Welcome Back. Our
last chapter concluded on Saturday, June 3rd, at home in Pahrump,
Nevada. Sunday was a stay-at-home
day. We went to the afternoon root beer
floats get-together at 2:00, but just stayed and talked to friends afterwards
since there were not enough people to play Left-Right-Center. A lot of the park have bailed out for the
summer, so the group gatherings are getting smaller by the day.
Monday, June 5th, this would have been the 18th
anniversary of when we sold our house in Indio and bought our motorhome. It is also the 58th anniversary of
the day I graduated from high school in Phoenix, Arizona. Wow, time flies. We went out about noon for lunch at
Rubacaba’s Mexican Food. After lunch we
did some shopping before heading back to the park. We did happy hour at 4:00 then came home and
did some burgers on the grill for dinner.
After dinner we watched TV and went to bed. Tuesday was a stay-at-home day. Did a few chores around the house, but mostly
just relaxed. We did happy hour with the
group at 4:00, then came home and had ribs for dinner. We spent the rest of the night watching TV.
Wednesday, June 7th, Jackie went to play Pokeno
at 1:00 and my friend Len came over about the same time and we jammed with our
guitars until about 2:30. After Len left,
I did some chores. We went to happy hour
at the clubhouse at 4:00, then came home, had dinner and spent the night with
the TV. Thursday, my brother Dennis’
birthday. Today was a stay-at-home
day. Got a couple little things done,
mostly just relaxed. The usual happy
hour at 4:00, then home for dinner and TV watching until bedtime.
Friday, June 9th, today was kind of a chore’s
day. We went out about 10:30 and both
got haircuts, more trims really, getting ready for the cruise next week. We ran some errands, picked up my suit at the
cleaners, again for the cruise, got a couple of things at Walmart, had lunch at
Arby’s, then went home. We did happy
hour and after happy hour we picked up our friends Lee and Kim and drove to
nearby Tower Pizza for dinner. We had
gone to Tower Pizza, which is only a couple miles from the park, once several
years ago, and we were not impressed and never went back. However, Lee and Kim said they have improved
and that on the weekends, Friday and Saturday, they have seafood specials. We decided to give it a try. Color me now impressed. I had a seafood platter that was scallops,
clam strips and shrimp, that had to be the largest I have ever been
served. Jackie had a grilled cod dish
that was also huge. We both took home
huge leftovers. Kim had the fish and chips,
and the piece of fish was monstrous. Lee
was the only one that actually had Italian food, an eggplant parm that looked
pretty good too. After dinner we dropped
them off and headed home to lie in our chairs and moan about our overly full
tummies. Spent the rest of the night
with the TV.
Saturday, June 10
th, we went out for a late lunch
about 1:00 to Terribles Roadhouse restaurant.
After lunch we went home and relaxed for a while. About 5:00 we left again, this time dressed
in our nice clothes, and drove to the Saddle West Casino downtown to go to the
Ms. Senior Golden Years pageant in the ballroom. This is an annual event in Pahrump that has
been going on for 20 years now. There
were seven contestants and they had competitions for talent, bathing suits (old
style 20-30s) and evening gowns. They
also had a lot of local talent performing songs and other entertainment. The pageant went about two hours, although we
had gotten there two hours early to get a good seat. After the pageant we went home and watched a
little TV before going to bed. Sunday
was a stay-at-home day. We went to the
clubhouse at 2:00 for ice cream, then came home and relaxed the rest of the
day.
Monday, June 12
th, Jackie left about 10:30 to go
to a ladies lunch at the Artesian Cellars restaurant. I stayed home and did some packing and
chores. After Jackie got home, we went
to happy hour and then watched TV until bedtime. I did do my first tour of security duty at
8:00. Tuesday, we went out about noon to
lunch at Dennys. We then went to the
nail salon where I got my nails trimmed and Jackie got a full mani and
pedi. While she was doing that I went
out and ran a few errands. After we got home,
we went to happy hour, then Jackie went to a ladies only happy hour at 6:00 at
our friend Nancy’s house. I did my
second tour of security duty and we spent most of the night with the TV.
