Hello again. Our last chapter concluded on Sunday, May 8th, Mothers Day. We are on our lot at the SKP Co-op RV park in Pahrump, our home base, and will probably be here for a while. Right now we have no firm plans for travel this summer except for a short cruise out of Los Angeles in late June.
Monday, May 9th, we left the coach about 11:00, picked up our friend Millie, and drove to the El Jefe Mexican restaurant for the monthly “dine-out” with the Escapees Club Chapter, Lucky Rollers. While most of the active members of the Lucky Rollers live in the SKP Co-op park, it is only necessary to be a member of the Escapees Club to be a member of the Lucky Rollers. The Chapter represents Escapees for the entire State of Nevada. We had a couple dozen people at the dine-out and it was a lot of fun, and the food was great. After the dine-out we went back to the coach for a while. About 3:30 we went out again and I dropped Jackie off at the hairdresser so she could get a haircut and also get her new wig thinned out a little. While she was doing that I did a mail run. When I was done I picked her up and we went back to the coach. Jackie was happy with her haircut and now has a place in Pahrump to get her hair cuts. Up to this point we always had to drive into Las Vegas because she didn't have anyone up here that she liked. We spent the rest of the evening in the coach.
Tuesday, May 10th, Jackie went to a 10:00 meeting with some people from the clubhouse group because she will be in charge of the ice cream freezer and the cookie jar for a few weeks while some of the other women are out of town. At 10:30 she left in the car and drove to the dentist to get her teeth cleaned. I did some office work while she was gone. She got back around noon and we spent the rest of the day working around the house. The wind was still blowing, but not nearly as strong as over the weekend. We went to the clubhouse at 4:00 for happy hour with the group, then went home and had dinner. After dinner we spent the night watching TV. Wednesday was basically a stay at home day. I did some chores and worked on some RV repair projects. I did go out to Home Depot for some parts, but other than that I was home all day. Jackie went to the clubhouse at 1:00 for Pokeno with her friends. We went to the 4:00 happy hour, then had dinner and watched TV until it was time for bed.
Thursday, May 12th, I went over to the clubhouse a little after noon and got set up to do the Zoom broadcast for a monthly meeting of the Silver Seekers group. The meeting started at 1:00 and by 1:30 it was done and I cleaned up all the equipment and we went back to the coach. We left then and did a Walmart run. After Walmart we went home and put everything away. About 4:00 I left and drove to the dentist while Jackie went to the clubhouse for happy hour. The dentist put in my new permanent crown and got everything properly fitted. This is the last of my dental work now until my next cleaning appointment in the Fall. After the dentist I went home and we had dinner, then relaxed with the TV until bedtime. Friday I was out of the coach by 8:30, headed to the Sheriff's Office for my weekly training session for the Peace Officers Advisory Review Board. Today's training was on the custody operations for the Sheriff's Office. The structure of the jail command, what types of employees they have, and how the jails are operated.
Nye County has a large (230 nominal population) jail in Pahrump, built in 2017, and a smaller jail dating back to the 90's in Tonopah that holds around 75. Currently the Tonopah jail is used as a holding facility for arrests in the North County and for female inmates. The County also has a contract with the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to old ICE detainees up to a maximum of 100. This is a substantial source of income for the Sheriff's Office and currently funds 30 detention deputies. The jail staff is a mix of civilian civilian Detention Technicians, Detention Deputies, who are “Peace Officers” by state law, but undergo a lesser level of training than Sheriff's Deputies, and regular Sheriff's Deputies. After about 90 minutes of classroom instruction the training sergeant took us on a tour of the Pahrump jail. I found it to be a well thought out design for a small jail. After the tour we were done for the day, about an hour earlier than normal. I went back to the park and we went out to Mom's Cafe for a late lunch, then ran some errands. After our errands we went back to the park. At 5:30 we went over to the clubhouse for the monthly bingo session. Neither of us won anything in bingo, but we had fun. After bingo we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Saturday, May 14th, we went out about 1:00 for a late lunch at Johnny's, one of the Mexican places in town. After lunch we picked up our mail and did a quick run into Albertson's for some things that Walmart didn't have the other day. After our errands we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. About 5:00 we left and headed to the Elks Lodge for karaoke. To our surprise, when we got there we learned that karaoke had been canceled for tonight. We sat at the bar and gamed for hour, then headed back to the coach. Worked out OK because Jackie hit a jackpot and cashed out $50! After we got home we spent the rest of the night with the TV.
