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.

At Home in Pahrump - Summer is Finally Fading

Hello again. Our last chapter concluded on Thursday, September 9^th, while we were parked at home on our lot in Pahrump. Friday we left the coach about 1:00 and drove to Desert View Hospital here in Pahrump so Jackie could get her annual mammogram. After she was finished we stopped at the Gold Town Casino to game a little. We both lost our small stake and decided to quit for the day. We went back home and spent the rest of the day inside. We did some chicken on the BBQ for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, September 11^th, officially Patriot Day and certainly a day to remember. In 2001 we were still living in our house in Indio and, being a Tuesday it was a work day. Jackie generally got up a little after 6:00 a.m., had a cup of coffee and then woke me up about 6:30 so we could be on the road work by 7:15. Of course, when she turned on the news the second plane had just hit and she knew it wasn't just a tragic accident. She woke me up and we got ready for working watching the news and watching as news of the Pentagon strike broke as well. At that time I was the manager of a large homeowners association in Cathedral City, California and Jackie worked for another company in an office just a couple miles away. That allowed us to carpool to work most days. Needless to say, not much work was done that day as I and the rest of the office staff were glued to the TV sets. We has a fairly quiet day, watching some of the remembrance ceremonies on TV in the morning, then going out for a late lunch at one of the casino restaurants. Terrible's Roadhouse has the best liver and onions anywhere. After lunch we did a Walmart run, then went back to the coach until around 5:00 when we left to go to the Elks for karaoke. Our friends Tom and Phyllis were there, as well as our friends Len and Debbie. This is the first time we have seen Len and Debbie as Len just had a hip replaced and is just now getting up and around and able to drive. We had a good night as there was a small crowd, which meant more singing. We all got five songs in. Yea! After karaoke ended at 9:00 we went home, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Sunday, September 12^th, we had a stay at home day. I did go out and get a newspaper first thing in the morning, but after our morning paper and coffee we just stayed home, did a few chores and relaxed for the entire day. Monday we left the coach about 11:00 and went to the Mountain Falls Country Club restaurant for the monthly lunch with the local Escapees Chapter, Chapter 14, the Lucky Rollers. This is the only Escapees Chapter in the State of Nevada, and is not technically affiliated with the Pair-a-dice RV Co-op. Most of the local members are residents in the park, but we do have a few that just live in Pahrump and are Escapees. There were a couple dozen people at the “dine out” today and we sat with some people we knew a little, but got to know better at lunch. We had a nice meal, although the food quality at Mountain Falls is not what is used to be. I think the chapter is considering finding a different location for the monthly lunches. After lunch we drove back the park and went to the clubhouse for a business meeting of the chapter. The main topic of conversation was where the club was going to go for their October camp out. The club tries to do a Spring and Fall camp out somewhere in the near Southwest, within 200 miles of Pahrump. The members finally settled on Golden Valley, outside of Kingman in Arizona and Jackie and I ended up as wagon masters for the rally. It's been a while since we put on a rally, but we will give it a go. After the meeting we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, September 14^th, we left the coach after lunch and went to the laundromat to do our laundry. It has been a little over three weeks, so we had a lot of clothes. By 3:30 we were done and had the clean clothes loaded in the car. We ran by the car wash and got the car cleaned as well, then headed home. We put everything away and, after cocktails, had a nice corn beef and cabbage dinner. I had been cooking a corn beef in the crock pot all day. After dinner we watched TV and then went to bed. Wednesday was a stay at home day. I did some outside chores in the morning, continuing to decorate our lot. About 10:00 I got a call from a delivery service that they were on their way to the park with the new air conditioners I ordered. The truck, a full size tractor trailer rig, arrived about 20 minutes later. The driver was very nice and I was shocked when he opened the truck and the only thing in the 45 foot enclosed trailer was a pallet with my two A/C's stacked on it. I asked him about it and he told me that he was the contracted Pahrump delivery guy for several national trucking lines. Early in the morning he drives into Las Vegas, goes to the various terminals to pick up large items that need to go to Pahrump. He then drives back up, does his deliveries and goes home. He said today was a light day and mine was the last delivery for today. He helped me get the boxes, which are about 130 pounds each, into the enclosed part of our patio, and then left. We spent the rest of the day doing some chores and just relaxing. We had cocktails at 5:00 and then left over corn beef for dinner. After dinner we watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, September 16^th, I went out about noon with Tom Howell to play some golf. This was the first time I had played since were in Yuma in April. We went to Lake View Executive course, an 18 hole par 3 course located near the center of Pahrump. The course was in pretty rough shape, but 18 holes including a cart was only $20, so it was a great place to practice. I did about as well as I ever do and had a great time. We got tired toward the end and only played 15 holes, but it was still fun. After I got home we just relaxed for the rest of the day and evening. Friday we had a few clouds and a little cooler temps. We left the coach after lunch and went out to run some errands. We stopped at the bank, then picked up mail, then did a Walmart run. After finishing our errands we went back to the park and stayed in for the rest of the day. We had cocktails and dinner, then watched some TV before going to bed.