Wednesday, June 14th, we had a 10:00 meeting in
the clubhouse, an informal, “coffee with the Board” gathering. I went over about 9:00 to setup the zoom
equipment so those out of the park could participate as well. The meeting went pretty good, mostly civil
with lots of discussion. After lunch
Jackie went to play Pokeno in the clubhouse while I went out and ran some
errands. I had to pick up laundry for
the cruise as well as Jackie’s wedding rings, which she had left at the jewelers
yesterday to have to two rings soldered together. After I got home I did a few chores. We did happy hour with the group, then came
home and had dinner. I did my last
security shift for the month tonight. Thursday
was a stay at home day. We spent the day
getting ready to leave for our cruise tomorrow.
We did some last minute laundry and packing and got the house ready to
leave for a week. We did do happy hour with
the group, then came home, had dinner and spent the night with the TV.
Friday, June 16th, my oldest daughter Tye’s
birthday. Happy Birthday. Today was a travel day. We left Pahrump with the house closed up and
our bags in the backseat, headed for Los Angeles. It’s a little under 300 miles to LA from
Pahrump, and should take about 5 hours, not counting breaks. We were doing great for the first half of the
trip, stopping at the In and Out Burger in Barstow for lunch. After that it was a drag. It took literally an hour to get down the Cajon
Hill on I-15 from Hesperia to San Bernardino.
The traffic was blocked in and going 12 miles per hour for 20 miles or
more. Once we got into the LA basin the
traffic was moderate, typical work day freeway traffic. We finally got into the Crown Plaza hotel in
San Pedro at 5:00. We got checked into
our room, brought in our bags, and got the car parked in the garage where it
will stay for the seven days we are away.
We had a drink and a light dinner in the hotel bar, then went up to the
room, watched a little TV and went to bed.
Tomorrow is the big day, onto the ship about noon or so and off for a
week of cruising.
Saturday, June 17
th, we were up, had some coffee
and then went down to the dining room for breakfast. After breakfast we brought the luggage down
to the lobby and checked out of the room by 11:00. Our shuttle picked us up at 12:30 and took us
down to the port to meet our ship, the Emerald Princess of the Princess Cruise
line. This will be our first cruise on a
Princess ship. We arrived at the pier at
12:30, dropped our luggage off with the porters and went through check-in. Unlike our experience with our Norwegian Line
cruise in February, this check-in took only a few minutes. We were on the ship in less than 30
minutes. We were able to go directly to
our stateroom and drop our carry on stuff, then we went and checked into our
emergency muster station. The new safety
procedures don’t require the old style “everyone report to your muster station
with your life vests on” procedure. Now
you have to watch a video on your TV or phone, then just report to you assigned
station and check-in. That way they know
that you know where your muster station is.
By the time we got back to the room our luggage had arrived, so we spent
an hour or so unpacking. After unpacking
we went out and explored the three indoor public decks, 5, 6 and 7. These are where all the bars, lounges, dining
rooms, shops, the casino, and the theater are located. We had our first cocktail of the cruise and
watched some of the entertainment. About
6:30 or so we went to the dining room for dinner. Unfortunately for the blog, I don’t remember
all of the meals we had, but the food was typically pretty good, with modest
portions, but, as always, you could always get more, or even change you mind if
you didn’t like something. The ship
sailed around 5:00, so by the time we were done with dinner we were able to go
to the casino. We didn’t have a lot of
luck, but we did manage to figure out the odd way that you had to put money in
the slot machines.
Princess provides every passenger with a small, RFID chip
enhanced ID medallion. This medallion is
you key to everything on the cruise. It
is your room key, your ID for getting on and off the ship, your “credit card”
for buying everything on the ship from goods in the shops to drinks to
specialty meals. The other thing is that
the ship is lined on every public deck with sensors, so the computers on the
ship know exactly where you are to within five feet anytime you are on the
ship. There are even sensors in the
bathrooms of the cabins. When you are
going to your cabin as you approach your stateroom door the sensor “sees” you and
unlocks you door for you. To play the
slot machine you have to put your medallion up to the machine so it knows it’s
you, then you can put in money. When you
cash out of a machine the money goes in your “bank” which is also a part of the
chip program. The whole program is very
convenient and scary at the same time.
