At Home in Pahrump - The Final days of Fall and Beginning the Christmas Season

 Hello again. Our last episode concluded on Thursday, December 2^nd while we were still in Pahrump on our lot at the Escapees Co-op RV park. Friday we went to a late lunch at Terrible's Roadhouse. After lunch we went to the local golf cart dealer, the only one in Pahrump, to look at some of the used golf carts they had. They have dozens and dozens of new carts, but the prices on new carts can be anywhere from $7,000 to $14,000 and there is no way we need one that bad. We are looking for a decent used cart in the $3,000 or less range. They only had three used carts in stock and none of them lit my fire, so we left and headed home. Now and then a cart comes up for sale at the park, so we will just wait. At 4:00 we went to happy hour at the clubhouse, then we went back at 6:00 for a trivia night party. This is the first time for a trivia contest here and was the result of one of the newer members stepping up with new things to do. There were a couple dozen people there and we split up into teams. Ours was us, Millie, and three other park members who we know. Our team won the first match, came in second in the second match, and won the third match, so I would say we won the night. Yea us! After trivia we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, December 4^th, I went over to the clubhouse at 10:00 to help with a cleanup project. After I was done with that I went on a run to the UPS store to pick up mail, actually a few packages from Amazon. After I got back we had lunch then I spent some time hanging up some new outside bistro lights on the side of our shed. They turned out really nice. They are LED, so low power, and can be both soft and daylight white, as well as a variety of colors. We went to the clubhouse for happy hour, but skipped karaoke again because my voice is still not completely back. We went home and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Sunday we left the coach a little before 11:00 to go to the nail salon so Jackie could get a pedi and I got my toenails cut. We were surprised when they took an appointment for a Sunday, but it was nice because we got in and out quick. After we got home we had lunch then I spent several hours decorating the outside yard and patio for Christmas. Since we know we will be here at least until early January we decided to get our Christmas decorations up early. They are also having a contest here at the park for best outside decorations, so I went all out. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach just relaxing with the TV. Monday was a stay at home day. Jackie went out in the morning to work with the Appraisal Committee to appraise a couple of lots coming up for release. I finished up most of the Christmas decorations and then just did a few chores. Around 1:00 we had a Nurse Practitioner from United Healthcare arrive to do a home wellness visit. This is a service of our new health insurance and not only do we get a checkup, but we both get $50 gift cards for having it done. He did a lot of background stuff, did the usual vitals and even did a quick A1C blood sugar test on both of us. There were no surprises, we are both in decent shape, just a little overweight and a tad high on the blood sugar test. Nothing we can't fix. After the NP left we just relaxed for the rest of the day. We went to the clubhouse for happy hour, then came home, had dinner and watched TV until it was time for bed.

Tuesday, December 7^th, Pearl Harbor Day. We left the park around noon and went out to lunch and to run a few errands. We had lunch at China Restaurant which is a menu place, not a buffet. The food was excellent. After lunch we picked up mail and then did a Walmart run. After Walmart we went back home and put everything away. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing. Wednesday we left the coach about 9:30 and started over the hill to Las Vegas for Jackie's appointment with the surgical center. She was referred to them last month by the nurse practitioner she saw about the intermittent pain in her lower abdomen. The CT scan showed a stone in her gallbladder which the NP thought might need surgical intervention. We got to the doctor's office and Dr. Patel, a very nice guy for a surgeon, came in talked to us. I say that because many times surgeons kind of come across as arrogant and not willing to discuss things. Dr. Patel asked Jackie about the pain and then explained in understandable terms that the stone in her gallbladder wasn't a problem, and in fact, he wasn't even sure there was a stone because the imaging that they used in Pahrump wasn't the best for that kind of diagnosis. In any event, he said that even if there was a stone it could not be the issue causing the pain because it wasn't anywhere near where the pain was occurring. After talking to Jackie a while he surmised that it was probably scar tissue from her 35 year old hysterectomy that was causing the pain. He said that it tends to grow and adhere to bits and pieces and that it may have attached to the bowel. He said that there isn't any surgical remedy to that kind of problem unless it is causing an obstruction. He basically told Jackie there wasn't much they could do about the pain and that she had nothing to worry about. Kind of good news bad news. After the doctor we went to lunch, then did a very expensive Costco run. Once we were done at Costco we headed back over the hill, getting home a little after 3:00. We went to happy hour at the clubhouse, then came back home and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday December 9^th, was, for the most part, a stay at home day. We did go out after lunch to Walgreens where both of us got our Covid booster shots. After the shots we stopped at the Pahrump Nugget and gamed for an hour or so before heading back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing chores and relaxing with the TV. Friday was a stay at home day. Unfortunately Jackie woke up feeling really bad, body aches, headache, and she hadn't slept well. This was pretty much the same reaction she got when she had the second Covid shot back in March. That time she was down for a day and a half. She stayed in bed, mostly sleeping, until about 5:00 when she started feeling a little better and got up. She gradually got to feeling better as the evening wore on. By bedtime most of the symptoms had passed and she just had a sore arm. My reaction to the shot was a sore arm.

Saturday, December 11^th, was kind of exciting. As I mentioned earlier in the blog we have been watching for a golf cart to buy to use around the park. Earlier in the week I had found a really nice golf being sold in Las Vegas on the Offer-up app. The cart was a Western Elegante model, very similar to one that our good friend Barry Cohen had back in Indio. Western is a high end cart manufacturer that is located in Desert Hot Springs, in the Coachella Valley of California. They are considered the “Cadillac” of golf carts. I made contact with the seller and told him we would be in Las Vegas on Wednesday and would like to come by and look at the cart. He messaged back and said that would be OK, but to call him first. On Wednesday, after we got done with the doctor I had called, but got no answer. I called two more times with no response, so we just gave up, did our shopping and came home. After we got home I sent another message on the app and on Thursday morning I got a reply apologizing for missing us. We chatted back and forth a bit and he agreed to come up to Pahrump on Saturday, with the cart, and let us check it out. I was still interested in the cart, so I agreed. Today he showed up about 2:00 with the

cart on a trailer. I checked it out, drove it around, talked to him about the history, and had Jackie look at it. After negotiating the price we settled on $4,000, which was about a grand more than we had planned on, but it is a really nice, fancy cart. So, now we have a golf cart and I have to say it is the coolest one in the park. After buying the cart I did some work in the yard putting the final touches on our Christmas decorations. About 4:30 our friends Max and Nancy Schmidt came over for dinner. We had cocktails and Jackie made a chili relleno casserole with rice and beans. We have known Max and Nancy since we started coming to Pahrump in 2007 or so. They used to run the poker game at the RV park we stayed at. They have been in the Escapees park for about four years now and we have become pretty good friends. We had a very nice dinner and they stayed and visited until about 8:00. After they left we watched some TV and went to bed.

Sunday, December 12^th, we had a stay at home day. I did go out early in the morning to get a newspaper. In late morning I started cooking my pot of chili for the park's chili contest late this afternoon. After I had the chili put together and simmering on the stove I did some chores around the coach. About 3:00 I took the chili over to the clubhouse to be put in the kitchen for later judging. About 4:00 Jackie and I went over to the clubhouse for the chili contest. I didn't finish in the money, but we had a good time. Tasted lots of chili's, some similar to mine, some very unique. The winner had cinnamon in it, which gave it a very sweet taste. We finished up and were back home by about 7:00, after which we watched TV and then went to bed. Monday was laundry day. We left the coach about noon and went to Denny's for lunch. After lunch we went to the laundromat and did our laundry. After we were done we went back home. We went to the 4:00 happy hour at the clubhouse, then went home and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Tuesday, December 14^th, we went out to a late lunch at Lakeside Casino cafe. Today was a very cold and gloomy day and it was supposed to rain on and off all day and evening. After lunch we went back home for a while and did a few chores. About 4:30 we left again and drove to the Elks Lodge for the Lodge meeting. The reason we were going to the Lodge despite the cold and rain was that three of our friends her at the park were being initiated into the Lodge. We like to believe that we have had some responsibility for the recent influx of park residents into the Elks, since Jackie and I talk about it all the time. In addition, we took a number of our park friends to the Kingman, Arizona Lodge a couple months ago when we went on a camp out with the group. We picked up one of the initiates, Charlene, on the way since she didn't want to drive in the bad weather. The reason we were going so early, the meeting wasn't until 7:00, was because the initiates had to be there early to do some paperwork.

