
Tuesday, April 16th, we had
a stay at home day. Jackie wanted to just relax for the day and
spend some time with ice on her knee. I got a bunch of office work
completed and caught up on some other chores. We didn't even get
with the Bullock's for happy hour, just had a cocktail on our own, a
light dinner and then watched TV until bedtime. Wednesday I went out
right after lunch and did a couple of errands. I went to the Elks
Lodge and paid our dues for the next year. Our cards expired the
first of this month, but because we had not gotten our mail in a
couple months we didn't have our renewal forms. We are now Elks in
good standing again. Yea! About 1:30 we left and drove to the
Escapees RV park, Pair A Dice, to visit with Dick and Millie Duffin
and attend another of Millie's “Dilly Muffin” parties. At least
once a month or so she invites all her friends to one of these
parties for a few hours of conversation, light food, and games. Most
of the time we know the majority of the people who come, many from
Wine Ridge RV Park. Peggy and Vernon also came, having already been
to one of her parties when we in Yuma. There were a couple dozen
people there, most of them familiar to us. We played some party
games, some Left Right Center with quarters, and had some snacks that
people bought. About 4:30 the party was over and we went back to the
coach. We had cocktails outside with Peggy and Vernon about 5:30 and
then went over to their coach for dinner. We cooked some chicken
breasts on the BBQ and Peggy made some rice and a salad and we had a
very nice dinner. The girls played some cards and Vernon and I
watched some car shows on TV. About 8:30 we went back to our coach,
watched a little TV and went to bed.
Thursday, April 18th, we
left the RV park with the Bullock's in their Jeep, and drove 65
miles to Death Valley National Park. Peggy mostly wanted to go to
see if any of the wildflowers were still in bloom in the valley. The
last time that Jackie and I were in Death Valley was in October of
2007 when we made our first trip to Pahrump and became legal
residents. Although we are in Pahrump a lot now, we never made the
trip out to the park. We drove around a bit, walked around and
checked out the Oasis at Death Valley, the big hotel there, then went
down the road to the Ranch at Death Valley, which is the other,
smaller, hotel. We had lunch at the Ranch, then drove back to the RV
park. It was a long trip and we were all pretty beat afterwards. We
had cocktails 
After settling the microwave issue for
the time being we went down to the laundromat and did our laundry.
We were finished by about 3:30, ran a couple of quick errands
including a Walmart run, then went back to the coach. We had
cocktails with Peggy and Vernon at 5:00, a quick dinner and then went
down to the clubhouse at 6:30 for karaoke. A lot of the normal group
we hang with were there but there were a few missing as well. We had
been warned that there was a large group of friends who were in the
RV park who had been coming to karaoke on Friday's and being noisy
and disruptive. In fact, they were there and some of them I
recognized from when were here in the Fall. Basically they have
taken over the Friday karaoke and show no interest in, or respect
for, anyone who is not a part of their group and sings. One woman
got up when I was singing, took a microphone from the hosts, and just
started singing my song while I was standing there. Very rude.
Karaoke was over at 9:00 and we went back to the coach and relaxed
for the rest of the evening with the TV.
Saturday, April 20th, I did
some research on how to remove and replace the microwave and was
quickly able to find a YouTube video that showed exactly how our
microwave is mounted. It was very helpful, amazing what you can find
online. I did a few basic things to get ready, removed the door of
the oven, which was surprisingly heavy, and all of the removable
pieces so all I have to take down is the main box. Other than that
it was mostly a stay at home day. I did go over and help Vernon put
some new, longer, front legs on their new sofa. The original short
ones left the sofa with a pronounced tilt to the front, you always
felt you were rolling off. We had cocktails with the Bullock's and
then did some pork chops on the grill and had them with rice,
stuffing and salad. We had a nice meal and after we got back to our
coach we just watched TV and went to bed.