After some time in the casino we went to karaoke. I had been told in an email from the cruise
that they were doing a kind of “American Idol meets The Voice” on the ship,
where they had karaoke sessions the first two nights, after which selected
singers would be involved in a contest that went the rest of the cruise,
culminating in a finals night on the last night of the cruise. Turns out that program was not being done on
this cruise. I sang a couple of songs
from their limited selection, then we went out, had a night cap in one of the
bars, and went to bed.
Sunday, June 18
th, Happy Fathers Day. Today was a day at sea as we sailed north
along the California coast heading for San Francisco. Because we had booked this cruise at the last
minute, less than a month before sailing, we had to settle for an inside
cabin. The good thing was that because
there were no windows, we could sleep as long as we wanted, and we did. We got up around 9:00, ordered coffee from
room service and relaxed before getting ready for the day. We went to lunch in the buffet, which was
very nice, although much, much smaller than the one on the Norwegian ship. After lunch we spent the afternoon in
different parts of the ship, a little time in the casino, watching some games
in the lounges, drinking and just enjoying a quiet but fun afternoon. About 6:00 we went back to the cabin and
changed for dinner. Tonight was listed
as a “formal night” although unlike cruising from the past, it is no longer
mandatory. I put on a suit and Jackie
put on a nice dress and we went to dinner in one of the dining rooms
again. Only a handful of passengers were
actually in anything even close to formal, which I consider to be at least a suit
or sport coat. We had a very nice dinner
and after dinner we went to the theater to watch one of the production
shows. This one was called “Magic to Do”
and was basically a musical magic show.
The singing, dancing and magic were very good, but the story was a
little hard to keep track of because there was no dialogue, just the words to
the various songs. After the show we
went to the casino for a while. Jackie
didn’t do to well, but I hit four deuces and won $250. Yea, money in my “bank.” After the casino we hit the bed.
Monday, June 19
th, we docked in San Francisco,
right in the Embarcadero area between downtown and Fisherman’s Wharf. We slept in again since we had no set plans
or excursions scheduled. We have been to
San Francisco numerous times over the years and didn’t really have any expectations
of doing any sightseeing. We went ashore
about 1:00 and walked to Fisherman’s Wharf where we had lunch at a place on the
pier called Fog Harbor House. We had a
very nice seafood dinner and then walked around the wharf for a while. After a couple of hours we caught a pedicab
back to the ship and went back aboard.
On this cruise the ship stays docked in San Francisco overnight and
doesn’t leave until 5 the next day. We
picked tonight to have dinner in one of the specialty restaurants, the Crown
Grill Steakhouse. I had a filet with a
lobster tail and Jackie had lamb chops.
It was a good dinner, but not as good as the steakhouse on the Norwegian
Joy. After dinner we just wandered
about, having some drinks and watching some of the entertainment around the
ship. We also visited the casino briefly
without any good luck. We went to the
room about 11:00 or so and went to bed.
Tuesday, June 20
th, we were still in San
Francisco when we got up after sleeping in again. We had lunch in one of the dining rooms and
met a very pleasant lady named Linda and her grandson Skyler. We had a nice conversation with them and a
very nice lunch. In the afternoon we
stayed on the ship and just chilled with the various activities around the
ship. I spent a little time in the hot
tub. The ship sailed at 5:00 and I went
up on deck to take some pictures, particularly of us going under the Golden
Gate Bridge. After we sailed we changed
for dinner and had dinner in one of the dining rooms. After dinner we hit the casino, but didn’t
stay long because they were very busy and we weren’t doing well anyway. We went to the theater again tonight for a
comedy show put on by Alfred and Seymor, two black comedians who put on a
hilarious improv show that we really enjoyed.