I dropped Jackie and Charlene off at the lodge and then I left to go check on the tires on the car. On the drive over the “low tire” warning light came on. I suspected that it was just the cold weather dropping the pressure in one or more tires that caused the problem. I had trouble finding a service station that had a functioning air hose and eventually ended up at the Walmart car service center. They were just closing up, but one of the guys in the shop checked my tires and found that all were slightly low, likely causing the problem. Since they were all the same, just low, I didn't think I had a puncture or other leak. He aired up all the tires to the recommended pressure and the light went out. Yea! I went back to the Lodge and sat at the bar with Jackie playing the slots and having a cocktail while we waited for the meeting to start. The group getting initiated was 25 people, one of the largest initiation classes I have seen. We sat through the initiation, which is always a good thing for an Elk as it reminds us of what it means to be an Elk. By the time the initiation was done, along with the regular business meeting that followed, it was a little after 9:00. When we went outside we saw that it had actually snowed a little here in Pahrump. There wasn't anything on the ground, but all the cars and other colder surfaces had a light sprinkling of snow. We headed back to the park, dropped Charlene off at her place, and went home. We watched a little TV, then went to bed.

Wednesday, December 15^th, Jackie went over to the clubhouse at 1:00 to play Pokeno while I worked on a project for one of the committees I am on, trying to revise some of the governing documents of the park. After Jackie got done we went done with Pokeno we went out to run some errands. We did a Walmart run and then went back to the park. We had an early dinner then went to the clubhouse again at 6:00 for the annual “ugly sweater” contest. I don't even own a sweater, so I didn't participate and Jackie couldn't find her one winter sweater. We still had a good time with the people who did wear sweaters, some of which were truly bizarre and ugly. They also had a band, Ear Candy, which was the same one that played a few weeks ago at an event. They were pretty good, although their play list was pretty much the same as it was previously. The party was over at 8:00, after which we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Thursday, December 16^th, we were up early for a 9:00 meeting of the park's Board of Directors. It was a pretty routine meeting until they got to the point were they needed to approve some requests from the Clubhouse Committee to get rid of some items from the clubhouse. They had a old piano, an old commercial style glass cabinet, an old pool table and a homemade podium that the committee wanted to get rid of. They told the board that they took up too much space, and were old and not needed any more. All of the items had been donated by members years ago, but because they are assets of the park, only the Board can approve their disposal. For whatever reason the president of the board agreed to take a “straw poll” of the members present and for all the items except the pool table, the response was overwhelmingly in favor of getting rid of the items. However, when the board voted on the items they voted to keep all of the items except the piano. Things got a little testy for a bit between audience members and the board for a while. Ultimately they voted to get rid of everything except the pool table and the meeting was concluded. One of the more interesting Board meetings since we have been here. After the meeting we went home and I did a few chores around the coach. I went to the happy hour at 4:00, Jackie didn't want to go out in the cold, and we had dinner. We then spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Friday, December 17^th, we left the coach about 1:00 and went to the Roadhouse Casino for a late lunch. Both of us had the liver and onions because the Roadhouse has the best we have ever had. After lunch we ran some errands, going to the UPS store, Smiths grocery and then the Dollar Store. After our errands we went back to the coach. About 5:30 we went over to the clubhouse for the monthly Bingo game. Jackie won one round, but had to split the pot, so she got $8, exactly what the buy in was. So, she broke even. Bingo was over about 7:30 and we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the evening watching TV. Saturday I went over to the clubhouse about 11:30 and started setting up my sound equipment for a jam session which we had scheduled in conjunction with the Christmas cookie exchange put on by the Silver Seekers club at the park. The event started at 1:00 but Scott Pleasants, the only other person to come to play at the jam, had been practicing and rehearsing for a half hour. Although we are friends, we had never played music together before. Despite that, I thought we did pretty well and played and sang until about 2:30. After the event I packed up the equipment, took it home and put it away. We relaxed for a bit, then went down to the Elks for karaoke. Since Christmas and New Years are the next two Saturdays, this will be the last time I get to do karaoke here until we get back in April. Not only were our friends Tom and Phyllis at karaoke, our friends from the Escapees park, Max and Nancy Schmitt, and Linda Sullivan also came and stayed most of the night. Both Max and Linda have recently been initiated as Elks. The singing was over just before 9:00, after which we went home and watched a little TV before going to bed.

Sunday, December 19^th, was mostly a stay at home day. I went out in the morning to get a Sunday paper and had to sit in the car for five minutes defrosting the window before I could start driving. Thank goodness for heated seats. I spent most of the day alternating between doing chores and office work and relaxing with the computer and TV. We went to the clubhouse at 2:00 for the monthly birthday party. Normally Sundays are root beer float days, but the third Sunday of the month is cake and ice cream for those who have a birthday that month. After our treat we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach. I did have to go out about 6:00 when our propane ran out. For the last week we have been running of the small 20 pound propane bottles, the type used for BBQs, because our main tank is nearly empty. The propane truck should be here on Wednesday but until then we have to use the smaller tanks, which only last a few days. I learned that Sunday is the wrong day to try to get an exchange bottle as I had to go to six different stores before I found one that had some full cylinders, and they only had two left. I got the propane, went home and hooked it up and we relaxed the rest of the night.

Monday, December 20^th, was a stay at home day. I spent several hours working on a proposed revision to the park's by laws that I had told the committee at the last meeting I would submit before the January meeting. I finally got it finished and emailed to the chair of the By Laws and Rules Committee. Although we won't be here in January I hope to be able to participate in the Committee meeting by Zoom or at least conference call. At 4:00 we went over to the clubhouse for happy hour and then at 5:00 stayed for the Clubhouse Committee's “stuffed baked potato” dinner. They served a small salad and a really big baked potato and then provided all kinds of stuff to put inside, like chili, cheese, onions, sour cream, all the usual stuff. It was pretty well attended and a lot of fun. About 7:00 the festivities were over and we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, December 21^st, the first full day of winter. And it felt like it, with temps in the high twenties in the mornings. My son Roy Jr. texted me about 10:00 or so to let me know that he had left Quartzsite where he had been working and was on his way to Pahrump. He has a new job in Death Valley and Pahrump is on his route there, so he said he would stop by for a visit. We didn't have anything to do until 2:00 when we went to the clubhouse in our new golf cart for a Christmas parade and caroling event. There were about seven golf carts, most decorated for Christmas and probably 18 people to sing. We spent an hour driving around the park, stopping at various lots to sing carols. Most of the stops were selected because the people living in them were pretty much older, shut-in types who didn't get out much. We had a good time and just about the time we were done, around 3:00, Roy came into the park in his coach. We met him and chatted a bit, then he went in and registered and went to his spot, just down the street from ours. About a half hour later he came over to our place and we sat and talked for a couple of hours. Around 6:00 we left and drove to the Terrible's Roadhouse Casino cafe for dinner. The wait was about a half hour because the special tonight was baby back ribs. While we were waiting Roy gamed a bit and won $75! Yea! We had a nice dinner and afterwards we went back to the park. Roy was tired from the trip today so we dropped him off at his place and went back to ours where we watched TV until bedtime. Because of time constraints Roy is only spending one night here, but we will see him in the morning.

