The First Three Weeks at Home in Pahrump

Hi there, welcome back to our story. Our last chapter concluded on Tuesday, October 22^nd, when we finally arrived back in Pahrump, Nevada, our home of record. We have been gone for almost exactly four months on our summer travels and will be back here in Pahrump for two months before starting our winter travels. Wednesday, our first full day at home. We left the coach after lunch and went out to visit old friends and run some errands. Our first stop was the Escapee's RV park here in Pahrump, Pair-A-Dice. Regular readers will know that last year we applied and got on the list to get a lot here at the Escapee's Coop park. We are now number 22 on the waiting list, probably still looking at a year or two at least before we can get a lot of our own. However, we already have several friends who have moved in there in the last year. We first stopped and saw Dick and Millie Duffin. Millie is the head of the “Dilly Muffins” party group and frequently has parties at her place for friends. We actually saw Dick and Millie in Oregon this summer while they were up there at the REV (Fleetwood RVs) service facility. They had a rough summer with health issues, a number of coach repair issues and Millie also lost her brother over the summer. They are also happy to be back in Pahrump among friends and seemed to be in good spirits. We visited with them for an hour or so, then stopped in to see Linda Creatore, another of our former Wine Ridge RV Resort friends who got an Escapees lot. Linda is also a karaoke nut and a great singer. We visited with her and her two new kittens for a while.

After visiting friends we stopped at the veterinarians office, one recommended by Linda, to make an appointment to take Benji in to see about his wheezing and coughing problems. I suspect an upper respiratory problem. We will take him in on Monday to see what's wrong. We then went to the nail salon were I got a trim and Jackie got a full pedi. After the nails we stopped at the UPS store to pick up our mail in person and say hi, then did a Walmart run. After shopping we headed back to the RV park, put everything away and relaxed in the house the rest of the evening.

Thursday, October 24^th, we had a stay at home day. We got a few chores done around the coach and relaxed. We also did most of our packing for our weekend trip to Las Vegas tomorrow. We did go out about 6:30 and walked down to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. Jackie ended up down a few dollars, I was dead even in regular play at the end of the night, but I did win $23 for the high hand of the night. Yea! After cards we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, October 25^th, we closed up the coach, made sure Benji had plenty of food and water and a clean cat box, and headed down to Las Vegas in the car. We were going to the Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort for a couple of nights. Jackie's best friend Helen, who lives in Massachusetts now, comes out to Las Vegas and the Mandalay Bay at least twice a year, in February for the Super Bowl and in October for her birthday. Today was actually her birthday. She is a pretty active, and successful, gambler and is considered a high roller by the casino, which is part of the MGM family of resorts. When she comes out they comp her a two bedroom suite and all her drinks and meals for the time she is here. They also don't restrict who she brings to dinner. She invited us to come down and stay with her for a couple of nights.

We arrived at the resort about noon, picked up the keys for the suite and took our bags up to the room. Helen was already on the casino floor and had already participated in a slot tournament, having arrived in Vegas about 9:00 this morning. After we got settled we went down to the casino and found Helen. We gamed for a while, then went to lunch at one of the many restaurants at the resort. We had a taco buffet at the House of Blues, which Helen had obtained as part of the slot tournament but she didn't want to eat. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon in the casino gaming. I had a pretty good day and gambled all day without losing any money, I was even at the end of the day. Jackie also had a good day. About 7:00 we went to a place called Fleur in the Resort, a nice, high end restaurant. I had a steak which was probably the best steak I have had in many years. Jackie had lamb which was also excellent. The meal was expensive, but since it was comped it didn't come out of our pocket.

After dinner the three of us went to the Michael Jackson: ONE show, which is one of the many Cirque de Soli productions playing around Las Vegas. We had gone to the same show last year when we were here in October, but they are always making changes. The first half of the show was pretty much the same, but they added a lot of features in the second half that we hadn't seen before, including a great holographic production featuring the image of the real MJ, both as a young boy and a grown man. Really a great show, and again, comped by the resort. Yea! After the show we gamed until about midnight when we went up to the room and to bed. Our room was on the 23^rd floor, about a third of the way up the tower, and it overlooked the airport and the new football stadium under construction. The night time cityscape was really pretty.

Saturday we slept in, had coffee in the room and relaxed for a while before going down to the casino. We gamed a little, and Jackie and I went out onto Las Vegas Boulevard to get a couple of geocaches that were not too far from the resort. We had lunch at one of the restaurants in the Mandalay Bay and spent the rest of the day gambling. We didn't have as much luck as yesterday, but we didn't lose more than we planned either, and we had fun. About 6:30 we went to another of the up scale restaurants in the resort and had another great meal. After dinner we gamed some more before hitting the room just before midnight. Another great day in Vegas! Sunday we got up and had coffee and talked with Helen for a while. About 11:30 we had our bags packed and we went down to the car and left the Mandalay Bay. We stopped at an In N Out for lunch, then headed over the hill towards Pahrump. We got back to the coach around 1:30 and spent the rest of the day unpacking and relaxing.

