A New Year Begins in Pair-A-Dice

Hi there, welcome back.  Our last episode ended on Sunday, December 31^st, New Year’s Eve.  That was also the day we boarded the Carnival Miracle cruise ship for a six night New Year’s cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  We celebrated New Year’s Eve while out at sea heading South towards Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Monday, January 1, 2024, Happy New Year’s day.   Today was a sea day and, although it was a bit stormy in Los Angeles, our seas were calm and we had a nice voyage.  It was too chilly to be on the outside decks, but we spent the day taking in the different venues on the ship.  We went to karaoke in the afternoon and I got to do a couple of songs.  We had dinner with Jim and Linda Sullivan, our friends from the Escapees Park who are also on this cruise.  It was they who had initially told us about the cruise. After dinner we gambled a little, then went to the theater for the first big show of the cruise.  It was a musical theater featuring piano music for the most part.  After the theater we went to the comedy club for a show, then headed to our cabin for bed.

Tuesday, January 2^nd, we arrived in Cabo San Lucas about 8:30 or so.  Because we had a balcony cabin we were able to watch us pull into port and anchor in the bay.  Cabo is a tender port, meaning you get off the ship onto a small tender boat, which then takes you to the dock.  We went ashore about 10:00 with Linda and got onto a 100 foot catamaran boat so we could go whale watching.  It was a nice boat with a friendly crew and open bar.  We were out a little over two hours and saw lot of whales We were not able to get too much in the way of pictures because they were usually a hundred yards or more away and you never knew when or where one was going to appear.  We did see a lot of whales coming up to the surface, and even a couple who did the back flip jump out of the water, which is spectacular to see.  After the whale watching tour we did a little shopping before heading back to the ship.  The ship pulled anchor about 5:30 and we went back out to sea.  However, since we are going to be coming back into the this same port in the morning, they just go out a little ways and then float around all night.  They only leave so they can open the casino and on-board shops.  About 6:30 we had dinner with the Sullivans, then did some gambling and drinking around the ship.  There was no big show tonight, but we did go to the late night comedy show.  After that we went to bed.

Wednesday, January 3^rd, we were back in port in Cabo about 8:00.  We and Linda went ashore about 10:30 or so and spent a couple of hours shopping and having lunch in town.  I went to a bar called the Giggling Marlin that I remembered visiting on a cruise back in the 90’s.  I had bought a tee shirt, which has long since been discarded, and I wanted to get a new one.  I got a couple of tee shirts, as did Jackie.  We were back on ship around 2:30 or so.  Jackie and I had made reservations for dinner in the steak house on board, called Nick and Nora’s Steak House.  It was an extra cost event, but well worth it.  We both had a fabulous meal and a wonderful, romantic evening together.  After dinner we went to the show in the theater, which tonight was “The 80’s” and it was great.  Almost all of our times in the theater and in the comedy club we were accompanied by Linda.  Jim doesn’t much care for the shows and stuff and just spends all his time in the casino.  We went to the late comedy show, then headed to our cabin for the night.

Thursday, January 4^th, we had another day at sea.  We spent the day at different venues and bars on the ship, just relaxing.  We had dinner with the Sullivans at 6:30 and then took in another musical show in the theater about 9:30.  After the show we went to the comedy club where we stayed for both acts, getting into bed around 11:30 or so.  Friday we docked in Ensenada, Mexico for the day.  This was a pier port, so we and Linda got off about 11:00 or so and went into town.  We did some shopping and had lunch at a place we had eaten at a few months ago when we were here.  We had a nice meal and got a few souvenirs.  After we got back on the ship we relaxed until dinner.  Tonight was the night we had to pack our bags and get them out in the hallway before 10:00 because tomorrow the cruise is over and we are back in Long Beach.  We had dinner at 6:30 and then went to the Theater were the two comedians put on there acts on the big stage.  After that we did some gaming, then headed off to bed.

Saturday, January 6^th, we were docked back in Long Beach early in the morning.  We had to be out of our cabins by 8:30, so we got ready and went up to have some breakfast.  We were able to get off the ship by a little after 9:00 and we were back at the hotel, in our car and headed back to Pahrump by 10:00.  The trip home was uneventful, and traffic was fairly light.  We stopped at the outlet mall in Barstow so Jackie could get some things.  We also had lunch there and got some gas before finishing the trip.  We arrived back in Pahrump before dark, about 5:00 or so.  Took our bags in and just crashed until we went to bed.

