October in the Desert

Hello again.  Our last chapter concluded on Friday, September 30^th while we were in Pahrump, Nevada.  Saturday, the first day of October, Fall is sneaking up on us.  We left the RV park about 10:30, picking up our friends Millie and Margi, and drove to the China Wok Chinese buffet for another MASA lunch.  Regular readers will remember the MASA is an emergency medical transport insurance program that we bought into many years ago.  They have sales presentations in Pahrump frequently and always welcome members to attend too.  We listened to the presentation for the gazillionth time, then had a nice Chinese lunch.  After the presentation we went back to the park and did a few chores.  We are leaving Monday on a four-day campout with the camping group from the park and I had a few things I had to do to prepare.  About 3:30 we left again and went to the Elks Lodge.  We have a charity dinner event we are going to here at the Lodge at 5:00 and decided to go a little early so we could play the slots and have a drink.  I lost $20 but had fun.  Jackie broke even.  At 5:00 we went into the dining room for dinner.  We had Swiss steak with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.  After dinner they had the show, which was a couple of local singers and some of the Silver Tappers dancers, also a local group of over 60 women.  The main singer was Bill Watson, who is an acquaintance of ours from Elk’s karaoke.  It was an OK show, and it was for charity, support for the Pahrump Senior Center.  We left the show a little early and headed home because we were tired.  After we got home, we watched a little TV and went to bed.

 Sunday, October 2^nd, we left the coach about 1:00 and did a Walmart run to get supplies for our camping outing.  After that we went back home and stayed in for the rest of the day.  I did a little more work getting ready to leave tomorrow.  Monday we actually had a travel day, the first one in six months!  We didn't have to be in a hurry because we are only going to Shoshone, a tiny town in California, 30 miles southwest of Pahrump.  We left the park at 1:00 and pulled into the Shoshone RV park about 45 minutes later.  We didn't even hook up the car, Jackie just followed me to the park.  Most of the rest of the group was already there and setting up.  We have about a dozen rigs from the Escapees park coming to this outing.  The RV group at the park has two outings a year, this is our second outing with them.  We got our spot and spent an hour getting set up.  At 4:00 we had happy hour and sat outside in the shade and visited until about 5:30. We went back to the coach and had dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

 

Tuesday, October 4^th, we relaxed in the coach for most of the morning, since the only thing going with the outing was breakfast, which we rarely ever get to.  About noon or so I walked over to the gathering area just to see what was going on for the day.  The group was doing crafts in the afternoon until the 4:00 happy hour, so we just relaxed in the coach.  We went over to the gathering area at 4:00 and had cocktails with group.  They were also selling tickets for a 50/50 drawing, brown bag drawing, and door prize drawings.  They also took up a collection for a set of joint lottery tickets for the megamillions drawing tonight.  It was over $350 million tonight.  We also took a drive to the small market in the town to get our own tickets, for both tonight and the equally large Powerball tomorrow night.  After cocktails the group did dinner.  We had brats with all the fixings and side dishes provided by the group.  We did some baked beans.  Jackie also made a chicken breast for herself since she didn't think the brats would play well with her acid reflux.  After dinner we sat and talked for a while and were back in our coach around dark.  We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.  

Wednesday, October 5^th, yea, we won $2 on last night's lottery ticket.  Ours, not the group one.  That one got bupkis.  We joined the group in the gathering area about 1:30 and around 2:00 a dozen or so of us started playing Pokeno.  Although I don't play in the weekly game at the park, I did play today.  We had a good time and played for a couple of hours.  By 4:00 most people had gathered for happy hour, and we had some nice conversations.  I chatted for a while with another camper parked near us who we invited to join us for happy hour.  He is a retired Las Vegas Metro Captain, so we had a lot to talk about and share.  For dinner tonight we had dressed baked potatoes.  Jackie couldn't do a lot of the toppings because of her reflux issues, but there were also a couple of salads, so she was able to eat the potato pretty plain and a lot of salad.  After dinner we sat and talked until about 7:00 when everyone drifted off back to their own rigs.  We watched TV until bedtime.  Thursday we actually went out in the late morning and did some geocaching in the area.  We were able to get five new finds in the course of an hour or so.  After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed until about 3:00 when the group gathered for the club's business meeting.  After the meeting they had the drawings for the various prizes.  We didn't get the 50/50, but we did manage to get a couple of the brown bag prizes and one of the door prizes.  After the drawings we had happy hour and then the potluck dinner.  There was a lot of great food, and we had a really good time.  By 7:00 or so it was getting dark, so we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

 