We also went to one of the lounges for a singer named Erik Bryan who was
very good as well. After a fun night we
hit the bed for the day.
Wednesday, June 21
st, was another day at sea as
we made our way back south, headed to San Diego tomorrow. After sleeping in again we had lunch in the
buffet, then spent the day just killing time around the ship. We watched a couple of games, did a little
gaming, and generally just relaxed.
Tonight was the second formal night and Jackie and I got dressed up
again, although still in the minority.
We had a nice dinner in one of the dining rooms, then went out to enjoy
the evening on the ship. Tonight in the
theater they had another production show, this one called “Disco, Blame it on
the Boogie.” Like the first show, it was
all music and dancing without any real story line, but it was a lot of fun with
great music. After the show we went to
some of the other entertainment, including a presentation by a guy who was a
crew member for Fleetwood Mac for most of the years they were touring. He gave a really interesting behind the
scenes look at the group and the history of some of their songs. After a fun evening we went to bed around
11:00 again.
Thursday, June 22
nd, we arrived in San Diego in
the morning. We got off the ship about
noon and took a cab to Joe’s Crab Shack for lunch. The reason we went there is that about a week
before the cruise I was going through my wallet and found a gift card from the
Landrys restaurant group for $50.
Unfortunately I don’t remember who gave us, or me, the card or when, or
why, but it was still good. The Landrys
Group owns a couple of dozen restaurant chains and Joes Crab Shack is one of
them. We decided since we were going to
San Diego we would go there for a nice lunch.
We did have a nice lunch which was half price because of the gift
card. Yea and thank you to whomever gave
us the card. After lunch we went back to
the ship because, like San Francisco, we have been to San Diego dozens of times
and had no need to sightsee or party. We
changed for dinner in the dining room, then relaxed with the activities around
the ship until we went to the late production show, which they called a “Rock
Opera” which again was a lot of singing and dancing. Of the three shows it was by far the
best. After the show we went to some of
the other venues, including another round of karaoke. We were in bed by about 11:30 after a fun
evening.
Friday, June 23
rd, the last full day of the
cruise. We had left San Diego last night
around 10:00 and sailed south to Ensenada, Mexico, where we were now
docked. We left the ship about 1:00 and
went out for lunch again. We went
downtown and ate at a nice place right across the street from the place we ate
at a year ago when we took the four day cruise out of Los Angeles. After lunch I stopped and bought a tee shirt
and we went back to the ship. Tonight we
have to have our luggage packed and out of the cabin by 11:00, so we decided to
just go back and pack before dinner.
After we were all packed we changed for dinner and ate in one of the
dining rooms again. After dinner we went
to the casino and cashed out the “banks” on our medallions. I still had most of the $250 I had won
earlier in the cruise. We went to
another show in the theater, this one another show by Alfred and Seymour that
was just as funny as the earlier one. We
then had a couple of cocktails, watched a game show and hit the bed about 10:00
since we had to be up early tomorrow.
Saturday, June 24th, we got up at 6:30, showered
and left our cabin by the 8:00 deadline.
We no sooner got to the lounge where we were assigned to wait to
disembark when they called our group and we walked off the ship. Customs was a piece of cake, we got our bags
and went out and caught the shuttle back to the hotel. We got the car out of parking and were on the
road heading back to Pahrump at 9:09 a.m.
The drive back was much easier than last Friday coming here. Traffic was mostly light. We stopped in Baker for lunch and still
pulled into our driveway at the RV park at exactly 3:00. We got the bags in and unpacked, then just
relaxed the rest of the night. It was a
wonderful cruise but we are glad to be back home again.
Sunday, June 25th, today was a stay at home and
do chores day. We did a number of loads
of laundry, cleaning up after the cruise.