Tuesday, May 17th, we left the coach about 1:00 and went into town to do our laundry. We were done about 3:00, after which we made a stop at the UPS store to pick up mail, then head back to the RV park. We went to the 4:00 happy hour at the clubhouse and after happy hour went home and had dinner. We spent the rest of the night with the TV. Wednesday I left the RV park by myself about 10:30 and headed back over the hill to Las Vegas again. I had an appointment at the ophthalmologist to be tested to qualify for upper eye lid surgery. The doctor had recommended I consider the surgery last year and again this year during my checkup. I never gave it too much thought but I now notice that my lids are very droopy and interfere with my vision. They gave me a test that checked my field of vision twice, once with normal facial expression, and then a second time with the upper eyelid taped up. According to the doctor it was a no brainer that I would be approved for the surgery. Medicare requires these tests and prior approval before they will pay for the procedure. I am now tentatively scheduled to have the surgery on August 9th. I also stopped at a couple of stores while I was in Vegas and made it back over the hill just in time to go to happy hour at the clubhouse. After happy hour we had dinner and then relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.
Thursday, May 19th, we left the park about 12:30 and went out to lunch at the Artisan Cellars winery for lunch. They don't have a huge food menu, but what they do have is really good. We had a nice lunch and shared a bottle of nice wine. After lunch we went to pick up mail and then did a Walmart run for a few things before going home. About 3:00 the guy we hired to wash the motor home arrived and spent an hour cleaning the outside of the motorhome. At 4:00 we went to happy hour then came home, had dinner and spent the rest of the evening watching TV. Friday I left at 8:30 for another session of training at the Sheriff's Office. Today the Undersheriff was the instructor again and talked about the Records section of the department, as well as the laws and policies regarding official records. After the coffee break he had another introductory session covering the detective division. We got finished about noon so I stopped for lunch then went home. I spent an hour or so washing and putting up our old outside window shades on the motor home. It appears that we will be staying in Pahrump for most, if not all, of the summer because of the cost of travel right now as well as the fact that we really don't want to go to California at all. Since it will be getting really hot soon, I dug out the old outside shades, which we stopped using when we had the inside ones installed a couple of years ago. They will help keep the inside of the coach dark and cooler when the real summer heat hits. After that I did some inside chores and office work, then relaxed the rest of the day.
Saturday, May 21st, we left the park about 11:30 and drove to the Saddle West Casino to visit the Home Show that was being held in the ballroom. It was a decent sized gathering of business around Pahrump that something to do with home improvement or maintenance. We picked up some good information and free goodies but missed out on the door prize drawings. After the show visit we drove to the VFW post near our RV park for a veterans tribute rib dinner, but when we got there learned they were out of ribs. We then went to the Mountain Falls Country Club restaurant for lunch. It was a nice day so we were able to eat at a table on the patio overlooking the golf course. We both commented that it didn't look like we were eating in Pahrump, more like Palm Desert, near where we used to live. After lunch we went home and relaxed for a bit. A little before 5:00 we left again and drove to the Elks for karaoke. They had canceled last week without notice, but he was there tonight, so we got some drinks and enjoyed the show. Our friends Len and Debbie came tonight, the first time we have seen them in about three weeks. I got to do three or four songs and had a good time. We were done a little before 9:00, then drove home and watched a little TV before going to bed.