Friday, October 7^th, another travel day.  We were the last one's out of the park about 11:00 and drove the 35 miles back to Pahrump.  We got back a little after noon and got parked and started to set up again.  While we were gone one of the volunteers at the park brought in a bunch of gravel and leveled and cleaned up our parking areas.  They really look good now.  We all the basics set up and will finish the outside stuff on Sunday.  We did go to the 4:00 happy hour and saw a lot of the same people we just spent the week with.  After happy hour we went home, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.  Saturday, we left the coach about 12:30 and drove to Preferred RV Resort, the other membership RV park here in Pahrump.  We were going there to spend the day with one of our smaller FMCA clubs, the Beat the Odds Chapter.  This basically a gambling chapter that holds two rallies a year, one in February in Laughlin, and one in October in Pahrump.  The rally actually started on Thursday, but because we were going to Shoshone with the Escapees group, we told the Beat the Odds rally master that we would only be able to come on Saturday, the last day of the rally.  We got there and visited with some old friends and then participated in the Bunco tournament, which a staple of these rallies.  We missed the slot tournament Friday morning because we were traveling home.  After Bunco we went home for a couple of hours, then returned to Preferred for the happy hour with the Beat the Odds group, and then dinner and awards.  The dinner was prepared and served by the staff and volunteers from the RV park and was quite good.  Actually better than we have gotten in the past when they held their awards dinner at the Nugget casino.  We had a nice dinner with chicken as the main course and left about 7:00 when everything was over.  We went home and spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Sunday, October 9^th, I spent some time in the morning setting up stuff outside.  The biggest job was setting our internet antenna back on the roof and getting the internet working again.  After an hour of work, I finally had that back up and running.  The rest was just lights and decorations we had to take down when we traveled.  By noon I was pretty much done outside.  After lunch we did a Walmart run, then returned home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach.  We had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.  Monday we were up early and on the road about 8:45, headed for Las Vegas and my Urologist appointment.  I am having a procedure to open up the passage through my enlarged prostate, so I have better urine flow.  The doctor inserts a probe, similar in size and appearance to the cystoscope he used the last time I was here.  After using Lidocaine to numb the urethra he uses small needles to transmit radio waves that heat up the tissue in the prostate and cause it to shrink back.  It is basically a very small microwave oven.  The procedure was uncomfortable, but there was very little actual pain.  After the procedure he inserted a catheter which I have to leave in for at least three days to allow the urethra to heal.  So, I have a catheter and a urine bag strapped to my leg.  After the procedure I was able to drive home OK and we got back home just after noon.  We got back in time for Jackie to go over to the Clubhouse where the MASA organization had put on one of their luncheon programs just for our RV park.  The presentation was over, but Jackie was able to get some leftover Chinese food to bring home for our lunch.  The catheter is not painful, unless I move around a lot and pull on it, but it is uncomfortable.  I will be glad on Thursday when I can remove it.  They gave me instructions and the tool necessary for me to do it myself.  We spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing in the coach.

 Tuesday, October 11^th, was a stay at home day.  I didn’t go out of the house all day because of my catheter and bag.  I slept pretty well and didn’t have any problems except for having to get up a half dozen times to empty my bag.  I mostly did some office work and didn’t move around too much.  We did attend a Town Hall meeting in the park via Zoom.  Wednesday was also a stay at home day.  I spent most of the day setting up my new desktop computer.  Jackie went to happy hour, after which we had dinner and then watched TV until bedtime.

 Thursday, October 13^th, I was able to remove my catheter this morning with no issues.  I feel much better now being able to move around without any issues.  I had to spent two hours of “quality time” today working on dumping the black tank on the coach.  I had gone out to dump the tank yesterday and when I pulled the valve to open it nothing happened.  I thought that the handle had broken off the blade that blocks the opening because for the past month or so the valve had been difficult to pull and this time it moved very easily.  As a result, I took my Dremel tool and cut the housing on the valve to get access to the blade, but when I got into the housing I saw the handle was still attached and the blade moved and opened easily.  This meant the problem was really a clog in the black tank.  After fooling around for an hour with various tools I was able to get the clog released.  It made a bit of a mess, which took another half hour to clean up and stunk to high heaven.  I now still have to replace the valve because I cut it up, so I have one on order with Amazon which should be here Saturday.  That means on Sunday I have to make another mess.  Yuk  I spent the rest of the day doing other chores around the house and was actually able to go to happy hour at 4:00.  After happy hour we had dinner, then watched TV for the rest of the night.

