Spring in the Pahrump Valley

Hi there.  Our last chapter concluded on Thursday, March 23^rd, after a hectic month of travel.  Friday, we decided that Jackie needed to go to the urgent care at our health center to see if they could do something about the cough and what appears to be a bladder infection.  She only got to see a Nurse Practitioner, but she was very thorough and took her time checking Jackie.  She wasn’t sure exactly what was wrong but didn’t think it was anything in the lungs.  More upper respiratory.  She still sent her for a chest Xray to be sure.  Jackie got a prescription for antibiotics for the UTI and some steroids for the cough and congestion.  By the time we got the prescriptions filled it was about 6:30, so we missed tonight’s bingo session.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Saturday, March 25^th, was a stay-at-home day.  I had a bunch of paperwork to do for the Board of Directors and some other chores around the house that kept me busy.  Sunday Jackie was already feeling a little better and sleeping better at night.  She felt well enough that we went to root beer floats and the weekly “left-right-center” game at the clubhouse.  We had a good afternoon.  We had dinner and spent the rest of the night watching TV.  I had my first night of security duty tonight.

Monday, March 27^th, I had a 1:00 meeting of the Board of Directors.  We have had two resignations from the Board, the President and Secretary both resigned.  The meeting was mainly to elect new officers for those positions.  I was elected to Secretary of the Board and our friend Don Onley joined the Board and was elected the new Vice President’ The old VP, Pat Bosworth, moved up to the President’s position.  After the meeting we went home, then went to happy hour later.  After happy hour we had dinner and spent the rest of the night watching TV after I did my hour-long security patrol.

Tuesday, March 28^th, we stayed home and did chores most of the day.  At 4:00 we went to El Jefe Mexican restaurant for the park’s monthly dine-out.  We had great food and good friends.  After we were done, we went home.  Jackie left about 5:30, picked up some friends, and went to the Elks Lodge for the Lodge Meeting.  two of our friends from the park, Nichole Hudson and Sharon Guthrie, were being inducted into the Elks and they wanted to be there.  I didn't go because I had my last tour of security duty for the month.  Jackie got home about 9:20, after which we spent the rest of the night watching TV.  Wednesday Jackie felt well enough to go to Pokeno.  I did some chores around the house.  When she was done, we did a Walmart run.  After we got home, we just relaxed for the rest of the night.

Thursday, March 30^th, we had pretty much a stay-at-home day.  Friday was also a stay-at-home day.  Jackie is feeling a little better after getting the medicine last Friday.  Saturday was the first day of April.  If we go by the temperatures, it doesn’t seem like Spring, or even April.  I had a Board meeting at 10:00 in the Clubhouse.  It was quite a meeting with our new Vice President presenting some issues about communications within the newly constituted Board.  After the meeting we did some shopping, then spent the rest of the day in the park.

Sunday, April 2^nd, I had another Board meeting at 1:00, this one an Executive meeting of the Board to discuss some of the things brought up yesterday at the open meeting.  It was a good meeting and I think we resolved some issues.  We went to root beer floats at 2:00 and played LCR with our friends afterwards.  We went home and relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening.  Monday was a chores day around the house.  Got a few things done.  Jackie’s cure seems to be wearing off and she is getting her allergy symptoms back again.  Not good. 

Tuesday, April 4^th, I had an 11:00 dentist appointment for a cleaning.  Everything was good and I was out in about 45 minutes.  Jackie had a manicure at 2:00 and after I dropped her off, I had to go to one of the local banks with some other Board members to get some account changes made.  Since I am now the Secretary of the Board, I am a signer on most of the bank accounts for the Co-op.  After the bank I picked up Jackie and we went shopping.  We went home, went to happy hour at 4:00, then had dinner and spent the night with the TV.  Wednesday Jackie had Pokeno, and my friend Len came over in the afternoon and we spent an hour and a half practicing guitar, something we haven’t done in a while.  After Jackie got home, we did some chores, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, April 6^th, Jackie had a 2:00 eye appointment.  We went out to a late lunch at one of the taco shops in town before the appointment.  After the appointment we ran some errands then went home.  Did happy hour and then had leftovers for dinner.  Friday, I did some work in the park office in the morning, then at noon we went to a hamburger lunch in the Clubhouse.  We had a really good turnout and had a nice lunch and conversation with friends.  After lunch we went home and did some chores.