Wednesday, December 22^nd, I was up early because I had some chores to do this morning. The first thing was to wait for the propane truck to arrive because we were running low and certainly didn't have enough to get us to Yuma next month. The truck arrived at 8:30 and put nearly 20 gallons in the RV's tank. Yea! I took a quick shower then picked up Roy to run some errands. He wanted to get a haircut before he reported to his new job this afternoon, so I drove him to the barber shop where he got a real haircut. I told him I would take him to run errands because he doesn't yet have a tow car and would have had to take his RV. After the haircut we went to Walmart because he needed a new 12 volt battery for his RV. After we got back I dropped him off to install the new battery and I went home. A little later he stopped by the coach and sat and chatted with us for a while. He left about noon and started his trek to Death Valley, making it there by about 2:00. Jackie went to the clubhouse for Pokeno about 1:00 and I stayed home and did some chores. After Jackie got out at 3:00 we did a quick Walmart run, then came back home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, December 23^rd, we had a light rain most of the night and it was still sprinkling on and off when we got up. This would persist for rest of the day and evening. We had a 9:00 Town hall meeting at the clubhouse which we went to. It was supposed to be a meeting to promote more civility and cooperation between the membership and the Board, but got off to a rocky start when one of the old time members, a grouchy curmudgeon, made a comment to one of the newer members telling him to “shut up.” A couple people walked out of the meeting, but eventually they got it back under control and the meeting ended on a positive note. After lunch we picked up our friends Jen and Nicole, who are members of the park, new this year, and part of the group of younger Escapers that are coming into the park recently. Escapers is a subset group of the Escapees which caters to younger people, many of which are still working. Nicole had expressed an interest in joining the Elks and Jackie told her we would take she and Jen to the Lodge this afternoon so they could look around. Luckily, when we got there the Exalted Ruler was working the bar, so they got a chance to talk to her as well as look around. They seemed really excited and I think the Nicole is going to join when they get back to Pahrump in March. We had a drink and gamed a little at the bar, then went back home. At 4:00 we went to the clubhouse happy hour, then about 5:30 we were back at the coach. We had a light dinner then watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, December 24^th, Christmas Eve. We went out about 1:00 for a late lunch and took Millie with us. We went to the Indian restaurant because Jackie had a hankering for Indian food. I always get the pizza, which is the best in Pahrump, and Millie did the same. We had a very nice lunch and both Millie and I had leftover pizza for future lunches. We went back to the coach and relaxed until about 3:30 when I packed up my sound equipment and took it over to the

clubhouse. We are having a Christmas get together and gift exchange and then some karaoke. I had everything up and working by 4:30 and went back to the coach until we went over for the party about 5:30. There were probably 30 or more people there and everyone brought snacks. There was no meal tonight. About 6:30 they did the gift exchange which was similar to the “Chinese Auction” gift swapping, but in this iteration the hostess directed you as to who to swap gifts with. Bottom line is that you likely didn't end up with the first gift you picked out. I ended up with a nice knife set and a pair of men's slippers that a single woman ended up with and didn't need. Jackie ended up with a similar pair of women's slippers. The karaoke started after and I was surprised that we had several people and couples that sang and we had a really good time. We went until 9:00, which is when Security comes around and closes up the clubhouse and had a great time. After the party I left the sound gear in place to pick up tomorrow and we went back to the coach and watched some TV until bedtime.

Saturday, December 25^th, Merry Christmas! I went over to the clubhouse about 9:00 to pack up my equipment and found several people there taking down the Christmas table decorations in preparation for this afternoon's Christmas dinner. I took the equipment back to the coach and put everything away then relaxed for most of the day. Jackie and I just exchange cards for holidays, but we did consider our golf cart our Christmas present to us this year. About 2:00 we went over to the clubhouse for dinner. Like Thanksgiving it was hosted tables and ours was our friend Charlene. At 3:00 we started dinner, our table had ham, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and veggies. We also had a nice cake for dessert. We learned that there were 54 people at the dinner, which is a good turnout for the park. We stayed and ate, then visited until about 5:30, after which we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

We are now a little over three weeks since our last posting. I wanted to run this one through Christmas before I closed it out. We have a little over a week here in Pahrump before we head South to Yuma for a couple of months. Until next time, remember the timeless words of Mark Twain, “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” See ya soon.

At Home in Pahrump - Holiday Activities and some Travel Delays

 Hi there, welcome back. Our last episode concluded on Friday, November 12^th, while we were still at home on our lot in the Escapees RV Park in Pahrump, Nevada. Saturday we left the coach about 12:30 and went out to a late lunch at Terrible's Roadhouse. We wanted to have liver and onions one more time before we left for Yuma. We had a great lunch, and then stayed and gamed for a half hour or so after lunch. After the casino we did a quick Walmart run to get a few things. We also had to stop briefly at Albertsons to get some things Walmart was out of. After shopping we headed back home and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We had planned to go to the Elks for karaoke, but Jackie wasn't feeling well, so we just stayed home and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, November 14^th, we were out early for an 8:00 appointment for Jackie to get an ultrasound exam having to do with the lower abdominal pain she has been having for a month or so. Unfortunately, the order the nurse practitioner that Jackie saw a couple weeks ago ordered an abdominal exam rather than a lower abdominal exam, where the pain is. Jackie went ahead and had the exam anyway since we were there, but I don't think it will show anything to do with the pains she is having. After the exam we stopped and picked up a newspaper and went back home to enjoy the rest of the morning. We stayed home for the rest of the day, going over to the clubhouse for root beer floats at 2:00. I made a pot of chili for dinner, and then we watched TV for the rest of the evening. Monday the crew to do the front yard landscaping arrived at 7:00 and started work. I went out mid-morning to run some errands. I first stopped at the Sheriff's Office to renew my concealed carry permit. This took over an hour because they have changed the policy and now require a complete background check at renewal, including fingerprinting. Because they were busy, this took a while. I finally had my permit, so I finished my errands, including stopping at the Nye County Administration building to drop off an application and resume for a possible appointment to the Nye County Peace Officer Advisory Review Commission. We had seen an ad in the paper for the commission, and I decided I would give it a try. By the time I got home around noon they were just finishing up the yard. It really looks nice and I am glad we had it done. Jackie did have an afternoon doctor's appointment, but they had called and said they reviewed the sonogram from Sunday and decided she needed a CT scan, so they scheduled that for Thursday and said she didn't need to come in today. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing. I did cancel our reservations for next week in Indio, since it is clear we will be delayed leaving while we see what is up with Jackie. Jackie made a big pot of clam chowder, which we will have tomorrow. Chowder always tastes better after resting overnight.

