Early Summer in Pahrump, It's Getting Toasty

Hi there, glad to see you again. Our last episode concluded on Saturday, June 18^th, while we were parked on our lot at the SKP Co-op park in Pahrump. Sunday was the first day of our first cruise vacation in about twelve years. We had the coach prepped and the car packed by 10:00 when we headed out bound for the City of San Pedro in the Los Angeles area. On Monday we are boarding the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Navigator of the Seas, for a four day cruise, going to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. We had a fairly routine drive with only a couple of traffic issues. We stopped at the Mad Greek in Baker for lunch, then got on the 15 Freeway headed for Los Angeles. We had a twenty minute slow down just before Barstow because of an accident, and then when we got into Los Angeles proper we hit some traffic and construction slow downs. The nice thing was that our thrifty little car got 42 MPG for the trip. We arrived at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Pedro about 3:30. We had some issues when we checked in because the internet company we used to book the room, SleepParkFly.com, failed to send the reservation to the hotel. Fortunately, they had a room available, so we got checked in and just relaxed after our long drive. This hotel is only a few blocks from the Port of Los Angeles Cruise Terminal and offers secured parking for our car for the duration of the cruise and transportation to and from the port. We had a couple cocktails in the hotel lounge and went to bed.

Monday, June 20^th, we had coffee in the room and the free breakfast in the restaurant. We were checked out and waiting in the lobby at 11:00. The shuttle bus took us and our luggage to the ship at noon and we started the screening process to get on the ship. It only took about a half hour to do the health and documents checks and by 12:30 we were on the ship. We couldn't get into our stateroom until 2:00, so we had lunch in the buffet. About 2:00 we went down to the room and got unpacked as our checked luggage had arrived. We had a Junior Suite which was located in the very back of the ship, actually looking out over the stern. We were also on deck 10, which is the second highest passenger deck on the ship. We had a big room for a cruise ship and a really nice, big balcony. After getting unpacked we wandered around the ship for an hour or so, getting a feel for the layout. Except for the bars and buffet nothing was open.

At about 6:00 the ship sailed out of the port. We went up on deck to watch the departure, then walked around some more. We were followed out of port by a Carnival Cruise ship which was also doing the four day cruise. We checked out the shops but didn't buy anything. This ship has far fewer shops than previous one's we have cruised on. We went to dinner in the dining room about 7:00 and had a nice window seat and a very nice dinner. After dinner we visited the casino, watched a couple of game activities and at 9:00 went to the upper deck showroom for karaoke. It was really busy, but I did get to do one song. After karaoke we walked around some more then went back to the stateroom and bed.

Tuesday, June 21^st, was our day at sea. We spent the day just exploring the ship and enjoying some of the activities. We had a very nice lunch in the main dining room. We spent some time in the casino and stopped at a couple of the bars. In the early afternoon we spent an hour or so in the casino participating in a slot tournament. It was a $50 buy in with a $500 prize for the winner. I finished second in my qualifying round and made it to the final round. I finished second in the final round as well, although I was in first place with less than a minute to go before the eventual winner hit a big payout and pulled ahead. Sadly, second place in this tournament didn't pay anything. Later in the afternoon we went to the main showroom for bingo. We didn't win anything there either, although I was only one number away from winning in the $1,500 last game when someone else called bingo. Second place again, damn. For dinner we had reservations at one of the specialty dining rooms, the Chops Grille Steakhouse. We went at 6:30 and had an excellent meal. I had a nice steak and Jackie had rack of lamb. After dinner we played in the casino a bit, had a few drinks, and took in the late show in the main theater, which was called Show Girls. It was a fun show. After the show we listened to some music and headed off to bed about 11:00.

Wednesday, June 22^nd, was the day for our port call in Avalon on Catalina Island. Both Jackie and I have been to Catalina many times before, so while we planned to go ashore for a bit, we weren't a big hurry. We had coffee in the room and relaxed for a while and finally went up and got our tender tickets about 10:30. Because the big cruise ships can't dock in Catalina, everyone has to be taken to shore in a small boat. On our previous cruises these were usually the larger, enclosed lifeboats from the ship. However since this ship has up to 4,000

passengers they actually contract with a ferry company that uses much bigger 90 foot ferry launches, and has four of them running back and forth between the ship and the shore. It still took almost an hour for us to finally get called to the tender. After we got on Catalina we went to a local restaurant for brunch, then did some exploring and shopping in the beach area. We also were able to get a geocache. After spending a couple of hours walking around we were tired and took the tender back to the ship. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. The ship left Catalina at about 5:30 to spend the night cruising and heading for Ensenada, Mexico. We had dinner in the main dining room at 6:45 and had another great meal. After dinner we went to the casino for a while, then went to the ice skating rink for Stars on Ice show. This was probably the best show on the whole cruise. Very interesting watching an ice capades type show on a cruise ship. After the ice show we gamed for a bit then headed back to the cabin for bed.

