Hi there, welcome back to our story.
Our last chapter concluded on Thursday, December 5th while
we were still in our hometown of Pahrump. Friday we left the coach
early, about 9:30, and drove over the hill to Las Vegas so Jackie
could
Saturday I woke up feeling worse and
was fighting a fever all day. By mid-afternoon I was throwing up and
feeling really bad. I went to bed about 6:30 for the night. I threw
up a few mores times along with a couple of dozen bathroom trips, but
when I woke up on Sunday the nausea was mostly gone. I still had a
light fever and didn't feel too good, but I was pretty sure I was on
the backside of whatever I had caught. We stayed home all day,
waiting for the predicted rain which finally showed up about 7:00.
The rain was very light. We spent the day and evening watching TV,
including re-watching the old 1980 Stephen King thriller, The
Shining. We wanted to see it again because the new movie out, Dr.
Sleep, is a sequel to it. We went to bed at our normal time and I
had no nausea episodes all day. Even had some chicken soup.
Monday, December 9th, I woke
up a new person! No fever, no sickies, just hungry. Although I felt
great, sadly, Jackie was now complaining of feeling yukky. Oh dear,
I shared my sickies. She did throw up a couple of times mid day, but
late afternoon and evening she was just feeling poorly. Fortunately,
she was not showing any fever, so I thought she only got a light
case. Needless to say, we didn't do anything today either. I did go
out after lunch by myself and went to the UPS store to pick up some
mail and packages we got on Friday. Other than that we just stayed
home, rested some more and worked on getting better. Tuesday Jackie
was feeling OK again, so we were both healthy! Yea! We went out
after lunch and ran a couple of errands, stopping by the Escapees RV
park to see if we moved up on the list. We are still number 19, but
there are supposed to be three openings coming up in the near future.
We had some hamburgers on the grill for dinner, and watched TV until
bedtime. I did contact the dermatologist's office and learned that
the mole they cut out last Monday was benign, so no further treatment
needed. Yea!
Wednesday, December 11th, I
left the RV park about 10:00 and drove to the DMV office to renew my
drivers license, which expires this coming February. I had expected
a long wait, but was surprised that there were very few people there.
From the time I went in until I had my temp in hand walking out it
was 30 minutes. Try that in California. However, there was one
thing that happened that kind of astounded me and renewed my faith in
the ability of a bureaucracy to operate beyond the limits of logic
and common sense. As with all states, Nevada has had to come up with
a process to issue what the Federal Government has labeled a “Real
ID” card/drivers license. This is supposed to be a card issued
based on verified documentary evidence of a persons identity and
nationality. At least for now the only use for it, other than as a
regular drivers license or state issued ID card, is that it can be
used as the sole ID to board a domestic airline flight. It is not
sufficient for international travel, not even Mexico and Canada.
A couple of years ago the Nevada
legislature amended the various statutes and the state now gives you
the option when getting your first Nevada drivers license, or
renewing a Nevada drivers license, to opt for either a regular
drivers license or the new, enhanced “Real ID” one. Now I have a
passport and have for 30 years, so I don't really need a card to fly
domestically, a passport works too. Not that I fly anyway, haven't
been on a plane in 20 years. However, I figured that since it didn't
cost any more than a regular license I would go ahead and get the
enhanced one. I had my birth certificate and documents to prove my
residency and social security number, all in accordance with what I
read in the statutes. I give my paperwork to the lady, she looks at
the birth certificate, then looks at the Federal 10-99 I presented to
prove my Social Security number, and said, “sorry, these documents
aren't acceptable because you are a “Sr.” but your birth
certificate doesn't say “Sr.” I was so shocked I just stared at
her for a bit before I asked, “how would that be possible?” She
told me that she didn't know, she just knew that the “book” said
that the name had to be exactly the same and having Sr. after my last
name on the other documents meant that it didn't match the birth
certificate. I asked a couple of more questions about how my mother
could possibly have known in 1947 that I would name my son Roy Jr. in
1974 so she should put Sr. on my birth certificate, but all I got was
an expression of “I don't care, I don't make the rules, I only look
at the papers.” Now, I didn't have my passport in my possession
because I just applied to renew it and to do that you have to send
the current passport with the application. Since I didn't need the
damn enhanced card anyway, I just gave up and got a regular drivers
license. Bureaucrats!