Saturday, April 8^th, we picked up our friends Millie and Charlene about 10:30 and drove to another of our free MASA luncheons at the China Wok buffet.  We listened to the usual speech and had a big lunch.  After lunch we drove home, and I spent a couple of hours in the park office again doing some Board work.  I went to happy hour alone because Jackie was still feeling a little down.  She did go to a “Sip and paint” session in the clubhouse at 6:00 while I stayed home and watched TV.  She came back with a neat little painting and a buzz and said she had a good time.  We watched some TV and went to bed.

Sunday, April 9^th, Happy Easter.  We had a quiet morning and about 2:30 went down to the clubhouse for Easter dinner.  This was one of the dinners where an individual, in our case our friend Millie, hosts a table and prepares the main dish.  They get some financial support from the Silver Seekers club to buy the main dish.  Everyone else who signs up for that table then also signs up to bring a side dish.  The main dish today was ham, but Millie also had some turkey available.  We brought a crock pot mac and cheese dish.  We had over a dozen people at our table and had a really nice meal.  Good conversation with friends.  After dinner we helped clean up, then headed back to the house where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing.  Monday, we didn’t have any big plans, but we did have yet another meal, this time the monthly dine out with the Lucky Rollers camping group.  About 11:30 we drove to Living Free, a restaurant on the North end of town that helps support people with drug, alcohol or other issues to get back on their feet.  It supports a good cause, and the food is good too.  We had a nice meal, again with many friends from the park.  After lunch we ran a few errands, then headed back home.  We spent the rest of the day around the house.

Tuesday, April 11^th, we left the house about 10:00 or so and headed over the hill to Las Vegas to take our car to the Ford dealer for its annual service.  Since our car is a plug-in hybrid model, the gasoline engine does not get nearly the amount of wear and tear as the engine in a regular car.  Therefore, the service manual calls for an oil change and other services only when the car’s computer has determined that the engine has run for a certain number of hours, or annually, whichever comes first.  I don’t know what the number of engine hours is required to cause the “service engine” light to come on, but we have never seen it in the six years we have had the car.  So, we get it done once a year.  Once we got into Vegas, we stopped at a breakfast restaurant before we went to the dealership.  Our appointment at the dealer was at 1:00 and we were done two hours later.  After the car service we stopped and did a very expensive Costco run.  It has been a while since we hit Costco, so the car was loaded when we headed back over the hill.  After we got home, we put everything away and just relaxed with the TV for the rest of the night.

Wednesday, April 12^th, I had an appointment at Wells Fargo Bank with some of the other Board members changing the names on some of the Co-op’s bank accounts.  Since I am now the Secretary of the Board, I am going on all the bank accounts as a signatory.  I back home for lunch and Jackie went to play Pokeno in the clubhouse at 1:00.  While she was gone, I did some chores around the house.  We did happy hour with the group at 4:00, then went home and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Thursday, I had an appointment at a different bank in town at 11:00 to set up more Co-op accounts.  After I got back home we had a 1:00 meeting in the clubhouse for the Silver Seekers group.  At 5:00 we were back in the Clubhouse for an Italian Night potluck.  I had some Italian music playing in the background and we had a very nice dinner.  For our dish we made a big Costco lasagna, which sadly was all gone by the time we got to go through the line.  There was still lots of good food though.  By about 7:00 we were back home and spent the rest of the night watching TV. 