Sunday, January 7, today was mostly an unpacking and doing laundry day.  We did go to the Sunday social and played Left Right Center with the group for the first time in a few months.  There haven’t been enough people to do it until recently.  After the social we went home and finished our clean up work.  We had dinner and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Monday we had an 11:30 lunch with the Lucky Rollers camping club.  We went to the Indian restaurant we like, the Pour House.  We had a really large group today.  After lunch we did some shopping then headed back to the park.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then home for dinner and an evening with the TV. 

Tuesday, January 9^th, I had an early meeting in the clubhouse and Jackie went for a manicure appointment.  At 1:00 we both had a meeting of the Silver Seekers Board of Directors.  We are both member of the Board and I am the Vice President.  This was a planning meeting went for about an hour an a half.  After the meeting we just did some chores around the house until happy hour.  After happy hour we spent the rest of the evening in the trailer relaxing.  Wednesday Jackie had an early, 8:00, meeting with her Ophthalmologist.  It seems that one of her cataracts had come back a little and she needs to have another quick laser treatment.  She had to go to the doctors office in Pahrump to get it set up, but the surgery will be in Las Vegas next week.  After the doctors visit we went home.  Jackie went to Pokeno in the afternoon while I spent the afternoon doing office work.  We did happy hour and then dinner and the TV until bedtime.

Thursday, January 11^th, we both had to attend an open meeting of the Silver Seekers Board in the clubhouse.  The meeting went for less than an hour.  After the meeting we did some errands, then spent the rest of the day at home.  We did happy hour and then dinner, then watched TV for the rest of the night.  Friday I had a 10:00 meeting of the By Laws Committee of the Co-op.  This meeting went for a couple of hours.  I did some chores in the afternoon and we went out for lunch at a local Mexican place.  We went to the clubhouse for bingo at 4:30.  I got one bingo on a regular game, but only won $6 because I had to share with two other people.  Jackie didn’t win anything.  After bingo we went home and watched TV until it was time for bed.

Saturday, January 13^th, Jackie had a ladies luncheon at 11:00.  After she got home we went out and did some shopping at some thrift stores.  We got a few bargains.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 then had dinner at home.  Sunday was a quiet day, we went to the social at 2:00 and played LCR again.  Then we went home and just relaxed for the rest of the day. 

Monday, January 15^th, we were on the road about 10:00, heading to Las Vegas.  We needed to go to the Ford dealer to get the car serviced.  We don’t have a Ford dealer in Pahrump.  We stopped at a little café for lunch, then went to the Ford dealer.  It took about two and a half hours to get the work done.  After that we stopped at one store for a few minutes, then headed back to Pahrump.  We got back about 5:00, had some dinner and then watched TV for the rest of the night.  Tuesday was mostly a stay at home day.  I did a number of chores around the house as well as some office work.  At 2:00 we went to the dermatologist so he could take a look at a lesion on the side of Jackie’s face that I had some concerns about.  After she got in and he looked it turned out to just be a benign growth from blocked glands that the PA Michael, called a “barnacle.” He said it was nothing to be worried about.  We then went home and I did a little more office work.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 then came home and had dinner.  We watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, January 17^th, Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00 and my friend Len came over about that same time and we practiced guitar for about 90 minutes.  After Jackie got home we went and did some shopping, then came back for happy hour.  After happy hour we went home, had dinner and I had my security duty at 8:00.  After that we spent the rest of the night watching TV.  Thursday We left to go back to Las Vegas about 10:00 so Jackie could go into the out patient surgery center to have a quick laser treatment on her right eye.  Although it was a very quick procedure, the whole thing took about 2 hours to complete.  After her procedure we grabbed lunch and then did a Costco run.  After shopping we headed back home, getting back in time for the last half of happy hour.  After that we went home and spent the night with the TV.