After my fun at the DMV I went back
home, then we went out again about 12:30 and had lunch at the Red Sky
BBQ place. We love their ribs and always get the full rack so we
have ribs to take home. After lunch we ran a few errands and then
went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and
evening at home. One interesting thing we saw is just down the street from the RV park there were four wild horses hanging around on the street and in the yards of some of the houses. My guess is that they came down from the foothills because of the cold weather and snow, and found they liked the bushes and grass in the yards. They didn't seem to be especially spooked by people or cars, but we saw either them, or the evidence of them (HUGE piles of poop) for the next week or so. The RV park is right at the edge of the undeveloped desert, so they weren't far from their regular environment.
Thursday, December 12th, we
left the coach about 10:30 and drove to the South Pointe Casino in
Las Vegas to see a movie. We went to see Knives Out, the new
“whodunit” with Jamie Lee Curtis, Danial Craig, and several other
bit stars. It was an excellent mystery comedy, one of the best
movies I have seen in several years. Right up there with the
classics like Clue, Murder by Death, and the Pink Panther. After the
movie we stayed and gamed for a little while. The place was VERY
busy as the National Finals Rodeo is in town and the place was filled
with folks in western wear. Haven't seen that many cowboy hats in
one place in a long time. We both lost our $20, so we headed out for
Pahrump. Although we have been to this casino a number of times
because it is the closest movie theater, we never noticed until this
trip that the parking garage has electric car charging stations.
They are on the other side of the garage from where we normally park,
but because the place was so busy we had to go over there. They are
high speed stations, so we plugged in and when we came out three
hours later the car was fully charged and ready to go. Yea, free
miles. After we got home we had leftover ribs for dinner, then went
down for poker at the clubhouse. Jackie had a good night, about five
dollars up, I was about the same in the other direction. Still had
fun though. After cards we went home, watched a little TV and went
to bed.
Friday, December 13th, we
went out after lunch to run a couple of errands. We did a Walmart
run, then went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. About 6:00
we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. It was about a seven
person rotation until towards the end of the evening, so I got to do
a lot of songs. Most of the singers were pretty good and we had a
great time listening and visiting with friends. After karaoke we
went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.
Saturday we went out after lunch and did a few errands. About 5:30
we left and went to Terrible's Roadhouse Casino for dinner. They
have really good daily specials. We met Dick and Millie Duffin and
had a great dinner. Tonight's special was prime rib and it was
pretty good. After dinner we gamed for a half hour or so, then went
home and watched TV until bedtime.
Sunday, December 15th, we
had a stay at home day. I did leave and drive down to the quickie
market for a newspaper. We had a relaxing morning with the paper,
and did some chores in the afternoon. Monday we were out of the
coach about 9:30, heading back to Las Vegas so Jackie could go see
her neurologist one last time before we left Nevada. We got in to
see the doctor, actually a PA, and she went over the results of
Jackie's MRI. There were no abnormalities detected in the scan at
all, except for one very small, old calcified benign growth. No
evidence of scarring, stroke, bruising, or anything else. The doctor
told her it could take up to two years or more for all the issues
from her fall to completely go away. She renewed her prescriptions,
the one of which she takes at night seems to help. After the doctor
we stopped at the Lazy Dog restaurant for lunch, a great lunch by the
way, then headed back over the hill to Pahrump. On the way back home we stopped and took a picture of a Yucca plant on the side of Highway 160 just outside the Pahrump town limits. Someone had decorated it for Christmas, complete with lights. We relaxed for a bit
and then went down to the clubhouse at 6:30 for poker. Jackie did
well, winning about eight bucks, I lost two. We then went back to
the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, December 17th, my
brother Russ and his wife Zen drove up from their home in Las Vegas
for a visit. He knew that we were leaving in a few days and wanted
to visit before we left. We sat and talked for a couple of hours,
then the four of us drove down to the Lakeside Casino cafe for lunch.
We had a great lunch, then drove around a little bit. We took Russ
and Zen over to the Escapee's RV Park so they could see where we were
trying to get a permanent place. We then went back to the coach and
sat around and talked until about 4:00. Russ and Zen left to drive
back home and we spent the rest of the evening in the coach.
