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.