Friday, January 19^th, I went over in the late morning to the clubhouse and set up my audio equipment for the jam session I was having at 2:00.  My friend Len, and one other person from the park showed up to play and we had about 10 spectators, but we still had a good time.  After the jam session I did some office work and then we went to happy hour at 4:00.  After that we had dinner and Jackie made a huge kettle of soup for the pot luck tomorrow.  We then watched TV until it was time for bed.  Saturday I was back in the clubhouse in the early afternoon getting my equipment set up for karaoke tonight after the pot luck.  We went to pot luck at 4:00.  This one had a theme of “Snowed in” and was mostly soups and comfort foods.  At 5:00 I started karaoke.  I had invited our friends Phyllis and Tom, and Len and Debbie to come.  All of them except Tom sing karaoke and I wanted some singers so that it was not just me and the one or two members of the park who come up.  We had a really good time and actually had several people from the park come up and sing who had never done so in previous karaoke sessions.  We finished up about 7:30, I packed up my stuff and took it home and we spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Sunday, January 21^st, we woke up to rain coming down.  We were supposed to leave this morning to drive to Laughlin for a two night stay.  The players club at the Riverside Casino Hotel had given me two free nights and had picked this weekend a month ago.  We were considering whether to cancel or not, and had decided we would go, but then the power went out in the park.  At that point we decided we would stay home and I called and cancelled the reservation.  We also had two free nights available in February, so we booked them.  We then spent the rest of the day doing some chores around the house and relaxing.  We went to the Sunday social at 2:00, then stayed and played Left-Right-Center for a half hour.  After that we went back home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing. 

Monday, January 22^nd, I left about 10:00 to go to DMV to get my drivers license renewed.  As always, the place was packed and I didn’t get done there until about 2:00 or so.  However, this time was able to get the Federally mandated “Real ID” license, although with a passport I don’t see a whole lot of use for it.  After I got home I did some chores and we went to happy hour at 4:00.  After happy hour we went home, had dinner and spent the night with the TV.  Tuesday the rain finally stopped.  We went out to do some shopping at about 1:30 or so, then came back to the house, unloaded the groceries and went to happy hour.  After happy hour we went home, made meatloaf for dinner and then spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Wednesday, January 24^th, We had mostly a stay at home day.  I called the golf cart shop to come and pick up our golf cart.  I had covered the cart on Saturday morning, when the rain was just starting, to keep it dry.  I uncovered it yesterday after the weekend rain was finished, and it would not work.  The batteries seem to be charged, but it will not run.  A few hours later the guy from the cart shop came and took it away to their shop here in Pahrump.  Jackie went to Pokeno at 1:00 and my friend Len came over for guitar practice.  After practice I did some chores around the house.  We went to happy hour, then had dinner spent the rest of the evening watching TV.  Thursday Jackie had a 10:00 ophthalmologist appointment to follow up on last week’s laser surgery.  Everything is fine, although she did have him give her a regular eye exam and prescription for new glasses.  After the doctor’s appointment we went over to the clubhouse for a Silver Seekers lunch.  Don, the President of the Silver Seekers, along with several other volunteers, made meatball subs for lunch.  We had almost 40 people show up and it was great fun.  After lunch we went to Walmart so Jackie could order new glasses and I could make an appointment for an eye exam for myself.  We also picked up a couple of things.  On the way home we stopped to check on the golf cart.  They are not sure what is wrong yet, but they are working on it.  After we got home we went to happy hour, then came home and spent the night with the TV.

Friday, January 26^th, we went out about 1:00 for a late lunch at ChatThai, our favorite Thai restaurant here in town.  We have bingo tonight at 5:30.  After lunch we headed back home and did a few chores.  We went to happy hour a little late, then stayed for bingo.  Jackie and both had really lucky nights tonight.  Both of us hit bingos in two of the regular games, although we had to split the pots with another winner.  Oddly, on one of them, she and I were the two winners, so we ended up with all the money anyway.  Then Jackie won the coverall game for $30.  All in all we won over $70!!  Yippee.  After bingo we went home and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Saturday was a stay at home day.  Jackie went to the clubhouse to play cards with the ladies in the afternoon.  I did some work around the house.  We went to happy hour, then home for dinner and night watching TV.

Sunday, January 28^th, we had a relaxing day.  We went to the social at 2:00, stayed and played our usual dice game at 2:30, then came home and spent the rest of the day relaxing.  Monday was a chores day.  We did some things around the house and just relaxed.  Tuesday was a little busier.  We did some chores in the afternoon and Jackie went out at 3:00 for a mani appointment.  I went with some friends to the monthly dine-out at Nicco’s, a local Italian place.  Jackie was going to join me there when she was done, but by the time she was finished we were done eating.  I got something for her in take-out and went home.  We spent the rest of the day with the TV.

Wednesday, January 31^st, the last day of January already.  Jackie had her Pokeno game at 1:00.  My friend Len wasn’t feeling well, so he didn’t come over for guitar practice.  Instead I did some office work in the afternoon.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then home for dinner and watching TV for the rest of the evening.

We are now at the end of the month and it is time to get this published.  Until next time, be good, do good.  By for now.