Thursday, June 23^rd, was our port call in Ensenada, Mexico. Here the port was capable of handling the large cruise ships, so we were tied up at a pier in the port. We had breakfast in the buffet and relaxed for most of the morning. At noon we went up to the highest deck of the ship and for the first time we did an Escape Room experience. We have been wanting to do an Escape Room for a couple of years and we found that the ship had

one we decided to give it a try. We were among a group of 12, the maximum for the room, none of whom we knew. They were all younger than us, but friendly and excited. We also had a couple of people in our group who had done escape rooms before, which was helpful. It was a great experience, with lots of interesting and difficult puzzles. Jackie and I actually had some good input in solving a couple of the puzzles and the group worked well together, solving the room with almost three minutes to spare. Yea us! It was a lot of fun and we will probably do one again when we can.

About 1:30 we went off the ship and took a shuttle bus to downtown Ensenada. We have spent enough time in Mexico over the years to not be too impressed with the shopping and stuff. We walked around for a bit, I bought a tee shirt and Jackie went to one of the pharmacies for some albuteral sprays, which are way cheaper in Mexico than in the states. We had some tacos for lunch in a sidewalk cafe and it was actually pretty good. After a couple of hours we had enough of Mexico and went back on the ship. We had walked quite a bit, so we spent a couple of hours resting in the cabin. We also packed our bags as the checked luggage had to be put out in the hallway tonight. The ship sailed from Mexico about 6:00, after which we went to the dining room for dinner again. We had the same waiter as we did yesterday and she was very nice. We had another great meal. After dinner we spent some time in the casino and then had some drinks in the piano bar. We went to the late night “adult comedy show” at 10:15 and it was OK, but more slightly blue than actually “adult” comedy. After that show we headed back to the room for our last night aboard ship.

Friday, June 24^th, we had to be out of the cabin by 8:00 a.m. and we were able to do that. We expected to have to sit and wait forever in one of the lounges before our deck was called to disembark, but this ship had a different system and as soon as we got down to the gangway they sent us off the ship. We got into the terminal and found our large bag right away. A porter took us and our bags to the Customs area and after showing our passports we were out on the street waiting for the shuttle back to the hotel. It was the best disembarkation experience we have ever had. We got back to the hotel and picked up our car from the garage, found a nearby gas station to top off the tank, and we were on the road headed back to Pahrump by a little after 9:00. The trip back was uneventful with few traffic issues. We stopped in Barstow for lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and were back in Pahrump by 2:45. We unpacked our bags and were able to make the 4:00 happy hour. After happy hour we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV until about 9:00 when we decided we were tired and went to bed. Cruise vacation officially over.

Saturday, June 25^th, was a stay at home day. I spent much of the day in the man cave catching up on blogs and checking account updates. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching TV, just resting up from a week of nonstop activities. Sunday was also a stay at home day for the most part. I did make a run to the mail store in the afternoon and we went to the 2:00 ice cream social, but other than that I mostly worked in the office on various projects. Monday we went out about 12:30 to lunch at a place called China A Go-Go, located in the same complex as our UPS store. We had gone here right after they opened, about four or five years ago, and I was not impressed. They had a very limited menu at the time and I didn't care for the food. We decided to try again and found a completely different place, extensive standard Chinese menu, and nice decor. The food was very good this time, I had sweet and sour pork and Jackie had a seafood medley dish. The only downside was the service was very poor. The server was inattentive and indifferent. We will probably try again because the food was good, but they need better servers. After lunch we did a Walmart run, then headed back to the coach. We did happy hour in the clubhouse and then had our leftovers from lunch for dinner. We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, June 28^th, we stayed around the coach for most of the day. About 3:30 we left and drove downtown to Romero's Mexican Restaurant for the monthly dine out for the Silver Seekers group at the Co-op. The Silver Seekers is a group that is in charge of most of the activities at the Co-op clubhouse and also raises money in various activities to support the activities and also improve the clubhouse. It was a small group, only about seven people, because in the summer a big part of the population of the park travels. We still had a nice early dinner and nice conversation with friends. After dinner we picked up our mail, then headed back to the coach where we relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening. Wednesday Jackie went to the clubhouse at 1:00 for her Pokeno group while I did some office work in the coach. After she was done at 3:00 we left and went to the medical center so she could get a chest x-ray which had been ordered a couple of days ago when she talked to the doctor's office. She still has the intermittent cough that she has had for a month now. After the x-ray we picked up mail, then headed back to the coach. We did some hamburgers on the grill for dinner then watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, June 30^th, approaching the middle of year at midnight tonight. Today was laundry day. We left the coach after lunch and went to the laundromat in town. We were back at the couch at about 4:30 with clean clothes and bedding. We put everything away and made the bed, then had dinner. I made some spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner we relaxed with the TV until bedtime. Friday I was up early to go to my 9:00 training at the Sheriff's Office, but I had an email sent late last night canceling the class for today. Had a full day with not plans. We ended up just having a stay at home day. I spent most of the day in the man cave and Jackie spent most of it on the coach as she was feeling a little icky today. We didn't even go to happy hour. Watched TV after dinner and went to bed.

