Hello again. Our last episode ended on
Tuesday, November 12th while we were parked at the Wine
Ridge RV Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. Regular readers and friends will
know that Pahrump is our official “home” even though we are full
time travelers. Wednesday was mostly a stay at home day. Thursday
the RV service guy came by about 9:00 to install the new water heater
that I got through Amazon the other day. It took them a couple of
hours, but now we have a brand new, non-leaking heater that works on
120 volts again. Yea! About 12:30 we left and went to the medical
center so Jackie could see a neurologist. She had an appointment
with this doctor on December 12th, but they called her the
other day to say they had an opening today at 1:00. We went in and
although Jackie didn't get to see the doctor, she did spent a good
half hour with the doctor's PA, doing a pretty thorough workup on
what might be going on. The PA scheduled a blood test and said she
was going to order an MRI as well. She also prescribed some pills to
help her sleep at night. Jackie has had two CT scans, but the PA
said the MRI was much more diagnostic. Jackie got her blood drawn
right away and she is to keep the 12/12 appointment to discuss the
results of the tests. After the doctor we went to Johnny's, a local
Mexican restaurant for a late lunch. We then went home and relaxed
until 6:30 when we went down to the clubhouse for cards. Jackie was
up a dollar and I was up five at the end of the night. We went back
to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.
Friday, November 15th, we
went out after lunch to the local community center for the annual
holiday craft show. Our friend Linda was one of the exhibitors with
her jewelry made from old silverware. After the craft show we picked
up our mail and then went to one of the local thrift stores to just
look around. We then headed back to the coach and relaxed until
after dinner when we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. There
was a very small crowd and only three singers, including me. Not
many people listening, but I got to do a few songs I haven't done I a
while, which is good practice. By 9:00 we were back in the coach,
watched a little TV and went to bed. Saturday we went out about 3:00
and stopped at the Pahrump Nugget Casino for a little gaming. Jackie
lost $20, I ended up $30 to the good. After gaming we went to the
Red Sky BBQ restaurant and met our friends Len and Debbie Forrest and
Millie and Dick Duffin, for dinner. We had ribs, filled up and still
had enough left overs for another dinner. After dinner we went to
the Elks Lodge for karaoke. Len and Debbie also went, but Millie's
knee was acting up so they went home. As usual, the rotation to sing
was very long and I only got two songs in. However, most of the
singers were good or very good, so it was still an entertaining
night. About 8:30 we left, went home and watched a little TV then
went to bed.
Sunday, November 17th, we
had a fairly quiet day. We had the Sunday paper with our coffee and
in the middle of the afternoon we went out and did a Walmart run.
After shopping we returned to the coach and just relaxed for the rest
of the day. Monday was also a stay at home day. We did some chores,
played cards and watched TV. We didn't even go down to play poker
because Jackie was a little under the weather with stomach issues.
We did have a nice pot roast for dinner that had been in the crock
pot, then watched TV until bedtime. Tuesday we spent the day at
home. The first poor weather in the area since we arrived has
brought cold winds, low clouds and rain. It is supposed to be
snowing at the higher elevations, but we haven't seen the mountains
in almost two days. Jackie spent a good part of the day trying to
set up some doctor appointments for her head. We did play some cards
and watched some TV. Wednesday the weather was still with us and we
never left the house. Jackie was finally able to finalize all of her
appointments to get her head issues checked out. Going to Vegas for
the MRI in a couple weeks and then again a week later to meet with
the neurologist.
Thursday the weather was still a little
cloudy and cool, but the weather guy assured us the storms will blow
out tonight and we will just be cool. We went out about 2:00,
stopped at the medical center so Jackie could check on a couple of
things, then did a mail run. We then went to the Lakeside Casino for
lunch and after lunch a little gaming. I won a $130 on a penny
machine after striking out on a couple of poker machines. I ended up
$70 to the good. Jackie only lost ten. We went home and a 6:30 went
down to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. I didn't do well, losing
seven. Jackie was down six. Oh well, we had fun. We went back to
the coach, watched some TV and went to bed. Friday we left the coach
about 3:00 and did some grocery shopping at Walmart and Albertsons,
and then picked up our mail. At 5:00 we met Len and Debbie Forrest
at the Japanese Steakhouse here in Pahrump called Ohjah. We have
heard good things about it and have been talking about going there,
so tonight we had our chance. Their specialties are sushi and their
hibachi grills. We didn't do the hibachi tonight, but everyone had
sushi except me. I like certain limited types of sushi, mostly tuna
based, so I had the beef short ribs which were excellent. I also had
a couple of pieces of Yellow tail sushi and we shared a tempura
calamari appetizer. It was a lot of food, but very good and we plan
on going back next trip here. After dinner we stopped at the coach
to unload groceries, then went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. We
had a good time, many of our karaoke friends were there and the
rotation was short enough to get in a half dozen songs. At 9:00
karaoke shut down and we went back to the coach. We watched a little
TV and went to bed.