Tuesday, November 16^th, We went out a little before 10:00 to go to Denny's for breakfast. We are not normally breakfast people, but we are having our friend Millie and another woman from the park over tonight for clam chowder and both of them are early eaters, so we didn't want to have our usual lunch and then eat again by 4:30. I spent some time in the afternoon doing chores, which included contacting the RV park in Yuma to see if we could modify our reservations to come in later. They were agreeable and we will now go into Yuma on December 15^th, giving us almost a month here to get Jackie taken care of. Both our guests came over about 4:00 and we served dinner around 4:30. Everyone enjoyed the meal and both ladies were headed home by 5:30. We cleaned up and spent the rest of the evening with the TV. Wednesday Jackie had a 10:30 appointment with her eye doctor to do the one year followup to her cataract surgery. They dilated her eyes and did the exam, telling her that everything looked fine. After her appointment we had lunch at The Tamale Place, which is right next door to her eye doctor. They have the best tamales. After lunch we went back to the park and relaxed for a while. At 1:00 Jackie went to the clubhouse to play Pokeno with some of the women in the park while I did some office work. We went back to the clubhouse at 4:00 for happy hour, then went back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, November 18^th, I went over to the clubhouse about 9:00 for the monthly meeting of Board of Directors for the park. There were no big issues and few complaints, so it was a pretty quiet meeting. It was also the first regular meeting for the newly elected BOD members as well as the “new” president and vice president. I left a little early, during the public comments section, because I had a 10:00 dental appointment. It was just a routine exam and cleaning. I also had them make some minor adjustments to the fitting of my recently renovated partial plates. I was back home by a little after 11:00. about 12:30 we left again and took Jackie to the medical center for her CT scan. She had been drinking a barium contrast mixture and had to take some more when she got to the center. The scan didn't take long and by 1:30 we were at the Pour House having a late lunch. Jackie couldn't have anything to eat or drink before her exam. Jackie had a lamb mango curry dish, I had my usual pizza. We had a great lunch and then went home. We did the 4:00 happy hour at the clubhouse, then came back home and watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, November 19^th, we went out after lunch to run some errands. We went to Walmart and picked up mail and also stopped at the medical center to pick up the results from Jackie's CT scan. Although she has not heard from the doctor yet, the report indicated that, among other things, the scan found what appears to be a gallstone. We'll wait for the doctor of course, but to me that explains Jackie's chronic pain for the last month. The scan also put Jackie's mind at ease a little because it didn't find anything serious, likes tumors. After our errands we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. We went over to the clubhouse at 4:00 for happy hour, then went back to the coach and had leftover pizza for dinner. We watched TV and went to bed. Saturday we went over to Millie's house about 11:30 for a little party. Millie loves to party and the park's RV club, the Lucky Rollers, appointed her the activities director, so she started out with one of her parties. There were a dozen people there and it was a pot luck, so there was lots to eat. We played some games and had some great conversations. Everyone at the party was an Escapee, and most are residents in the park. It was really a fun party and we were home by about 2:30. We relaxed for the rest of the day. Jackie seems to be coming down with a cold of some sort. Poor baby can't catch a break.

Sunday, November 21^st, we were supposed to go down to my brother Russ's house in North Las Vegas this morning to visit with him and his son Russ III and daughter in law Nichole. However, when Jackie woke up she was really sick with something cold or flu like. She didn't have a fever, but she was miserable and we certainly didn't want to go visit anyone with her sick like that. I let my brother know we would not be down and we spent the rest of the day in the house. I did a few chores and played some games and kept Jackie medicated as best I could. Monday Jackie was still feeling poorly. I went out in the late morning and did a Walmart run to pick up some stuff to make some easy meals with, as well as some soups. After I got back we spent the rest of the day around the coach. I did a couple of chores and relaxed while Jackie worked on getting better. Tuesday was a stay at home day as Jackie was still sick. I did go to the clubhouse for happy hour. I made some stuffed peppers for dinner. At least Jackie still has an appetite. After dinner we watched TV until bedtime. Jackie still hasn't heard from her doctor about what is next in her treatment.

Wednesday, November 24^th, we had another stay at home day. Jackie finally did hear from her doctor and learned that she has been referred to a surgical group in Las Vegas to have the gallstone taken care of. When she was contacted by the surgical center they set an appointment for December 8^th. They also said that the actual surgery wouldn't be until after the first of the year. Jackie's initial response was she wanted to put it off until we came back up to Pahrump in April. She didn't want to mess up our winter travel to Yuma any more than it already has been. However, I know that gallstones can cause very serious consequences if they are left unattended and cause an infection, so I talked her out of it. Her health is more important than a trip to Yuma. So it appears we probably won't be going to Yuma until the middle or end of January next year. Other than that I did some chores and went to the clubhouse happy hour at 4:00. Jackie seems to be doing a little better and hopefully will be OK for the Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Thursday, November 25^th, Happy Thanksgiving. We hung around the park today, getting a few chores done in the morning and early afternoon. The park's Thanksgiving dinner was at 3:00, so we skipped lunch. About 2:30 we went over to the clubhouse for the festivities. The Silver Seekers club provided the turkey and then each table, mostly made up of eight people, had to bring all the side dishes for that table. Each table had a “host” who assigned the dishes. We had rolls, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. Our table was all people that we knew, so we had a really good time. Our friend Nancy was our hostess. Dinner was very good and there was plenty of food, enough for seconds and even leftovers after the dinner. Sometimes these RV park dinners don't provide what I consider enough food. By 5:00 we were home and relaxing with the TV, where we spent the rest of the night. Friday was a stay at home day. We didn't need to go shopping for anything on Black Friday and didn't want to be anywhere near a big box store today. At 4:00 we went over to the clubhouse for happy hour, then at 5:00 the Silver Seekers served turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce and chips for anyone who came. After the early dinner we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.

Saturday, November 27^th, we went out a little after noon to have lunch at ChatThai, one of our favorite places to eat here in Pahrump. The food was great and we had a very nice lunch. After lunch we did some shopping, stopping at the hardware store and then Walmart. After Walmart we headed back to the coach. We had happy hour on our own in the coach, then watched TV until it was time for bed. For the most part Sunday was a stay at home day. I went out first thing in the morning for the Sunday paper. After lunch I went out for a quick trip to Walmart to return a pair of pants that I bought yesterday that didn't fit well. We had root beer floats from the clubhouse in the afternoon and just spent the day relaxing.

Monday, November 29^th, I left about 9:30 and drove to the County administration building for an interview regarding the Peace Officer Advisory Review Commission position I recently applied for. The County Manager and Assistant County Manager, as well as an administrator for the county did the interview. It only went about 20 minutes and it was the usual, “why do you want this position” and some dialog on my past experiences. After the interview I went back home and did a few chores and relaxed. I have Jackie's cold now, so neither of us are at 100 percent. At 2:00 we sat outside on the patio for a while during the park's “walk around” event. We did have a couple of visitors and was nice. The weather was perfect for it. At 4:00 we went to the clubhouse for happy hour and then afterwards went back home. We had leftovers for dinner and watched TV until bedtime. Tuesday we stayed at home for most of the day and worked on getting over out colds. Jackie had a brief meeting with the Lot Appraisal Committee to do an appraisal on a lot up for release. This was her first outing with the Committee. The purpose is to inspect a lot to determine if all the improvements on the lot are in good order before the lot is released. Once the approval is given the old member is given their money back and the lot is made available to the next person on the waiting list. About 3:30 we left the coach, picked up Millie, and drove to Romero's Mexican restaurant for a “dine-out” with other members of the park. There were about 20 people at the dine out and we had a very nice time, and very nice, if a little early, dinner. After dinner we dropped Millie off, went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, December 1^st, Jackie went over to the clubhouse in the early afternoon for the weekly Pokeno game. While she was there I went out and did a quick mail run. Other than that, we stayed in for the day. Both of us are finally getting a little better in fighting our colds. We did some burgers for dinner then watched TV until bedtime. Thursday was a busy day with park activities. I had a 10:00 committee meeting and then we had a brown bag lunch at noon with the Silver Seekers group at the clubhouse. At 1:00 the Silver Seekers had their monthly meeting and at 2:30 there was a park Town Hall meeting. After the town hall meeting we did a quick run to Walmart for some supplies. We mostly needed some vodka since our Costco supply has run out. We were supposed to have been in Indio last week and had planned to go to Costco then. Now we won't be in Vegas until the 8^th for Jackie's doctor appointment. Yikes, had to pay retail price! After Walmart we went back home, went to the clubhouse for happy hour, then back home for dinner. After dinner we watched some TV and went to bed.

It has now been about three weeks since we posted, so it is time to close out this episode and get it online. Until next time, ponder the words of the brilliant Albert Einstein. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” See ya soon.