Friday, April 14^th, we were again out of the house about 10:30 and heading to Las Vegas, this time for Jackie to see an Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) doctor about her continual allergies and stuffed up ears and head.  We stopped for lunch before going to the doctor.  This time Jackie had a real MD, not a Nurse Practitioner or PA.  He was very nice and took his time with her, giving her a thorough exam.  He even gave her a hearing test just to ensure that the stuffy feeling wasn’t just being hard of hearing.  It wasn’t.  He did find some fluid in the inner ears and set her up with some allergy meds to try and stop the runny nose, stuffy head and coughing.  After the appointment we stopped at a couple of stores for some shopping, then headed back over the hill.  After we got home, we spent the rest of the night on the couch.  Saturday was a stay-at-home day.  At 4:00 we had a chili cookoff at the clubhouse.  I had made a pot of my regular chili early this afternoon which I entered into the contest.  We only had five contestants this year, but I still didn’t win.  Our friend Millie won both the judges’ pick and the people’s choice prizes.  After the chili cookoff we went home and spent the night with the TV. 

Sunday, April 16^th, my brother Russ and his wife Zen, who live in Las Vegas, came to visit.  They have not been up since we sold the motorhome and bought the trailer we now call home.  We had a very nice visit.  We all went over to the Mountain Falls Country Club for a nice lunch overlooking the golf course.  We then went back home and just sat and talked until they left around 5:00 or so.  We spent the rest of the evening at home.  Monday, I had a meeting with the Board of Directors at 1:00.  Today was our workshop meeting where we set the agenda for the regular Board meeting on Thursday morning.  The meeting went on for a couple of hours.  After the meeting we did happy hour with the group, then went home and had dinner. 

Tuesday, April 18^th, Tax Day.  Didn’t mean anything to us since we filed our taxes in late February and got our refund back in about four days.  Jackie had her six-month checkup with her eye doctor in the early afternoon.  Everything was fine with her eyes; she doesn’t even need new glasses.  After she was done, we went out and ran some errands around town.  We got back in time for happy hour, then had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.  Wednesday we were actually a little busy.  I had an 11:00 meeting at the bank again, still getting the Co-op’s bank accounts cleaned up.  Jackie caught a ride with our friend Charlene to go to the China Wok at 11:30 for another free MASA lunch.  MASA is the emergency services insurance that we already are lifetime members of.  However, any member can still come to the period presentations, listen to the speech, then get a free lunch.  I got to the restaurant after my bank business just in time to eat, so I didn’t even have to sit through the speech.  After we got home Jackie went to Pokeno and I did some office work and chores around the house.  We did happy hour then dinner.  We stayed home the rest of the night, although I had my first tour of security duty in the park from 8 to 9.

Thursday, April 20^th, I had a 9:00 Board meeting in the clubhouse which went until about 11:00.  Jackie had a 1:00 appointment to get her nails done.  While she was gone, I did some chores around the house.  We did happy hour and then dinner and I had another shift of security duty at 8:00.  Other than that, it was relax with the TV for the night.  Friday Jackie went out for a lady’s luncheon with the women from the park at 11:30. I had a committee meeting at 1:00 which went until almost 3:00.  We did happy hour, then dinner, and I did the last of my three security shifts for the month at 8:00.

Saturday, April 22^nd, Jackie had a hair appointment at 11:00.  Other than that, we just stayed around the park for the day.  At 5:00 we had a “potato bake” dinner at the clubhouse.  After the dinner there was a brown bag auction.  Everyone at the dinner brought some prize in a brown bag and they auctioned them off as a fund raiser.  We bought one bag and got a few things worth keeping.  We did have a nice dinner with friends and some fun, then headed back to the house where we spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Sunday was another stay-at-home day.  We did root beer floats with the group, but didn’t do the usual Sunday game of left, right, center because there weren’t enough people.  The Lucky Rollers camping group is going out on their Spring campout starting in the morning, so most of our friends were getting ready for that. 