Saturday, November 23rd, we
stayed around the house until about 3:00 when we left and went down
to the Escapee's RV Park for a party. Our friend Linda, who moved to
the park last year, was doing karaoke and this would be the first
time I had a chance to see her new equipment and do music while she
was the KJ. It was also a pot luck and there was lots of good food
there. It was open to anyone in the park, actually any Escapee from
anywhere, and there probably fifty people there. We had a great meal
and Linda started the karaoke. There were only four singers, so we
all got to do a lot of songs. The party broke up just before 8:00,
we helped clean up then went home and watched some TV until bedtime.
Sunday I was up early, left about 8:00 and went out to do my annual
qualification shoot for my Federal concealed carry permit. After I
was finished I went back to the coach and we spent the rest of the
morning with coffee and the Sunday paper. After lunch we went to the
laundromat and did our laundry. After we got home we put away the
clothes, made the bed and relaxed the rest of the day. We had some
nice steaks on the grill for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed.
Monday, November 25th, we
went out after lunch to run some errands. Our first stop was a bar
and grill called the Pour House, which is located inside of the Best
Western Hotel here in town. We have wanted to go here for several
years since the restaurant became a well known East Indian food
place. I don't care much for Indian food, however I had looked at
the menu and noted that they had a lot of regular Western food too.
Jackie had the Indian buffet, which was a lot of curries with lamb,
goat, and chicken along with some other selections. She really liked
the food. I had a pizza, which turned out to be the best pizza I
have had here in Pahrump. We had a great lunch and afterwards we
went to the Sheriff's Office so I could get my CCW permit renewed and
then went to the UPS store to pick up our mail. After that we
stopped at the Saddle West Casino and gamed for a little while. We
were playing the nickle poker machines and I hit a natural Royal
Flush for $200, my first Royal in a number of years. I cashed out my
$200 and we went back to the coach. About 6:30 we went down to the
clubhouse for cards. I had a really bad night at cards, winning only
one hand in the whole two hours, and that was a tie for a split pot.
I ended up down $10 and Jackie was up almost that much, so all in all
it was an OK day for gambling. We went back to the coach, watched a
little TV and went to bed.
Tuesday, November 26th, we
left the coach about 10:30 and drove over the hill to Las Vegas and
the South Pointe Casino to see a movie. We saw Ford vs Ferrari, with
Matt Damon and Christian Bale. It is based on the true story of race
car driver and builder Carroll Shelby (Damon) and his close friend
engineer and driver Ken Miles (Bale) as they partnered with Ford
Motor Company in the mid 1960's to build what became the Ford GT40
supercar. The reason was to beat Ferrari in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
race in France. Ferrari had dominated the race for decades and Henry
Ford II became obsessed with beating the Italians. As a car fan I
know that there were a lot of liberties taken with details in the
story, it was still basically a true story in the broad sense and was
a very good movie. If you like cars and racing I would recommend it.
After the movie we stopped so Jackie could get a haircut, then went
back over the hill to home where we stayed in for the rest of the
evening. Wednesday we had a winter storm move in from California.
The wind was blowing really hard all night and we woke up to temps in
the high 30's and clouds and by noon it was raining. We didn't get
real heavy rain, but it was steady all day until just before we went
to bed. We never left the house, just watched some movies, played
cards and relaxed.