At Home in Pahrump - A Trip to Las Vegas & Busy Around the Park

Hello again. Our last episode concluded on Friday, October 22^nd, when we arrived back in Pahrump after a five day outing in Arizona with our camping club. Saturday we started getting ready for our trip tomorrow to Las Vegas. Jackie life long friend Helen Reilly is coming to Las Vegas tomorrow and staying at the Mandalay Bay Casino. She is considered a high roller by the casino and they always comp her a suite and all meals when she comes. She normally comes out on her birthday, which is late October and in February for the Super Bowl. She has invited us to stay with her on several occasions and we are looking forward to three nights of fun in Las Vegas. We did some packing in the morning and I finished work on getting the motorhome settled back into our spot. After lunch we went to the nail salon so Jackie could get a pedi. I also got my toes clipped. After the nail salon we went to the UPS store to pick up our mail, which included the new step assembly for the coach that I ordered on Amazon. We stopped at the bank for some cash, then headed back to the park. We spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up getting ready to leave tomorrow. We did some pork chops on the BBQ for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, October 24^th, we left Pahrump around 2:30 and headed over the hump to Vegas. We arrived at the Mandalay Bay Resort about 3:45 and waited for Helen to arrive. Her flight from Los Angeles, where she had been visiting family, was delayed. We had a tough time getting into the parking garage for the resort. Alligient Stadium, where the Las Vegas Raiders play, is right across the freeway from the Mandalay Bay and today the Raiders were playing at home. Half the streets around the area were blocked off and traffic was a nightmare. We finally found a way into the garage and got parked. By 4:30 Helen arrived, checked in and we went up to the room. As in the past she got a nice two bedroom suite that overlooked the airport and some of the Vegas Strip. We had some cocktails and snacks and talked for a while before going down to the casino for the evening. Neither Jackie nor I had much luck, but we had fun and lots of cocktails as we were mostly playing at one of the bars. By 10:30 we were done and went back up to the room, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Monday, October 25^th, we relaxed in the room most of the morning, finally going down to the casino for lunch about noon. We had lunch in the Sea Breeze Cafe, one of the many casino restaurants. Helen doesn't normally eat lunch, so she went to gamble while we ate. Jackie had breakfast and I had a chicken sandwich for lunch. As with all the food, our lunch was comped by the casino. After lunch we went to the casino floor and spent the rest of the day gambling. I did walk around the indoor shopping mall between the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor casinos for a while when I got tired of playing. For dinner we went to one of the resort restaurants called House of Blues, a Louisiana themed place. Helen and I both had the baby back ribs and they were excellent. Jackie had jambalaya. We actually had leftovers that I took up to the room and put in the mini fridge. We went back to gaming and played until about 11:00 or so, after which Jackie and I went up to the room and went to bed.

Tuesday, October 26^th, our morning routine was the same as yesterday. Again, around noon, we went down to the casino and had lunch, this time going to a cafe called Citizen's. This one had a sort of urban city motif. I had a beef dip sandwich which was probably the best I have ever had. Jackie had fish tacos which she said were also very good. After lunch we joined up with Helen and spent the rest of the afternoon gaming. For dinner we ended up in the French themed restaurant called Fleur. We had wanted to go to the Italian place, Lupo's, but we couldn't get in. We barely got into Fleur because there was a convention of gastroenterologists in the casino conference center and the resort was jammed. The food at Fleur was mediocre at best, and extremely expensive. It was a good thing the nearly $400 meal was comped. I had a Maine lobster tail which was very small, probably three ounces at best and had to get a $13 bowl of mashed potatoes because it came on the plate with nothing. It didn't even taste like lobster. Jackie had a little piece of Halibut and a side order of brussle sprouts. Helen had roasted chicken, which was the only dish with a reasonable amount of food. Would not recommend Fleur even if you could afford it. After dinner we gamed again until about 10:30, then went up to the room and to bed..

Wednesday, October 27^th, we did our usual morning routine, then went down to the casino for a last lunch. Today is the day we leave and head back to Pahrump. Today Helen went to lunch with us since she is staying tonight and leaving early Thursday morning to fly back to Massachusetts. We went to House of Blues again and had another great lunch. We had packed our stuff before going to lunch, so after we ate we said goodbye to Helen and thanked her for the great weekend. She went off to game some more and we went up to the room, picked up our bags, and headed for the car. One nice point is that all the big casinos are now charging for parking in their garages, but the MGM Group, which owns Mandalay Bay, provides free parking for veterans. Yea! Saved $45 for the three nights of parking. On the way back home we stopped at a Great Clips so Jackie could get a haircut, but we were still back in Pahrump by 4:00. We had leftovers from Monday night for dinner, watched some TV and went to sleep in our own bed.

Thursday, October 28^th, the RV repair technicians arrived early, about 8:00, to take care of some issues. Today they were supposed to install new faucets in the shower and vanity and install a new toilet. They couldn't do the toilet because they needed an adapter for the newer toilet and had to order it. They got the faucets installed in a couple of hours and left. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing chores. I finished putting Jackie's bike together and she rode it briefly. It will take her some time to get used to it. Our friend Len came over about 1:30 and we played guitars in the shed for a couple of hours. We had happy hour with Millie and another friend, Jane, who also lives here in the park. After happy hour we had dinner, then watched TV until bedtime. Friday, October 29^th, we left the coach after lunch to take Jackie to the doctor. She has been experiencing lower stomach pains for the last month or so and decided to go to the doctor. We couldn't get into our regular doctor until next year, but she got an appointment with a Nurse Practitioner for this afternoon. She examined her but was unsure of the cause without some tests, so she scheduled her for an ultrasound of the belly next week. This is very similar to an issue she had back in the 2013 in the summer. Very similar symptoms and in that case she had every test under the sun and a cause never was determined. It just went away on its own in about four months. After the doctor we went to Walmart for some supplies, then headed back home. We stayed in the rest of the evening with the TV.

Saturday, October 30^th, we were up early and on the road by a little after 9:00, headed north about 70 miles to Beatty, Nevada, for Beatty days. Beatty is a town of about a thousand in the Nevada desert, 120 miles North of Las Vegas and 90 miles South of Tonopah. It was founded in early 1900's to support the many gold and silver mines in South central Nevada. Unlike many of the many other mining towns in the area, Beatty survived because it was about half way between the big population centers of Las Vegas and Tonopah and on the main route between the towns. Every fall they celebrate Beatty Days with a weekend long fair. We had been up here in 2007 for the festival, when we were first establishing our selves as Nevada residents and enjoyed ourselves, so when we saw it advertised in the paper we decided to go back again. We got there about 10:30, just in time to watch the last half of the parade through town. We then got a parking place and spent a couple of hours walking around, looking at booths and also a pretty decent car show at the city park. We went to a local cafe for lunch, and it was good. After lunch we went back to the

park for the bed races, which was what we remembered most from the last time we were here. It is run by teenagers, for the most part, because they have to push a large, steel framed hospital bed on casters, down a full city block. The race starts when the kids make the bed with at least a top and bottom sheet, one of the kids puts on a hospital gown, and then they push it down the block. When they get to the end, which was where we were standing, they have to change “patients” with one of the other kids putting on the gown, change the bed sheets, then push the bed and patient back up to the start line. It is a slight up hill on the way back and you can see the kids start to fade about half way back. Unfortunately this year they only had two participants. In 07 they had a half dozen. I guess kids now have too much other stuff to do. It was still fun to watch. After the bed races we went back to the car and did a couple of geocaches in town, then we started back towards Pahrump. We made it back home around 3:00 and spent the rest of the day relaxing. We spent the evening with the TV and went to bed.