Saturday, July 2^nd, we left the park about 1:30 and went for our usual late Saturday brunch, this time going to the Pour House, one of our favorite places because they have Indian food, with lots of lamb dishes, which Jackie loves, and the best pizza in town for me. We had a nice dinner, although it seemed the staffing had changed since the last time we were there and things were a little slower and the food quality was a little less. After lunch we did a mail run and stopped at Walmart for a couple of things. We then headed back to the coach and spent an hour or so relaxing. We left again about 5:00 and went to the Elks Lodge for karaoke. It was a slightly smaller crowd, which meant we got four songs in instead of three. We finished a little after 9:00 after which we went home and spent an hour with the TV before heading to bed. Sunday was a stay at home day. Jackie spent most of the day relaxing and still not feeling a hundred percent because of her persistent cough. I spent several hours out in the shed working on the installation of the new air conditioner we bought for it. The first thing I had to do was rearrange the place to clear the wall by the door where I plan to put the through the wall a/c. Later I spent another hour or so marking out and then removing the wallboard from the area where the a/c will go. We never left the park today and after dinner we just watched TV until it was time for bed.

Monday, July 4^th, Happy Birthday America! We had another stay at home day. At about 2:00 we went to the clubhouse for an Independence Day cookout and party. Everyone brought their own items to BBQ on the grills outside the clubhouse as well as a side dish to share. We had about 30 people at the get together, which is surprising considering it is the middle of summer and the park seems pretty empty. We just did burgers, although there were some people who did steaks. The party ran a couple of hours and was a great way to celebrate the holiday with friends and neighbors. After the party we went home and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach. Tuesday I had a meeting at 11:00 in the clubhouse with the Audit Committee. We are trying to abide by the By Laws of the Co-op that a committee of members is supposed to review the books and records of the Co-op, but because of a lack of members volunteering it hasn't been done in over six months. The result is that the financial records are a mess right now. I don't think it has anything to do with fraud or anything bad, it's just bad data entry and failure to do the necessary monthly reconciliation of accounts. We have our work cut out for us. After the meeting I drove to the Intermountain Health facility, where our doctor's office is, to go to the urgent care. I have developed a urinary tract infection sometime late last week and over the weekend and it has gotten very unpleasant. I know what the issue is and what the course of action is, a course of antibiotics, but yesterday when I tried to use the call in service for minor issues they told me that UTI's were not on the list because the doctors wanted a urine specimen to look at. After two and a half hours I saw the doctor for exactly one minute when he came in, said you have a UTI and we are prescribing Cipro. Well, no shit Sherlock (I said in my head). I drove to Walgreens, picked up my prescription and went home. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Wednesday, July 6^th, Jackie went to her Pokeno group in the clubhouse at 1:00 while I stayed home and worked on getting better. When she was done at 3:00 we left and went to the Health Facility again, this time so she could see a doctor about her intermittent cough again. It hasn't been getting better. The new doctor thinks it is related to acid reflux and gave some new meds. After the doctor we picked up mail and did a Walmart run. I only had to go to the bathroom twice during the entire trip. We then went home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing. Thursday was a stay at home day for me as worked on getting better. Jackie had an 11:00 manicure appointment, which took a couple of hours. After she got home we just stayed in for the rest of the day.

We have now reached the point where we are a little over three weeks since we last published. We will close this episode out with some words from the late "television philosopher," Andy Rooney. “It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” See ya soon.