I also spent some time putting stuff away in the storage shed, like dress
clothes and luggage. We went to the
Sunday afternoon gathering and chatted with some of the few friends we have
still in the park. Everyday more and
more members leave for summer travels out of the desert heat. We did some steaks on the grill for dinner,
watched some TV and went to bed. Monday was
a chores day. We finished up the laundry
from the cruise and did some chores around the house. We went out in the afternoon to do some
shopping. After shopping we came home,
put everything away and went to the happy hour gathering. The group is getting progressively smaller as
people go away for the summer. We were
only a half dozen today. After happy
hour we went home and Jackie made a meat loaf for dinner. After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.
Tuesday, June 27th, we left the park about 11:00
and headed over the hill to Las Vegas.
Jackie had a doctor’s appointment and we needed to do a Costco run as
well. We hit Costco first, being careful
not to buy anything that might go bad in the heat. Mostly vodka and paper products. We then stopped and had brunch at a café not
too far from the doctors office. After
brunch we went to the ear doctor. He
looked in Jackie’s ear and didn’t see any marked differences. The hole he made in the ear drum as a test
last month had healed and Jackie had no seen any differences as a result of the
hole. The doctor then confirmed that
putting in a tube was not indicated and that it was most likely a neurological
issue, not something physical within the ear.
Jackie has to go back in a couple of months for another follow-up. After the doctor we stopped at Kohl’s and
shopped a little before heading over the hump.
We got back to the park about 5:00.
We just snacked for dinner, watched TV and went to bed.
Wednesday, June 28th, was a stay at home day. Jackie went to play Pokeno with her
girlfriends at the clubhouse at 1:00. I
spent the two hours in the shed practicing on my guitar and the keyboard. Since I got the very nice, and free, electric
keyboard I have been working on basic piano chords as well as playing on my guitar. Helps the mind to learn new things. We did a couple of chores around the house
and went to happy hour at 4:00. Our
friends Max and Nancy were there for the last time this summer. They are leaving the park tomorrow and
traveling for a couple of months. Our
happy hour crew is dwindling. After happy
hour we went home and we spent the rest of the evening watching TV. Thursday I had an early awakening, about 6:00
when I heard voices outside our trailer talking about a water leak. Turned out to be us. The connection for the water hose on the side
of the coach had failed and we had a big leak.
I was able to do a work around pretty quickly so we are not without
water, but now I have to get the replacement part on warranty from the dealer
we bought the trailer from. The rest of
the day was spent doing some little chores around the house. We had happy hour and then spent the night
with the TV.
Friday, June 30, the end of the first half of 2023. We had a meeting of the Board of Directors at
1:00. I am not on the Board anymore, but
I am one of the crew that operates the Zoom system for members who are not
physically in the park. I went over
early to get set up and then did the meeting.
The meeting went until almost 3:00.
We left the park shortly after the meeting to run some errands, including
a Walmart run. We didn’t get back in
time for happy hour. We had a pot roast
for dinner that had been cooking all day in the crock pot. Yum!
After dinner we watched TV and went to bed. Saturday we had a relaxing day for the most
part. We decided that I would try
karaoke at the Elks again to see if the rotation was shorter. We went out for a late lunch at Mom’s Diner,
then went home for a while. Around 5:00
we went to the Elks and found that, if anything, the crowd was bigger than
normal. The first rotation took over two
hours. Jackie did have some good luck on
the poker machine at the bar, winning $100.
I didn’t even wait around for a second song, we left the Elks about 7:30
and headed home. We spent the rest of
the night with the TV.
Sunday, July 2nd, was another stay at home
day. We are in the middle of a heat
wave, with daytime temps at about 113 degrees here in Pahrump. Did a few chores and some office work, but
that was about it. We did go to root
beer floats at 2:00 and visited with the group, but after we got home we just
relaxed for the rest of the night.
Monday was also hot and another stay at home day. A few little chores and that was the extent
of the day. We went to happy hour at
4:00, then came home and had Costco chicken for dinner. Our friend Linda had called earlier to say
she was at Costco and did we want a chicken.
After dinner we watched TV until bedtime.
We are now a month into this episode, so time to
publish. Until next time, enjoy life and
stay happy. See ya.