Sunday, October 31^st, Happy Halloween. Today was a stay at home day except for going out first thing in the morning for the Sunday paper. After lunch I tackled the repair of the lock on the front door of the coach. About three weeks ago the latch on the outside of the door broke and would no longer unlatch the door. Fortunately when it happened one of the living windows was open so I was able to climb in through the window and open the door from the inside. I disconnected the two latches which meant the only way to keep the door closed was to use the dead bolt. I contacted REV parts, which took over for Monaco when REV bought the company, to get the part, which was the entire outside door handle assembly, and for a mere $170 had the part shipped to me. I was waiting for the RV tech guys to come out to fix it, but I decided that I could try it on my own. It turned out to be easier than I thought in a less than two hours it was fixed and all put back together. Yea! Saved a couple hundred bucks. We went over to the clubhouse about 4:30 for a Halloween party. The park provided pizza and snacks for dinner and there was music and some karaoke. It was actually a fun party and there were probably 40 people there, most with some sort of costume. The party broke up around 7:00 and we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, November 1^st, we left the coach about noon and went out to have lunch before heading off to the laundromat to do laundry. We first drove to a new Mexican restaurant that recently opened in the Northwest part of the valley, however, when we got there we found it was closed. Turns out they are closed on Mondays. We then went to Romero's Mexican near downtown for lunch. Romero's used to be our go to Mexican place, but for some reason we got out of the habit and hadn't been there for six years or so. We had a great lunch, the food was quite good, as was the service. Not sure why we stopped coming, but we will be back. After lunch we went to laundromat and did our laundry. After a couple of hours we were done. We went to the UPS store to pick up mail, then headed home. After we got the clothes put away and the bed made we relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening. Tuesday we went out about 1:30 and both of us went to the dermatologist for our annual checkups. I had a few things I was concerned about, but he checked me over pretty good and didn't find anything too concerning. He did use the liquid CO2 freezing agent on a dozen different little spots, but didn't find anything that needed further action. He also checked Jackie over and didn't find anything concerning. She also got a spot frozen, the first time for her. After we were done we went back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the day. We had cocktails at 5:00 on the patio and Millie, as well as our neighbor Evelyn and our friend Jane, came over for a while. Jane has a spot here at the park and Evelyn is on the list to get in. After they left we went in the house, had steaks on the BBQ for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, 3^rd, I left the park about 11:30 and went to the dentist to have a tooth extracted and some work done on my partial plates. I had gone to the dentist here in Pahrump back September when we first got back here for a cleaning and he found several issues that needed to be taken care of. I had an appointment to start the work in early October, but the doctor had to cancel the appointment because of a family emergency. When they finally rescheduled I couldn't get in until today. This would also be the first dental work, outside of the cleaning, that I have had done by a U.S. dentist in probably ten years. We always went to Algodones, Mexico, outside of Yuma, for our dental work because we had no insurance. Medicare doesn't cover dental. However, the new insurance I have through my Arizona State Retirement System pensions includes dental, so the cost ends up about the same. I had to have the remains of a upper tooth removed, basically just the two roots. At the September appointment the xrays showed that one of the roots had cracked and split, weakening the tooth. That tooth already had a root canal done and a crown installed, so it didn't hurt. As a matter of fact, the tooth itself broke off a couple weeks ago, leaving only the roots in my mouth and, since there was no pain, I just left it be. Before the doctor took out the roots the assistant did a bunch of mouth molds so they could rebuild my two partials after the tooth was removed. These partials are at least 15 years old, maybe even longer, and have been modified a couple of times over the years. Then the doc came in, gave me some shots, and pulled out the two roots, which were really quite small. By 1:30 I was done and on my way home. I had a small infection in the root area, so the doc gave me a prescription for antibiotics. About 3:30 I left home again and went to pick up the prescription and go to Walmart for some soft food to eat for the next week. They had to keep the partials, so I don't have much in the way of chewing surface, so I have to go soft until next Wednesday when I go back for my partials. I also couldn't have alcohol for 48 hours, so happy hour was kind of a bummer. The good thing is when I went to bed the anesthetic had worn off and I only had very minor soreness, no pain.

Thursday, November 4^th, was a stay at home day. We got a few chores done and relaxed for the entire day. Millie came over for cocktails and after cocktails we had a light dinner (soft of course) and then watched TV until bedtime. Friday was the first day of the Welcome Home Rally here at the park. They call it a rally, but it is just the activities they put on around the Annual Meeting of the Co-op, which is always in early November. Like all community organizations, the park has to have an official annual meeting to elect board members, adopt a budget and some other legal niceties. We went over to the clubhouse about 12:30 for the Bingo. I actually won $9 in one game, which had three winners. Since I only paid $6 for the packet of cards I ended up ahead. It was a good time and we finished around 3:00 or so. We went back to the coach for a while, then around 4:30 went back over to the clubhouse for dinner. Tonight was lasagna, salad and bread, which was quite tasty. The lasagna was Costco, the same as we normally buy for ourselves. After dinner they gave away some door prizes and Jackie won a nice wine basket. They had some music and dancing and we finally left around 7:00. We went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, November 6^th, we up, dressed and on our way to the clubhouse by 8:45 A.M for the annual meeting of the Co-op. The meeting went for a little over an hour and was pretty mild. Only a few public comments, the announcement of the new members of the Board of Directors, adoption of the budget and we were done. We went through the room where the silent auction items on display and updated the bids on a couple of things we are going for. The silent auction is an annual fund raising event for the Silver Seekers, which is the club that takes care of the clubhouse and arranges for most of the activities and entertainment. Over the year people donate items to the club and then on the weekend of the annual meeting they put the items out and people bid on them. Last year the auction had some controversy in that one person was apparently allowed to come in at the last minute and buy up most of the stuff. The Silver Seekers board at the time didn't seem to care much since they got the money regardless of who won the bid, but a lot of people who were bidding on stuff, including us, were a little pissed that it took all the fun out of the process. That didn't seem to be a problem this year. We went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day, then went back to the clubhouse at 4:30 for another dinner. This time it was BBQ, either pulled pork or chicken, with beans and potato salad. It was OK, but not as good as last night's dinner. After dinner they had some more door prizes and the 50-50 drawing, neither of which were we drawn for. They then had a three piece country band called “Ear Candy” who played for a couple of hours. They were pretty good and kept the volume down to a reasonable level, but we still left at the first break. We went back to the coach, watched some TV and then went to bed.

Sunday, November 7^th, I got the Sunday paper in the morning, which was delayed by an hour thanks to the change in daylight savings time. I went out in the morning to take down all the lights and decorations in our front yard because sometime this week we hope the landscapers will show up to do the beautification project we contracted with them to do. After lunch we went to the clubhouse for root beer floats and then I had a brief meeting of one of the committees I serve on, the By Laws and Rules Committee. After everything was done at the clubhouse we left the park to do a Walmart run. By the time we left Walmart a little after 4:00 and started home it was already getting dark. By 5:00 happy hour the sun was down and the lights on our patio were on. We still went outside because it was nice and we were joined by our neighbors on either side, Barbara and Evelyn. After cocktails we went in and had dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, November 8^th, we left the coach a little after 11:00, picked up Millie, and headed to the Mountain Falls Country Club for the monthly dine-out with the Lucky Rollers, which is the camping club here at the Escapees park. There were probably 30 or more people at the lunch, more than we have had in a while. We had a nice lunch, after which we went back to the park and into the clubhouse for a business meeting of the club. After the meeting was over the three of us left again to run some errands. We went into town to the Dollar Tree, then went to the jewelers where Jackie had dropped off her big diamond ring last Spring to be put on consignment. Since we hadn't heard from the jeweler we assumed it hadn't sold, but when Jackie went in she learned he had sold it and, after the fee, she got $5,600. Yea! That will go a long way to paying for some of the repairs we have been making to the motorhome. We then made a stop at Goodwill, mostly because Millie wanted to shop there, but I ended up getting a really cool looking three foot Christmas tree to use as an outside decoration this year in Yuma. The tree is bright purple with white lights and will look great outside. After all our errands we went back to the park, dropped Millie off and relaxed for a while. At 4:00 we did happy hour at the clubhouse. We decided that since it is now dark at 5:00 we would start most days at 4:00. We had a nice visit, after which we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, November 9^th, the glass company from Las Vegas arrived about 8:30 to replace the driver's half of the windshield on the coach. During our summer travels we got a second, larger crack in that section, so I contacted the insurance company to get it fixed. We have no deductible on our windshield coverage, so it was no cost to us. They guys from Simpson Glass were good, they had the old one out and the new one finished in a couple of hours. After lunch we went over to the clubhouse to help with moving in some new, round tables and also taking the older, oblong tables to the storage area. Once we were done with that we went out to run some errands. We stopped at the bank and deposited the money we got for Jackie's ring, then we went to Walgreens to get our annual flu shots. We got there before our appointment time, but they got us right in. We will get the Covid booster next week or when we get to Yuma. After our shots we headed back to the coach. At 4:00 we went to the clubhouse happy hour again and stayed there until about 5:30, after which we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, November 10, Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps! We had a busy day today. I had a meeting at 10:00 of one of the committees I serve on here at the park. After that meeting I came back to the coach and had lunch. Jackie went over to the clubhouse at 1:00 to play Pokeno with some of the other members. I didn't go because I had to leave about 1:30 to go to the dentist. I wasn't there too long because the only thing they were doing today was giving me back my refurbished dentures, which they fitted and adjusted. After the dentist I ran some more errands. I first went to the Sheriff's Office to turn in my paperwork to renew my CCW permit. It turns out that their computers were down, so I have to come back next week. I then went to pick up mail and did a quick Walmart run. On the way back home I stopped and picked up some KFC for an early dinner. We ate early because at 6:00 we went back over to the clubhouse for an evening performance of a band called Status Crowes. They are a couple who are full timers and Escapees and are staying in the park for a week or so. They have also put their names on the list to get a lot here. They are members of the Escapers group, which is mainly the younger Escapees who may still be working, at least part time and/or remotely. They put on a two hour show and were well received. The park has recently got a number of new members who are a little younger than the current demographic, so I look forward to more activities like this in the park in the future. At 8:00 the show was over and we went back to the coach where we watched some TV and went to bed.