 

Friday, October 14^th, I had a meeting of one of my Co-op committees at 1:00 that ran about 90 minutes.  After the meeting I went back to the coach and did a few chores, then at 4:00 we went to the Clubhouse for happy hour.  After happy hour we just stayed in the Clubhouse so we could play Bingo, which started at 5:30.  The Bingo went until a little after 8:00.  We both won, totaling close to $50 in winnings between us.  After Bingo we watched some TV and went to bed.  Saturday was a chores day.  In the late morning I went over to the Clubhouse and did some work in the audio room of the Clubhouse.  I had recently lobbied for the park to buy new microphones for the Clubhouse to replace the collection of beat-up donations they had been using.  I was trying to get everything set up and working for the Board meeting on Thursday.  While I was doing that I was also running back and forth to the laundry, which is part of the clubhouse, doing our laundry.  Two birds and all that.  By 2:00 I was done with the laundry and with my work in the audio room.  After working and running around all day, I was pretty beat, so we passed on going to karaoke at the Elks tonight.  We just stayed home and watched TV until bedtime.

 Sunday, October 16^th, I went out to try and fix the broken plumbing in the motorhome.  I had the new blade valve for the black tank, but after two hours of work I couldn’t get it apart and gave up.  After I got cleaned up, we did a Walmart run and then came home and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I am going to try and get a service guy to fix the plumbing.  I did have to do my first shift of security duty for this month.  Went out at 8:00 and got back at 9:00.  Monday we were up and out early, on the road by 9:30, heading to Las Vegas for Jackie’s appointment with her throat doctor.  We got to the appointment on time and Jackie reported that she was doing worse, not better.  The doctor said the next step was a referral to a Gastroenterologist to try and address the Gerd problem.  We got all that information and left.  We stopped at an outlet mall to do some shopping, getting new undies and some new shoes and the Skechers store.  After that we stopped at the Egg Works for a late lunch/breakfast.  After eating we made one more quick stop at a Ross store, then headed back over the hill, getting home just in time for happy hour at the Clubhouse.  My son, Roy Jr, had arrived at the park today for a brief stay between jobs.  He came to the clubhouse for happy hour too, since he knows most of the people from previous visits.  He just finished up about five months doing camp hosting near the North rim of the Grand Canyon.  After he leaves here next week he is headed back to Death Valley for the winter at the same place he worked last year.  He looks to be healthy and happy and enjoying his new nomad lifestyle.  After happy hour we went back to the coach and spent a couple hours talking to Roy.  After he went back to his coach we watched TV.  I did have to go out for another hour of security duty at 8:00.  After TV we went to bed.

 Tuesday, October 18^th, I had a 1:30 appointment with my Ophthalmologist for the final follow-up on my eyelid surgery from August.  He said everything looked fine and I didn’t have to come back until my regular six-month checkup.  After I got back to the coach I did a few chores and relaxed.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and Roy met us there.  After happy hour we came back to the coach, watched the news and had some dinner.  Roy stayed and talked until about 7:00, after which we just watched TV until it was time for bed.  Wednesday I had a committee meeting at 11:00, which went about 90 minutes.  After the meeting I had lunch, then Roy and I took another stab at fixing the black tank valve.  We struck out again and quit before we broke something that would render the bathroom unusable.  Right now I just have to monitor the minor leakage to keep from making a mess.  Again, the three of us went to happy hour and then home for dinner.  After Roy went home we just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

 Thursday, October 20^th, was a busy day.  I was over at the clubhouse at 7:30 to start getting ready for the meeting of the Board of Directors.  I had to check the new sound equipment and help get the Zoom process set up.  The meeting was at 9:00 and went for a couple of hours.  After the meeting I had a quick lunch at home and then back to the clubhouse to work with the Comm Tech Committee on processes we may need to use when we Zoom the park’s Annual Meeting in two weeks.  That took another couple of hours.  The three of us did happy hour, then just relaxed for the rest of the night.  Friday we left, with Roy along, about 11:00 and headed back into Las Vegas.  The primary reason was to go to Skechers so Jackie could trade in the shoes she got on Monday for a larger size.  After the shoe store we went to one of the Distill restaurants for lunch, then headed back over the hill.  We got back in time for happy hour, then relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

 Saturday, October 22^nd, I did a few chores around the house in the morning.  In the early afternoon Roy and I went out to do some shopping.  He needed some stuff from Walmart before leaving on Monday for his job in Death Valley and I needed a couple things from Home Depot.  After we got done shopping we went home.  I did a few more chores and Roy came over and we spent a couple of hours visiting.  About 4:30 Jackie and I went over to the Clubhouse for the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.  Our Co-op only has three paid employees, two in the office and a maintenance man.  Everything else that needs to be done is done by volunteers from the membership.  The Silver Seekers, the committee that operates the Clubhouse, put on the dinner.  They had salad, pizza and dessert for all the volunteers who came.  We probably had fifty people in the room, which was a good turnout and probably not all of the people who volunteered their time and effort over the last year.  We got back home around 6:30 and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

 We are now about three weeks into this chapter and it is time to get it online.  Until next time, remember that Friends pick us up when we fall down, and if they can’t pick us up, they lie down and listen for a while.  Go out and make another friend.  See ya soon.