Sunday, May 22nd, was a stay at home day. I did a few chores around the coach and we went over to the clubhouse about 2:00 for root beer floats. Today I did have my first tour of duty as part of the Security Committee of the park. Members of the committee are assigned by the chair of the committee and usually do three or four nights per month. The security person goes out about 8:00 at night and does a tour of the property, checking on all the Co-op buildings and making sure they are locked up properly. They also do a full sweep of all the streets, looking for water leaks, burned out lighting, and anything else that looks out of place. The final step is locking up the clubhouse at 9:00 and making sure it is secure. Members of the Co-op are allowed to be in the clubhouse after 9:00 and there are combination locks on a couple of the doors for that purpose, but it is rare that anyone actually does go in after 9:00. Because today was my first tour I went out tonight with our friend Linda Sullivan, who has been around for a number of years. The whole process took about an hour, after which I went back in the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.
Monday, May 23rd, we left the park about 10:45, with Millie in the car, and drove to the China Wok buffet for another of our MASA luncheons. MASA is basically medical transport insurance, which we bought into in 2007. We have a lifetime membership, but existing members are still invited to the sales presentations. Makes for a free lunch several times a year. After the meeting and lunch we went to Walmart for some supplies and picked up mail before heading back to the park. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach. I did go out at 8:00 for an hour of my security patrol, on my own tonight. Tuesday was a stay at home day. Did a couple of chores around the coach and spent some time in the music room with my guitar. We did happy hour in the clubhouse at 4:00 and I went out at 8:00 for my last “tour of duty” this month on security. After I got back a little after 9:00 we spent the remainder of the night with the TV.
Wednesday, May 25th, we had another stay at home day. Jackie went to the clubhouse at 1:00 for her Pokeno group while I stayed home and did some chores and practiced guitar. After dinner we watched TV and then went to bed. Thursday we left the coach about noon and went to Denny's for lunch. After lunch we picked up mail and did a quick Walmart run. At 2:00 we went to the nail salon where Jackie got a pedi and I got my toe nails trimmed. After our chores we went back to the park. We did happy hour with the clubhouse group, then went home for dinner and watched TV until bedtime.
Friday, May 27th, I was out of the coach by 8:30 and headed to the Sheriff's Office for more training. Today the lecture was on the county ordinances that created and regulate the Peace Officers Advisory Review Board. The lecture was supposed to be given by the County Manager, but he got tied up with something and the Undersheriff had to sub in for him. We also had the Sheriff in the class for most of the session giving her perspective on the POARB. The session was out about noon, a little early, after which I stopped and picked up mail, stopped for a quick lunch, then went back to the coach. We went out about 1:00 to do a casino visit for some gaming and went to the Pahrump Nugget. Neither of us did well, losing or $40 stakes in an hour or so. After that we went back home and stayed in the rest of the afternoon except for going to the clubhouse for happy hour. After cocktails we went home, made dinner and watched TV until it was time for bed. Saturday was pretty typical, we left about 1:00 for a late lunch at the Pour House, a place that primarily serves Indian food, but also has great pizza. Jackie usually gets a lamb dish and I get a pizza. We had a great meal after which we picked up mail and then drove back home. We relaxed for a while before heading out about 5:00 to the Elks Lodge for karaoke. It was a big crowd, including our friends Len and Debbie. I learned that one reason for the increased crowd, most of whom were familiar to me, was that the Moose Lodge was no longer doing Saturday karaoke. Everyone got three songs in for evening. Jackie spent most of the night at the bar playing poker. After karaoke we went back home and watched TV until it was time to go to bed.
Sunday, May 29th, we left the coach after lunch and went into town to run some errands. We went to Home Depot first, mainly to scout small air conditioner units and ceiling fans. We got approval from the Co-op to put an A/C in the storage shed as well as a ceiling fan in the enclosed patio area. We wanted to get an idea of what the retail costs would be so we can do some shopping. After Home Depot we did a Walmart run, then headed back home. We put away our stuff and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach. We did some pork chops and corn on the cob on the BBQ for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.
We are now about three weeks into this episode and it is time to get it published. Until next time, ponder the words of actress Mae West. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” See ya soon.