Saturday, September 18^th, we went out for a late lunch about 1:00 to a Thai restaurant nearby that we have been wanting to try. It gets good reviews on Yelp, but up until recently was only open for take out orders. The food was very good with large portions. The service was also good, although the server was a little too talkative. The only disappointment was that they didn't have any beer available. We left full and went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. About 5:00 Phyllis Howell arrived to pick up Jackie to go to the Ms. Senior Golden Years pageant at the Saddle West Casino. This is an annual event here in town, although they didn't do it last year because of Covid. Debbie Forrest was also going to be there so it was a girl's night out for Jackie. I headed to the Elks for karaoke and was joined there by Len Forrest. Phyllis's husband Tom went with her to the pageant. It was a small crowd again and we all got to do five songs. When karaoke ended at 9:00 I drove to the casino and arrived just as the pageant was ending. Jackie said it was a very enjoyable evening. Jackie and I stayed another half hour or so, gaming and having a cocktail. After that we went back home, settled in and went to bed.

Sunday, September 19^th, I got the Sunday paper and we had a quiet morning. About 2:30 we left and drove to the Lakeside Casino, not too far from the park, to attend the Pahrump Rotary Club's annual 10K drawing. We had bought one of the $80 tickets for the drawing which was held in the outside amphitheater at the casino. We got there a little early, so we gamed for a half hour or so, then went and got our seats. They also had a lot of door prizes for attendees as well as a 50-50 drawing and a bunch of stuff for a silent auction. The program lasted a couple of hours and in the end we didn't win anything, not one of the dozens of door prizes, the main drawing, or the 50-50. Oh well, we had a cocktail and had a fun afternoon. After the drawing we went back to the coach, had dinner and then watched TV until bedtime. Monday was a stay at home day. Since it is starting to cool down a little I was able to finish decorating our lot today. I put out the lights and our “flamingo family” in the front yard and everything looks nice again. Other than that, we just stayed home and relaxed.

Tuesday, September 21^st, we went out after lunch to run some errands and just get out of the house. We stopped at a local cat rescue shelter just to look at kitties. It has been over a year since we lost our last cat, Benji, and both of decided that we would wait a while before considering getting another fur kid. This shelter was just cats and they had everything from six weeks to six years, big and small, and every breed and color you can think of. A lot of the adult cats were stand-offish, but some seemed to be friendly. We spent some time in the kitten room and there were two of the several dozen that really seemed nice and jumped up in our laps without prompting. The bottom line, however, was that after we left we talked and both felt that it was fun to play with the cats for a bit, neither of us was ready for the issues that having a cat bring. The loose fur, the scratching of the carpet and furniture, the sand box, etc. We both felt that we were not yet ready to re-cat, as it were. After the cat visit we went to a couple of thrift stores. The only thing we bought was a really large and ugly Halloween wreath to put on the front of the coach. After we got home we had cocktails, dinner and then TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, September 22^nd, my buddy Tom Howell picked me up after lunch and we went to the local executive course to play some golf. Today we managed to complete all 18 holes, although I was a little pooped by the last couple of holes. I did marginally better today than last week, which I guess is good. After Tom dropped me back off at home about 3:30 we just relaxed for the rest of the day and evening. Thursday we left the park about 1:00 and went out for a late lunch at the Indian restaurant here in town. It is called the Pour House and is really a bar with a small restaurant attached. Jackie says their Indian food is great and she had a Tikka Marsala lamb dish. I don't care for Indian cuisine, but their pizza is among the best I have ever had, including being better than Round Table, my previous favorite. We both took leftovers home. After lunch we went to Goodwill again to pick up some new drapes that we had seen yesterday. We wanted to put some sort of decoration or drape on the open doorway to our patio and they had just what we wanted. We didn't get them yesterday because we needed to measure. After the Goodwill we headed back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the day and evening.