Monday, April 24^th, was a stay-at-home day for us since we no longer have an RV to go camping with.  We didn’t even go to happy hour because most of our happy hour group was out camping.  Tuesday, we did get out to run some errands and then at 4:00 we met with the park’s dine out group at the Roadhouse Casino for dinner.  We had another nice meal with people from the park.  After dinner we gamed for a little while, then headed back home where we relaxed the rest of the night.

Wednesday, April 26^th, we left the house about 11:00 or so and drove to Amargosa Valley, a small community in Nevada about an hour North of Pahrump, for the Lucky Rollers campout.  They were camping in the RV park at the Longstreet Hotel and Casino, which was right on the Nevada/California state line.  We had made reservations for the night at the hotel so we could spend a couple of nights with the camping group, even without an RV.  When we got there most of the group was out doing their own thing in the afternoon.  We sat with the ones that were still around the campground for an hour or so, but there was very little shade in the campground, and it got a little too hot.  We went into the casino and gamed for an hour, then checked into our room.  It was a very nice hotel room, very big, and even had a fireplace.  We went down to the campground about 3:00 for a meeting of the camping group and then some drawings.  We then had happy hour and another potato bake dinner with the group.  When the sun went down and it finally got some shade, we sat and talked.  I had brought my guitar along and got it out and spent an hour or so playing and singing with the group.  At about 8:00 or so we went back to the hotel room where we stayed the rest of the night. 

Thursday April 27^th, we had to be out of the hotel by 11:00, so we got everything packed in the car and went down to the camping area.  It was again very sunny and hot and there was no one around, so we just headed back to home.  After we got back home, we unpacked and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the house.  Friday was pretty much a stay-at-home day except for a Walmart run in the afternoon.  We got back home and had an early dinner so we could go to the clubhouse at 5:30 for bingo.  We had a nice time and Jackie won half of one bingo pot.  I didn’t get anything, although I was close a couple of times.  After bingo we went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, April 29^th, I had a Board Meeting at 1:00 that went on for a couple of hours.  After the meeting we went out and ran some errands, then came back for happy hour.  After happy hour we had dinner and spent the night watching TV.  Sunday was also pretty much stay at home.  We did root beer floats and LCR in the afternoon, but other than that just did a few things around the house.

Monday, May 1^st, May Day!  May Day! Jackie had a 1:00 lunch with another group of ladies from the park.  They were gone a couple of hours and I just did some work around the house.  We went to happy hour, skipped dinner because we were both full, and just watched TV until it was time for bed.  Tuesday was pretty much the same.  We stayed home and did some chores around the house. 

Wednesday, May 3^rd, Jackie had her Pokeno group in the clubhouse at 1:00.  I did some office work and some chores around the house while she played.  I also gathered my sound equipment and transported it to the clubhouse for the Lip Sync party we are doing on Friday night.  I got everything set up and working because some of the people who signed up to do songs wanted to have a rehearsal after happy hour today.  After Jackie was done with Pokeno we did a Walmart run.  We came back and put stuff away and made the tail end of happy hour.  At 6:00 a bunch of the women who are going to be doing songs on Friday got together to plan, but there was no live rehearsal.  Turned out I didn’t need to set the sound stuff up early after all.  After the lip sync planning session, we went back to the trailer and ate dinner, some KFC we bought after we went to Walmart earlier.  After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.

Thursday, May 4^th, Star Wars Day.  No planned stuff today.  Did a few chores around the house and ran out to the Dollar store after lunch for a few things for tomorrow night’s big lip sync show.  After we got back, we went to happy hour, which turned into a decorating party for the Cinco de Mayo potluck dinner tomorrow night.  After happy hour we went home, watched TV and went to bed.  We are now six weeks into this episode, time to get it put online.  We have extended the time between postings because we aren’t traveling anymore, so this had really turned from a travel blog to more of a diary for us.  Nonetheless, we still put it online in case there are any friends or family out there who want to see our now much less travelled life.  See ya soon.