Sunday, April 21st, Happy
Easter. Our plans are to do Easter dinner with the Bullock's this
evening, so about 11:30 we went out to do some geocaching. There are
almost no geocaches left in Pahrump proper that we have not already
found. There are a lot of them out in the desert, but our new car
doesn't work well in low clearance or rough areas. So, today Vernon
drove and we took their Jeep out into the desert east of the RV park
to do some of the caches we can't get too with our car. We had a
great time, getting four new finds in about 90 minutes. It took a
while because some of the trails we were driving required Vernon to
go pretty slow. After we got back down into town we stopped at a
couple of our caches, one's we have hidden, so Peggy and Vernon could
find them, as well as one cache that we had gotten but was new to
them. Therefore for the morning we got four finds, they got seven.
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home. We got together
with Peggy and Vernon at 5:30 for cocktails and then had a very nice
Easter dinner with the four of us. Peggy made a nice ham, Jackie
made some scalloped potatoes and a nice salad, and we had a great
meal. After dinner the girls played cards for a while and Vernon and
I watched some car shows on TV. About 8:30 we went back to our
coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.
Monday, April 22nd, we left
the coach about 12:30 to run a bunch of errands. We first stopped at
the Doctor's office just to check and see if Jackie could get in
today or tomorrow to see our regular doctor about her knee. When she
fell last Monday she bruised her left knee and it was still swollen
and hurt when touched. The nurse said there were no appointments
available and the best course of action would be go to the urgent
care, which is in the same building and part of the Health Partners
practice. We decided to put that off until after we finished our
errands. We then stopped at a jewelry store to have Jackie's wedding
ring checked. One of the prongs holding the stone in was bent. Our
original jewelry contact here in Pahrump went out of business, so we
checked out this store, Jewelry by Michael. Turns out Michael is a
very friendly and helpful guy. He checked the ring, said the prong
was bent, but not in danger of breaking. He straightened the prong,
polished and cleaned the ring and didn't charge us anything. I think
we have a new “guy” for jewelry work.
We then stopped at Home Depot to get
some things that I need to replace the microwave when the new one
comes in. After Home Depot we went to Mom's Diner for lunch. I had
the liver and onions and Jackie had chicken fried steak and eggs. As
usual the food was great. We then stopped at the UPS store and the
bank, then went to the urgent care for Jackie's knee. We got there
at 2:30 and didn't get out until 6:00. The good news is, the x ray
showed no break in the knee cap, which was what the doctor was
concerned about. She just said it was badly bruised and would take a
while to heal. Since she didn't twist this knee like she did the
right one a few years back, it is unlikely that there are any tears
or damage inside the knee. We went back to the coach and had
cocktails with the Bullock's, then just relaxed with the TV until
bedtime. We were going to play cards, but by the time we got done at
the doctor we had about all the hard chairs we needed for the day.
Tuesday, April 23rd, we left
the coach about 11:30 with Peggy and Vernon and drove to the China
Wok buffet for lunch. We had a nice lunch, but after lunch Peggy
didn't feel well, so we took them back to the RV park and dropped
them off. Jackie and I went back into town to the Pahrump Nugget
Casino and did some gaming. We were there about 90 minutes and I
only was down $10. Jackie lost about $30. After gaming we went back
to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. I did make the
repairs to the electrical outlet for the microwave. When the old one
went out it overheated and burned out the 120 volt outlet. At 5:30
we had cocktails with the Bullock's, but we didn't have any dinner
because of the big lunch. About 7:30 Peggy and Vernon went back to
their coach and we watched TV the rest of the evening.
Wednesday, April 24th, first
thing in the morning Vernon and I removed the old, broken microwave
from the cabinet. It was not quite as heavy, or difficult to get
out, as I had initially feared. It came down pretty easy. After
lunch Jackie and I went to Home Depot and picked up the new
microwave. We then did a Walmart run and then went back to the
coach. Vernon came over the the two of us put the new microwave in
it's spot. It took a couple of tries to get everything to line up,
but in an hour we were pretty much done and the new oven was working.