Friday, September 24^th, I went out in the late morning and installed the new drapes in the doorway of our patio. They turned out looking really nice. We had a relaxed afternoon and then about 4:15 we left to go to the Moose Lodge for dinner and karaoke. On the way to the lodge we stopped and picked up our mail and a newspaper. We arrived at the Moose right about 5:00 and met Tom and Phyllis, who had secured a table for the evening. They invited us here because Friday is fish and chips night and karaoke starting at 6:00. I have been a Moose member for probably ten years, but because we tend to stay at Elks Lodges in our travels we don't go to the Moose very much. The food was pretty good, as promised by Tom and Phyllis, and the place was packed for karaoke. About half the crowd were people I knew from karaoke at the Elks. Many have shifted away from the Elks to the Moose. It was a friendly crowd and the rotation was long, only getting in three songs before 9:00 when we left. We headed home, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Saturday, September 25^th, we left the coach about 11:00 and headed downtown to go to the Pahrump Fall Festival, which is an annual event that got canceled last Fall because of Covid. It is a little like a county fair, although the only animals involved are in the rodeo they have a couple of the evenings. It is mostly just a few arts and crafts exhibits, a carnival for the kids, some local entertainment, and a lot of booths, mostly community out-reach stuff and food. It took us about two hours to go around everything we wanted to see, which didn't include the carnival. I have a saying that I will not go on an amusement ride that was put together overnight by a crack head. After the festival we went to Mom's Cafe, one of our favorites, for lunch. After lunch we visited the county pound to look at their cat collection. They didn't have near as many as the private shelter did, and none of them were especially appealing. We then headed back home and relaxed for a couple of hours, then left around 5:00 to go to the Elks for karaoke. It was really a slow night there. Our friends Len and Debbie came, but even with the three of us and the host singing we only had eight singers and got five songs in before we left about 8:30. We headed back to the coach and watched some TV before heading to bed.

Sunday, September 26^th, was a stay at home day except for going out for the Sunday paper. We did a few chores and generally just relaxed. At 5:00 our friends Tom and Phyllis came over for happy hour. While they were here we also had them witness the new, updated wills and health care directives we have done. Our last ones were over ten years old and needed to be updated. After they left around 7:00 we watched some TV and relaxed the rest of the evening. Monday was a stay at home day. The RV service guys came about 8:30 to install the new air conditioners, and got to work. To my surprise it was less than two hours to take off the old two and install the two new ones and get everything working. The total for the installation was $250, so the total for everything for replacing both our aging air conditioner/heat pump units was just over three grand. We spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing and doing a few little chores.

Tuesday, September 28^th, we went out after lunch so Jackie could get a pedicure. While she was getting her toes done I ran a few errands. After she was done we did a Walmart run, then headed back to the coach. We spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing in the coach. Wednesday we went to Terrible's Casino for lunch. The last time we were here, a couple weeks ago, they double charged our debit card. It took four phone calls and two visits to the casino to finally get them to credit back one of the charges. As a result the Chef, who is also the food manager, told us he would comp a meal for us. Today we got our free lunch. After lunch we went to Home Depot and bought a sun shade to put up on our outside covered patio. The evening sun shines right into the patio so we wanted to put up a shade screen we could roll down when we need it and roll up when it is not in use. It is a ten foot shade and it JUST barely fit in the car, but we got it home. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing.

Thursday, September 30^th, we left the park about 11:00 and headed over the hump to Las Vegas. We first stopped for brunch at one of the Cracked Egg restaurants. They always have a two for one coupon in the Sunday paper, so we used it. After brunch we stopped and Jackie got her hair cut. We then went to Costco to do some bulk shopping. We mostly needed some meat for the freezer. We also put gas in the car for the first time in over a month. After our errands we headed back over the hill getting home in plenty of time for happy hour. We watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Friday, October 1^st, we had an RV repair company come over in the morning to try and take care of a low pressure problem we are having with the hot water system in the coach. I had thought the hot water heater needed cleaning out and I did that a couple weeks ago, but the problem continued to get worse. My internet research determined that the likely suspect was a bad back-flow preventer on the back of the water heater. This is probable since the problem was only with the hot water. To get to the part the water heater has to be removed from the coach, a job I couldn't do on my own. They pulled the heater and sure enough, the back-flow valve was broken. Since it really isn't needed except for “winterizing” of the coach, a job we never do, we just pulled the guts out of the broken valve and put everything back together. We now had really good pressure except that when the water was turned back on the dirt in the system clogged the kitchen faucet. We have been meaning to replace that faucet anyway, so we asked the RV guys to pull the faucet so we could replace it. Unfortunately, they said the fasteners were corroded and they couldn't get it apart unless they cut the faucet off. Since that would require us to have the water turned off for a day or two, we declined and said we would buy a faucet and then take the old one off. We went to Home Depot and got a new faucet, but by then the RV guys were on another job and couldn't come over. I have decided that I am not going to use this company anymore and will just call a real plumber next week to come over and change the faucet. We spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing.

We are now about three weeks into this episode and it is time to get it published. Until next time, ponder the words of novelist Alexander Dumas, "Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives and remembering what one receives." See ya soon.