Monday, October 28^th, we left the RV park after lunch and went out to run some errands. Our first stop was the doctor's office to try to make some appointments. Jackie is still having problems with head pain stemming from January when she fell on her head. We both also need to get our prescriptions renewed for the year. Jackie made an appointment to see one of the Physician's Assistants (PA) tomorrow afternoon. We then went and picked up our mail, dropped off some donations at the Salvation Army, and headed back to the coach. We did some fish on the BBQ for dinner, then about 6:30 went down to the clubhouse for poker. We both had good nights, with Jackie winning $25 for the high hand of the night, four of a kind, and I ended up $6 to the good despite not winning a single hand for the first hour of playing. Yea! After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed. Tuesday we went out after lunch so Jackie could go to the doctor about her head. She spent some time with the PA, who said she was a little concerned that the headaches have lasted almost a year. She ordered another CT scan of Jackie's head. She had one at the time of the fall in January, but the hospital said it didn't show any problems inside of the head. Jackie went to the imagining center, which is in the same building, and they told her she could get in for the CT today, in about 45 minutes. We waited, Jackie got her CT and they told her they would have the results in a couple days. We then headed to Walmart, did some shopping and then went back home. I made a pot of chili for this cool day, we had dinner, watched TV and went to bed.

Wednesday, October 30^th, we went out after lunch to run a couple of errands. We stopped at a local second hand store where I had left one of my hand guns for sale on consignment back in May. They had not had any takers, so I wanted to take the gun back so I could take it to the local gun show this weekend. It is an antique, a 1903 Colt Hammerless Automatic chambered in .32 cal. It is in pretty decent condition, manufactured in 1921, but it is not a practical daily carry weapon. After I got my pistol back we went out and did one of the two new geocaches in town, a travel bug hotel on the north side of town. We found the cache and were able to swap out eleven travel bugs, almost our entire inventory. Yea! After finding the cache we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the day inside.

Thursday, October 31^st, Halloween! We didn't do a whole lot, we went out after lunch and drove over to the Escapee's RV park to visit with Dick and Millie Duffin for a while. While we there several other people we knew came over and visited too. We left about 4:00, picked up some KFC for dinner, then at 6:30 went over to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. Neither of us did real well tonight, both losing about $3. After cards we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime. Friday was a stay at home day. Did a few chores but mostly just relaxed. I went down to the clubhouse about 6:30 for karaoke. Jackie had a bad headache, so she stayed home. It was a light crowd, so a short rotation and I got to do a half dozen songs. It was over at 9:00, I went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Saturday, November 2^nd, we went out after lunch to run a few errands. The first stop was the community center where the gun show was supposed to be. Evidently, the internet was wrong, there was no gun show in Pahrump this weekend. Oh well. We then stopped and picked up our mail and spent an hour or so checking on a few of the geocaches we have hidden here in Pahrump. As the owners of the cache we are responsible for maintaining them. One was missing and we had to replace it, and one had a broken container that we replaced. The others we checked on were in good shape. While we were at one we had some old friends of ours, the Knights, who are also geocachers, who just happened to be in town for a couple days and were doing some caching. They were coming out to look for the one that we were checking on. Fun coincidence. We then made a stop at Smith's grocery for a couple things, then went back home and relaxed for a while. Around 5:30 we left again and drove to the Elks Lodge for karaoke. Most of our friends who do karaoke were there and we had a great time. It was a pretty long rotations, so I only got to do three songs, but most of the singers were pretty good and it was great to be able to spent time with friends. Karaoke finished at 9:00, we went back home and watched a little TV before going to bed. Sunday was a stay at home day. I went out first thing in the morning and got the paper, then we stayed in for the rest of the day.

Monday, November 4^th, we left the coach about 1:00 and went to the laundry to wash clothes. We were done with the laundry in a couple of hours and we ran some errands, including a stop at Walmart. After shopping we went back to the coach and put everything away. We went down to the clubhouse about 6:30 for poker. I lost four dollars and Jackie lost three, but we had a good time. After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed. Tuesday was another stay at home day. I got a lot of chores done including cleaning out the storage bay a little, getting our spare set of drapes for the front window of the coach out of the bay so I could put them on, and some office work. I was also able to get an RV mobile service guy to come over to look at the water heater. During our summer travels the 110 volt heating element went out and we have had to rely on propane alone to heat the water. After they got the water heater pulled out they found that the water leak I have been trying to find for over a year was a leak in the hot water heater tank. The tank had a small crack or corroded spot. Of course, this means a new water heater. I told them not to bother with the electric element in the old one, just put it back in and hook it up for propane and I would get a new heater for them to install next week. Jackie also got some chores done, including cleaning out some of her closet space. After all our work we had burgers on the BBQ for dinner, watched TV for the evening and went to bed.