Thursday, November 11^th, Happy Veterans Day. We got up and out early, a little before 9:00, to go to another meeting at the clubhouse. This was a meeting of the board for the Silver Seekers, the committee that takes care of the clubhouse. After the meeting we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. After lunch we went back to the clubhouse for the monthly town hall meeting, which is an informal meeting held to give members a voice regarding goings on at the park. After that meeting we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the day doing chores and relaxing. We had leftovers for dinner, watched TV and then went to bed. Friday I was out at 9:00 for another meeting, this time the Safety and Security Committee. This is the committee that does evening patrols of the park and locks everything up for the night. They have other duties related to looking for issues in the park. This was a short meeting and I went back afterwards so Jackie could go to a 10:00 meeting of the Lot Appraisal Committee. This is the committee that puts the lease value on a lot when a member gives up the lot back to the Co-op. The reason we are having all these meetings is that the Board of Directors changes at the Annual Meeting in November and all of the committees are reestablished at that time and have to have organizational meetings. While Jackie was at her meeting the RV tech arrived and installed the new toilet and the new entry steps on the coach. This is the last of the big jobs that came up over the summer, so now the coach is ready to travel again. When the tech was finished we went out for a late lunch at a new Mexican place called 5280 Mexican. We had tried to go a couple weeks ago, but it had been closed then. It is an old bar and the new people didn't do much to change the atmosphere. It still is mostly bar, with bar top slot machines, a couple of stages, pool tables, and some restaurant tables in the open areas. The couple that owns the business used to run a food truck in Las Vegas and decided to come up to Pahrump and open a fixed operation. The menu was not real extensive, but what we got was excellent. Both the food and service were great and we will be back later in the year. After lunch we stopped and picked up mail, then went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the day. We went to happy hour at the clubhouse at 4:00, then went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

We are now three weeks into this episode and it is time to get it published. We have another ten days or so here in Pahrump before we start South to Yuma. Until next time, remember the words of comedian Woody Allen. “You can live to be a hundred if you give up all things that make you want to live to be a hundred.” See ya soon.

At Home in Pahrump - Fun With a Couple of Rallies

Hi there, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Saturday, October 1^st, as we were finally enjoying moderate weather at our home RV lot in Pahrump, Nevada. Sunday was primarily a stay at home and relax day. I got the Sunday paper in the morning and we went to clubhouse in the afternoon for the root beer floats, but other than that we stayed home. I got a few small chores done and mostly relaxed.

Monday, October 3^rd, was the first day of a rally of the FMCA Beat The Odds Chapter being held at the Pahrump Nugget Casino and the Preferred RV park across the street. This chapter only has two rallies a year, a February rally in Laughlin and an October rally, usually in Pahrump. Because we are usually in Yuma in February we generally only make the October rally. The last few years we have already been in Pahrump in October, the last two years at our own lot, so we attend the rally and the events without taking the coach over to the rally RV park. We left the coach about 10:00 and drove over to Preferred for the registration and initial greeting. We know most of the people attending the rally at least a little bit, although there were a few new people. We did our registration stuff and sat and talked for an hour or so before heading out and running a couple of errands. We went back to the coach for lunch and relaxed a while before going back to Preferred about 4:30 for the rally happy hour meet and greet. We stayed a couple of hours, until it started to get dark, then we headed back to our coach for dinner. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Tuesday, October 4^th, we were up early and on our way to the Nugget Casino before 9:00. Today is the rally slot tournament, which is the primary reason the chapter has rallies. Every rally has a slot tournament with a $50 a person buy in, which provides for some pretty decent prize money. Every player gets two five minute sessions, which are usually about an hour apart. I had some pretty decent scores, as did Jackie, but there are 27 players, so who knows. After we did our sessions we went back to our coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. I did some office work in the afternoon. We had a nice pork roast for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed. Wednesday was the last day of the rally. We left the coach and drove to Preferred RV Resort about noon where we joined most of the group in a Bunco tournament. Bunco has always been a tradition with this group and we were all disappointed last year when the Covid restrictions were such that we couldn't have any indoor group activities. I did very poorly in Bunco this year, only 3 wins and 15 losses in the 18 games we played. I also had no Buncos. After Bunco we went back to the coach and relaxed for a couple hours before changing clothes and heading back to the Pahrump Nugget Casino for the banquet at 5:00. We had cocktails then a pretty nice buffet dinner. At 7:00 they started to give away prizes. I did win $5 for having the worst record in the Bunco tournament. Both Jackie and I were just under the numbers needed to win any money in the slot tournament. Oh well, we had fun. After the banquet we played a little at the casino, then headed back home. We watched a little TV and went to bed.

Thursday, October 7^th, was a stay at home day. Around 10:00 I had a contractor come by to get the information to give us a bid on some landscaping work we want for our front yard area. Jackie had a meeting in the clubhouse at the same time. About 1:00 our friend Len came over and the two of us did an hour and a half of guitar practice out in the shed. Jackie went to the clubhouse for another meeting at the same time. After all the busy work was finished we just relaxed for the rest of the day and evening. Friday we woke up to wind and a threat of rain. We decided to do another stay at home day. We did some chores and played some games. For dinner we did some fish and sweet potatoes. After dinner we watched some TV and went to bed.