Yea! I have a few reinforcement brackets to install and I have to
put the cabinet trim back on, but the project is close to done. At
4:30 our friends Millie and Dick Duffin came over to visit and have
dinner. Originally she had invited us and the Bullock's over to
their place, but we decided we had a big batch of beef and chicken
asada in the freezer that we needed to us, so we changed it to our
place for a Mexican fiesta. We visited for a while and then I cooked
the asada on the BBQ. Jackie made rice and the fixings for the
carne, and Peggy made some Mexican beans. By 6:30 we were eating and
were able to do so outside because the wind died down and the
temperature was perfect in the shade. We ate and then had desert
which Millie had brought over. It was an interesting homemade dish
that was served in a solo cup. Orange sherbet with bits of pineapple
and raspberries is put in the cup and then 7-up is put in, kind of
like a root beer float. The end result is a very tasty, and
refreshing summer desert. We visited until about 7:30 when everyone
went home. We watched TV and went to bed.
Thursday, April 25th, Jackie
and I went out after lunch to run some errands. We stopped at
Smith's grocery for a few items that we couldn't get at Walmart, then
went to Home Depot because I needed two bolts to finish the
installation of the new microwave. After we got home I finished up
the microwave and we can now cook again! Yea! We relaxed for the
rest of the afternoon and at 5:00 had cocktails with the Bullock's.
We had an early dinner of leftovers from last night's Fiesta, then
Jackie and I went down to the clubhouse at 6:30 for Texas Hold'em.
They play poker here two nights a week, but this is the first night
that we have gone down to play. I probably should have stayed home
as I lost $6, couldn't get but one decent had all night. Jackie
ended up $3 to the good, but it was my money from buying more chips,
so between us we were only down $3. After we got home we watched a
little TV, then went to bed.
Friday, April 26th, we left
the coach about 11:30 and met Peggy and Vernon at Mom's Diner for
lunch. We had a nice lunch and then the four of us drove to the
Pahrump Valley Museum. This is a private, non-profit museum
dedicated to the history of the Pahrump area. We have been there a
couple of times over the years, but Peggy and Vernon had never been.
Vernon likes museums and history, so we thought he might enjoy
visiting. It took less than an hour after which we went our separate
ways doing some errands. After we got back to the coach we relaxed
for a few hours in the afternoon. We had cocktails with the
Bullock's at 5:00, then a little after 6:00 we went down to the
clubhouse for karaoke. Peggy went for a while, but Vernon stayed
home. As it turns out tonight is the last night for karaoke until
the fall since most people are leaving the area for the summer,
including the couple who put on the karaoke. It was a short
rotation, only six people, so we all got to sing a lot. It was the
usual crowd and we had a very enjoyable evening, unlike last week.
None of the people who were disruptive last week were there. Karaoke
ended at 9:00 and we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and
went to bed.
Saturday, April 27th, we
went out after lunch and did a couple of errands, then went back to
the coach and just stayed in for the rest of the day. We had
cocktails with the Bullock's and then did a BBQ feast at their coach.
Jackie, Peggy and Vernon all had rack of lamb done on the BBQ. I
had a nice porterhouse steak since I don't care for lamb. We also
had potatoes and some asparagus sauteed in oil and garlic, and some
garlic bread. It was a great meal and we were all very full. After
dinner we visited for a while, then went back to our coach for the
rest of the evening. Sunday I went out and got a Sunday paper, then
we had a relaxing day. About 4:00 Dick and Millie Duffin came over
for dinner again. Today Peggy made up a big pot of ham and bean
soup, using the ham left over from Easter last Sunday. The soup was
excellent and the weather was such that we could comfortably eat
outside again. Millie brought bread, as well as the same sherbet
desert she brought the last time. We had a great meal and visited
until about 7:30 when they left to go home. We went into the coach
and relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening.
It has now been three weeks since we
published the blog, so a good time to close out this episode and get
it online. Until next time, remember the words of George Carlin when
you ask someone for help with something. “Some people have no idea
what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” See
ya soon.
