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.