Saturday, October 9^th, my brother Russ and his wife Zen drove up from Las Vegas, where they live. They arrived about 12:30 and about 1:30 or so we had a late lunch. Jackie had made a cashew chicken oriental casserole which was very good. After dinner we sat and talked, catching up since the last time we saw them, which was at the end of August when we came back from our summer travels. They left around 4:30, we had cocktails at 5:00 and then relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening. Sunday I went out in the morning for the Sunday paper and then around 10:30 I went out to one of the local shooting ranges to do my annual qualification shoot for my Federal concealed carry permit. That took a couple hours after which I went back home and we stayed in for the rest of the day. We did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, October 11^th, a cold front moved in and we had overcast skies, brisk winds and cool temps. The RV repair guys arrived about 10:00 to replace the kitchen faucet and just as much trouble getting the old one out as the last guys did. In the end they disassembled the faucet on top and ended up pushing it down through the hole after basically destroying the thing. After that it took all of ten minutes to install the new one, but the total time was an hour and a half. At least we now have a kitchen faucet that works. At 1:00 we went to the clubhouse for a meeting of the Escapees Chapter, the Lucky Rollers. Most of the conversation was about next weeks outing to Golden Valley, a small community west of Kingman, Arizona. We will be going down this coming Sunday and coming back on Friday. After the meeting we went back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the day and evening. We were going to have steaks for dinner, but the wind was blowing so bad the dust was terrible, so we went with something we could cook inside. After dinner we watched TV and then went to bed. Tuesday was still cold a blustery, so we had another mostly stay at home day. We did go out after lunch to pick up our mail. We needed to do that because a part I need to fix our leaky toilet was waiting to be picked up. I want to fix the potty tomorrow. After we got back to the park we just stayed in for the rest of the day. We did our steaks on the BBQ for dinner, then watched some TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, October 13^th, Jackie went over to the clubhouse about 11:30 for a ladies lunch and a show from a local group of dancers. While she was gone I took the toilet apart and after two hours of messing around with it I learned that the part I got from Amazon would not work. I ended up putting the toilet back together, still not holding water, so we could at least use it. After Jackie got back from her show we drove to the UPS store again, this time to pick up the three wheel bike that she had ordered. The box was pretty big, but it fit in the car, so we got it home. After picking up our mail we drove to the Wild West RV Supply store, run by the same people who have done the last repairs on the coach. I was fed up with constantly fixing our 16 year old toilet and we bought a new toilet and made arrangements for the Wild West guys to install it in a couple weeks. We then went back home, unloaded the bike in a box and spent the rest of the day relaxing. 

Thursday I went out after coffee and the morning news and started working on the bike. It has been a long time since I put a bike together, and being made in China the instructions were sometimes a little less than crystal clear. I got a big chunk of the assembly done before lunch. After lunch I worked a little more, then our friend Len came over for our weekly guitar practice session. We had a good time and went a couple of hours. After Len left I spent another hour or so on the bike before quitting for the day. I still have some work to do, including hooking up the brakes and shifter and a few add-ons like the basket and the reflectors. We had cocktails at 5:00 with our friend Millie who came home yesterday from her month long travel adventure. Since her husband Dick died in January she has sold her motorhome and bought a semi-permanent trailer for her lot, but she still wanted to travel. So she did, doing car camping all over the Northwest for a month. She told us some stories from her travels and it was good having our friend back home again. After Millie went home we had dinner, then spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Friday, October 15^th, we left the coach about 11:30 and went to lunch at a Mexican taquaria that we have been wanting to try, Rubacaba's Taco Shop. The food was generally tasty and plentiful, but seemed to be a little “thrown together.” Everything was warm at best, not hot, and there were no real choices for sauces since the salsa bar was closed down. We will probably go back at some point, because the food was pretty good. After lunch we went to the laundromat and did our laundry. While the clothes were drying I drove to the office of the landscaping contractor we had bid on our beautification project and dropped off the deposit check so they could start work next month. They assure us it will be done before we leave to go to Yuma. After laundry we went to Walmart for some supplies and stopped at the UPS store to pick up mail. We are trying to get all our errands done today because on Sunday we are leaving with the coach to go Golden Valley in Northern Arizona with the Escapees Chapter here at the park. Tomorrow we have to do a lot of prep work in and around the coach. After our errands we headed back to the park, put away our clothes and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Saturday, October 16^th, was a stay at home day. I spent a couple of hours prepping the coach for our five day outing starting tomorrow. I needed to do some maintenance checks and load a few things, although we are not taking a lot of stuff with us for just five days. Jackie did some chores inside the coach while I was working outside. We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening in the coach. Sunday was another travel day, after a month and a half parked. We didn't have to leave early because the trip was only 160 miles or so and we were told by the park that we couldn't check in until after 2:00. We pulled out of our spot a little after 11:00 and had to to stop at the equipment shed in the park so I could put some air in the coach's tires. We were finally on the road about 11:30. We pulled the hill over the Spring Mountains (the Hump) without overheating, even while pulling the car. We also found that the 25 mile trip across the Las Vegas Valley was easy as there wasn't too much traffic. The stress really started on the straight, open road in Arizona from the Colorado River crossing all the way to Golden Valley. The wind was blowing a steady 25 MPH with gusts to probably 35 or 40 and it was hitting directly on the side of the coach. I had to slow down and hang on, but we made it safely to the Tradewinds RV park in Golden Valley, Arizona by 3:00. My brother Ken and his wife Susan were already parked and set up, having come in only from Kingman this morning. They are Escapees also and are getting close to retiring and going full time like us. We asked them if they wanted to come to this outing and they were excited to be able to. After we got parked and set up we had cocktails with Ken and Susan and caught up with them. It's been over a year since we have actually seen them, although we do stay in touch. After they left we had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, October 18^th, the first day of the rally. We still had really high winds and most of the group, that was supposed to come in early this afternoon, were running late. A couple of people even canceled on the rally. We went out about noon and drove into Kingman for lunch at the Cracker Barrel restaurant. After lunch we did one geocache just to be sure we got one, then headed back to the RV park. We did drive by the Elks Lodge, where we are going tomorrow night for dinner, to be sure we knew where it was. We were here about three years ago and once we saw the lodge we remembered visiting it. We chatted a bit with a couple of the people who had come in early. Most of the people finally made it in around 4:00 or so, but because people had to get set up and stuff, the evening happy hour gathering was put off for tonight. We did visit with some of the group for a little while before going back to the coach. We visited with Ken and Susan for a little while, then went to our coach where we spent the night with the TV.

Tuesday, October 19^th, we again left around noon and stopped at a little Mexican place in Golden Valley called El Rancho for lunch. The food was pretty good, although it could have been a little hotter. After lunch we did some caching on the way to, and in, Kingman, getting six new finds. After caching we went back to the RV park and relaxed for a little while. Around 4:00 the group car pooled and caravaned to the Elks Lodge. We were the leaders since I knew where it was. We all got there about 4:30, got everyone who wasn't an Elk signed in, and the group had happy hour there. The Elks staff was really good, no issues with so many guest non-Elks and they came around and took everyone's orders for dinner, which was Taco Tuesday fare. The group was done and ready to leave a little after 6:30 and we all headed back to the RV park. Ken and Susan came over and visited with us in our coach until about 8:30, after which we watched some TV and then went to bed.

Wednesday, October 20^th, we went to the group area after lunch and spent the afternoon with the club. We spent some time just sitting and talking and also played Pokeno for a couple of hours. At 4:00 they had happy hour and at 5:00 did hamburgers for dinner. After dinner we sat and talked for a little while until it got too chilly and we went back to our coach. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV. Thursday, the last full day of the rally, we also stayed around camp all day. We went down to the group area about 12:30 and sat and visited for a while. The group then played some more Pokeno which was fun. Around 3:00 they quit the game and held a brief business meeting of the Chapter. After that they gave away door prizes and had the drawings for the “brown bag” giveaway. The door prizes were gift cards provided by the Chapter, the brown bag items were provided by the attendees. The Chapter sold tickets for both drawings, as well as a 50-50 drawing, during the rally. Jackie and I did OK, both of us had two tickets drawn for the brown bag drawing and both won one of the gift cards in the door prize drawings. We got some towels, a camping wind chime, and a motion light. Jackie got an Amazon gift card and I got one for Dairy Queen. We didn't get the 50-50 prize, but Susan did and got $65. Yea! After all the business was taken care of everyone just sat and talked until the pizza the club provided for dinner was brought in. We had a nice dinner and stayed and talked until it started getting dark. We went back to our coach and Ken and Susan came over and visited until about 8:00. After they left we watched some TV and went to bed.

Friday, October 22^nd, was another travel day. The winds today were much lighter and we started the 160 mile trip back to Pahrump around 10:30. We made a fuel stop and still got into Pahrump and back into our spot by about 2:00. We spent a couple of hours getting set up, then just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

We are now about three weeks into this episode and it is time to get it published. Until next time, remember the words of humorist Will Rogers. “Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don't want..to impress people that they don't like.” See ya soon.