Wednesday, December 18th, we
went out after lunch and ran a couple of errands. After we got back
to the coach we stayed in, did a few chores, and relaxed for the rest
of the day. Thursday we left the coach about 12:30 and went to Chat
Thai, our favorite Thai restaurant here in town, for lunch. I had
what they called Sake Shrimp and noodles. It was sauteed shrimp in a
coconut milk sauce with peppers, scallions, pineapple, mushrooms all
over skinny egg noodles. It was the best Asian dish I have ever had!
Jackie had Pad Thai, which she has had before, but today she said it
was bland and the chicken was tough and overcooked. She didn't enjoy
her meal, but I sure did mine. After lunch we did a couple of
errands and then went back to the coach. We relaxed until about 6:30
then went down for our last session of Texas Hold'em for a while. We
didn't have a stellar night, Jackie was down about nine dollars and I
lost four. But we had fun. After cards we went back to the coach,
watched a little TV and went to bed.
Friday, December 20th, was
mostly a chores day. I spent a couple of hours outside taking down
the screens and putting stuff away in preparation for our travel
tomorrow. This is our last day in Pahrump. After lunch we did a
mail run and then went back to the coach and did some more chores.
At 5:30 we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. Most of our
friends were there and the rotation was short enough that I got to do
about 10 songs, some with other singers. It was a great night and by
a little after 9:00 we were back in the coach and watching TV.
Saturday was a travel day. We were on the road by 10:00, headed
south towards Hesperia, California. Our ultimate goal is Indio on
Sunday, but we always stop in Hesperia on the way. We stopped for
lunch at the Mad Greek restaurant in Baker, then headed to the
Hesperia Elks Lodge. We arrived at the lodge about 3:00 and got
parked. We are only overnighting here, so we didn't unhook the car
or do much setting up. After we got set up we just relaxed for the
rest of the day.
Sunday, December 21st, we
left Hesperia about 10:30 and headed for Indio. Traffic was pretty
heavy, but except for some brief periods of wind the weather was OK.
We arrived at the Indian Waters RV Resort about 1:00, got checked in
and parked. It has been a couple of years since we stayed here at
Indian Waters. It is owned by the same company that has Wine Ridge
in Pahrump, but because of the Coachella Valley location the rates
are quite a bit higher. We got parked and the basics set up, then
left and went to lunch at one of our local taquerias. After lunch we
went back to the coach and finished getting set up. We spent the
rest of the day and evening in the coach. Normally I close out a
day's entry when we go to bed, but I need to add an addendum to this
evening. About 2:30 I got up to go to the bathroom and while there I
heard a strange bump. When I went into the living room I saw Benji
lying on the floor by my chair. He has been getting progressively
worse for the last month, losing weight and having trouble breathing.
The vet visit a while back didn't help any, so we have been feeding
him a liquid diet and trying to just make him comfortable. We knew
he was dying, but he seemed to be dealing with it and did not appear
to be in pain. As I watched he gave out one last meow, trembled a
little, and then lay still. It broke my heart to watch our little
fur kid die, but at least I don't have to worry if he is hurting now.
I wrapped him up and put him in his bed one last time.
Monday, December 23rd, when
I woke up I made some phone calls and found a nearby veterinary
clinic which would take Benji and arrange for a cremation at a
reasonable cost. About 11:00 we left and took Benji in and said
goodbye. Like Fuzzy and Smokey before him, we were not going to get
Benji's ashes back, we just wanted a respectful disposal of the body.
After sending Benji off we went to La Casita Mexican restaurant to
meet Jackie's Godson Shane Ryan for lunch. Shane is now 25 years old
and lives and works in the Coachella Valley. He is about 6 foot 4
with lots of tattoos, but he is still the same well spoken, polite
Shane we know. We had a great lunch, catching up with what is going
on in his life. He hasn't had it easy because he has Type 1 diabetes
and has struggled to stay healthy. After a nice lunch we went to
Walmart for some things, then went back to the coach. We spent the
rest of the day and evening in the coach.
It has been about three weeks since we
last published and we will be here in the Coachella Valley for about
three weeks, so this is a good place to close out this episode and
get it published. Until next time, ponder the words of author John
Grogan. “Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us,
and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It
is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and
even how much closer we become with each other because of them.”
See ya soon.