Thursday, November 28th,
Happy Thanksgiving. The local mountains are all covered in snow,
fairly light at the lower elevations, but still pretty. No snow for
us, just more rain. Today the RV park is hosting a Thanksgiving
dinner pot luck. They provide the turkey and everyone else brings
side dishes. Jackie made a big bowl of sweet potatoes. The rain
started again about noon and it was still raining when we went down
to the clubhouse at 2:30. Again, not a downpour, but still wet. We
sat with some of our RVing friends that we know from this park and
see every year. The dinner was wonderful and there were about 80
people there according to the park manager Paul. About 5:00 we
headed back to the coach, in the rain, and stayed in the rest of the
night. Tonight was supposed to be a poker night, but we texted our
friends who aren't in the park, and told them that we would not be
there because of the weather. The rain finally let up about 8:00 but
it was still cold. We spent the rest of the night with the TV.
Friday, November 29th, it
was still cloudy and cold, but the rain seems to have gone away. We
went out after lunch to run some errands. We stopped at the Japanese
restaurant to get a gift certificate for the couple that puts on the
Texas Hold'em games twice a week. Jackie took up a collection from
the regular players and got them a $75 certificate. They had
mentioned a few weeks ago that they liked the restaurant. We picked
up our mail and then did a Walmart run. We really weren't there for
the Black Friday stuff and by the time we got there the crowds had
thinned out anyway. We did our shopping and went back to the coach. About 4:30 we went down to the clubhouse for the happy hour pot luck. We were hoping for turkey leftovers, but they had been put in the freezer. However, there were plenty of other things to chose from and we had a pretty decent meal. Normally Friday's are karaoke nights, but tonight the park had booked a local three piece band. Because of the weather they couldn't use the outside stage, so they set up indoors and we were afraid they would be too loud. We were pleasantly surprised that they were actually very good. Lots of classic and soft rock tunes and the guy who normally does karaoke, Bryant, joined them for a few songs playing his saxophone. We ended up staying until the second band break about 8:30. We went back to the coach and watched a little TV until bedtime.
Saturday, November 30th, we
had a stay at home day. Watched a couple of HBO movies, relaxed and
enjoyed a quiet, cold, day. Sunday was another movie and relaxation
day. Got the Sunday paper in the morning, other than that we stayed
in all day. Monday we actually got out of the house for a little bit
after lunch. We both went to the dermatologist for our annual skin
checks. Jackie had a couple things looked at, but nothing that
needed to be removed. I had one suspicious dot on my back that they
PA we saw was concerned about, so he cut it out and sent it off to be
biopsied. After our doctors appointment we ran a couple of errands.
We picked up mail and stopped at the drug store for a couple things.
We went back to the coach, had dinner and then went down to the
clubhouse for poker. Both of actually won tonight, I was $5 up and
Jackie was $3 up. Yea. After cards we went home, watched a little
TV and went to bed.
Tuesday, November 3rd, was
mostly a relaxation day. We did go out in the afternoon and do a
Walmart run and also stopped at another store for a couple of things.
After that we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV for the
rest of the day. Wednesday the rain was back. This wasn't a cold
storm like the last one, but it rained a bit more than last time. We
even had a little water come in the coach by one of the slides. I
need to check the seals. We spent the entire day in the house
because of the crappy weather. Thursday we went out to lunch at the
China Wok restaurant. Today was a free meal since we were there to
listen to a presentation for Medical Air Service Association (MASA)
MASA is a program that we bought into in 2007 and once you pay the
initial fee it is a lifetime membership. It is not insurance in a
legal sense, but it basically covers the cost of any medical
transport, ground ambulance, helicopter, or fixed wing. The pay
anything not covered by insurance. They have annual sales
presentation here in Pahrump and they always invite anyone, even
those who are already members. We sat with our friends Dick and
Millie Duffin and both they and us are members. At least a third or
more of the people at the lunch were members. The presentation runs
about 45 minutes, then a great lunch.
After lunch we went to the nail salon.
I got a toenail trim, and Jackie got a full pedi. While waiting for
her I went to the mail store and picked up mail. After mail I waited
for Jackie, then we headed back home for a while. About 6:30 we went
down to the clubhouse for cards. Had an OK night, ending up $4 down.
Jackie was even for the night. After cards we went home, watched
some TV and went to bed.
It has now been three weeks since we
last published, so it is about time to get this chapter online. We
will be here in Pahrump for two more weeks, so the next time we
publish we will probably be in the Indio, California area. Until
next time, remember to treasure your best friends. They know how
crazy you are and still choose to be seen with you in public. See ya
soon.