Wednesday, November 6^th, we left the coach about 1:30 and drove over to the Escapee's RV park to visit with my son Roy Jr. Roy recently sold his condo in Phoenix and bought an RV and plans on being on the road for a few years seeing the country. He was on his way to South Dakota and decided to stop in Pahrump to see us for a little while. He has an older 34 foot class A motor home and is traveling with his dog and two cats. Actually, the motor home is the same year as ours, 2005, with half the miles, so I guess I shouldn't say old. We sat and talked for while and caught up, then about 5:30 left and went to Mom's Cafe for an early dinner. We dropped him off about 7:00, went back to our coach and spent the rest of the evening with the TV. Thursday I had to go out after lunch to try and get a tire on the car fixed. Last night on the way home the low tire warning lite came on. When I checked the tires this morning the right front one was quite low. All the others were OK. This had happened about a week ago too, so I figured I had a nail or something in the tire that was causing a slow leak. I aired up the tire and went out in search of a tire repair place. The first store I went to told me it was at least a two hour wait, so I went to the tire center at Walmart and was ignored for ten minutes. I finally stopped at the second tire store in town and they told me they could get me in within 45 minutes. It turned out to be about 30 minutes, he took the tire off and found a small screw stuck in the tread. Within 15 minutes the tire was repaired and back on the car. The best part was when I went to pay they told me that tire repairs are always free, even for people who had not been previous customers. Nice! I drove back to the coach and then Jackie and I left again to run some errands. We stopped and picked up mail, then did a Walmart run, then dropped the drapes that cover the front windows of the coach off at a dry cleaners. We have a spare set and every two years we swap the drapes and get the old set cleaned. After our errands we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. We had dinner then went down to the clubhouse for poker. Not a bad night, I ended up being seven dollars to the good and Jackie was up three. After cards we went back to the coach, watched some TV and went to bed.

Friday, November 8^th, we left the coach around 1:00 and drove to the Escapee's RV park to pick up Roy. We went out and checked on a few of our caches, both to do maintenance and to give Roy, who is also a geocacher, an opportunity to get a couple of caches. After looking at four or five caches we stopped at the Gold Town Casino to game a little. Roy was actually the one who suggested it, saying he wanted to spend twenty bucks to see if he could win in Pahrump. He and Jackie both lost and I broke even, which I consider a win. We stopped at the grocery store so Roy could pick up a few things, then dropped Roy off at his coach. We went back to the RV park and relaxed for a while and had dinner. Around 6:00 we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. Although there were quite a few people in the clubhouse, there were only three singers at the beginning. After a little while it grew to five in the rotation, but I still got to do a lot of songs. At 9:00 karaoke ended, we went back to the coach and watched a little TV before going to bed. Saturday was mostly a stay at home day. I got a bunch of little chores done. We went out for a late lunch at the local Chinese buffet, then went back to the coach. About 5:00 we drove to the Elks, thinking that there was the usual Saturday night karaoke, but it had been canceled due to Veteran's Day, so we drove back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night with the TV.

Sunday, November 10^th, the 244^th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Ooh Rah and Happy Birthday. About 1:30 I went out and picked up Roy at the Escapee's park. I failed to mention that at this time he only has his 34 foot motorhome, no tow car, so to avoid him having to take his house everywhere, I have been doing the Uber thing. We went back to the coach and spent the afternoon visiting and catching up. About 5:30 Jackie served a nice Mexican dinner, chile relleno casserole with rice and beans. About 6:30 I drove Roy back to his coach, came home and we spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Monday, November 11^th, Veterans Day. We had a fairly quiet day in the park. I drove down and got Roy about 2:30 or so and at 3:30 the three of us went to the Clubhouse for the Veterans Day celebration and dinner. They had the room very nicely decorated and there were quite a few people there. They started the ceremonies with a group of kids from the local Air Force Auxiliary Corps who came in and presented the colors with a very nicely done color guard. After they left they played the National Anthem and did the Pledge of Allegiance. By 4:15 they were serving dinner, which was a salad and spaghetti. The food was OK, not the best but edible. After dinner we talked for a while and about 5:30 I drove Roy back to his coach, came back and made some cocktails and went back down to the clubhouse for our poker night. Jackie had just stayed there, helping to clean up and buying a very nice painted wine bottle with the Marine Corps Emblem on it for me. At 7:00 we played cards. Jackie was up a dollar and I ended up seven dollars ahead. Yea! After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Tuesday, November 12^th, we went out after lunch to run some errands. Stopped first at the Post Office to mail out my passport renewal then picked up our mail, including the new water heater for the coach that I ordered on Amazon. We then did a Walmart run and stopped at the Dollar Store for a couple of things. After we got home and put the groceries away I went down and picked up Roy and brought him to the coach for dinner. He is planning on leaving tomorrow and going back down into Arizona, so we wanted to have a last dinner with him before he left. We did some burgers on the BBQ, along with some cole slaw, french fires and onion rings. We had a nice dinner, talked for a while, and about 6:30 I took him back to the Escapee's Park. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

It has now been three weeks since we last published, so it is time to close this episode and get it online. We are here in Pahrump for another six weeks or so. Until next time, remember, don’t stress the could haves. If it should have, it would have. See Ya soon.