A New Year Begins

 Hi, welcome back.  Our last episode concluded on Thursday, December 22^nd.  Friday was a chores day.  We went out after lunch and ran a few errands.  We did happy hour with the crew at the clubhouse, then went home for dinner and an evening of TV.

Saturday, December 24^th, Christmas Eve.  We stayed around the park for the day.  At 4:00 we went the clubhouse for happy hour and then stayed for 5:00 Christmas Eve party.  We had pizza and salad provided by the Silver Seekers group and then did some games.  After the games we did the gift exchange.  Gifts got passed around a lot and we finally went home with a bottle of white wine.  After the party we went home and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Sunday, Merry Christmas!  Today was a stay-at-home day.  We relaxed a bit and put a big breast of turkey in the oven for the Christmas dinner at the clubhouse at 3:00.  At 3:00 we went to the clubhouse with our turkey, stuffing and gravy and joined our table.  This dinner was like Thanksgiving in that individual “sponsored” a table and everyone brought side dishes.  We had 16 people at our table and had a lot of food.  We had a great meal with friends and enjoyed the afternoon.  By 5:00 we were done, cleaned up and back home where we spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Monday, December 26^th, I had some meetings and work to do in the Co-op offices, so I was down there by about 8:30.  The Board of Directors decided to close the office for the week between Christmas and New Year’s so we could get some work done on cleaning up our files and our accounting system.  I spent most of the morning down at the office, came home for lunch, and then went back for another couple of hours.  I was done about 3:00.  We went to happy hour at the clubhouse, then came home and had leftovers from yesterday for dinner.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Tuesday I was back and forth to the office doing various things with the computers for most of the day.  About 3:30 we left the park and went to Nicco’s Pizza for one of the monthly dine outs with people from the park.  We had about a dozen people, which is average for the dine outs.  We haven’t been to Nicco’s in a number of years and forgot that the food was very good.  I had a wonderful Italian sub sandwich and Jackie had eggplant parm.  After dinner we drove to the Elks Lodge for the monthly meeting.  Two of our friends, Ginny from our RV park, and Phyllis, whom we have known almost since we came here in 2007, were both being initiated tonight.  As always, the initiation ceremony took a long time and we didn’t get out of the meeting until almost 8:00.  We headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Wednesday, December 28^th, was a stay at home day.  I was again back and forth between the office and home doing various tasks.  I did have a handyman/carpenter come out at 1:00 to give us an estimate on building a “porch” and steps for our new trailer.  We are using a rickety borrowed metal stair case now.  The price was a little higher than I expected at $1,380, but the price of wood has skyrocketed.  The guy who came out has built stairs and such for several people here at the park and has a good rep.  Jackie played Pokeno at 1:00 and at 4:00 went to happy hour.  After happy hour we had dinner, leftovers from last night, and then spent the rest of the night watching TV.

 Thursday, December 29^th, I went into the office in the morning to do some computer work and meet with some other members of the Board of Directors.  I was back at the trailer in time for a noon Zoom meeting of the Full Timers Chapter of FMCA.  I don’t do the newsletter anymore, but we are still members of the Chapter.  At least for the near future we are going to keep our FMCA membership and a couple of the Chapter memberships in those with which we have been closely associated.  Since our new trailer is still an RV, we are still qualified to remain in FMCA and any of the Chapters.  I went back to the office for a couple of hours after lunch, then came home.  We did happy hour and then spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Friday was more of the same.  I did a few hours in the office in the morning.  In the afternoon we went out and did some errands, Walmart, the mail store, etc.  We renewed our UPS store mailbox, but only for six months as we are transitioning our mailing address to our mailbox here at the Escapees park now that we are here full time.  We had happy hour again and then spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Saturday I did a couple hours in the morning in the office, then about 3:30 I took all the sound equipment to the clubhouse for the New Year’s Eve party.  I accepted the bid of the handyman we found to build our porch and stairs for the trailer.  We should have some new wood stairs in a week or so.  I helped Jackie make our contribution to the “finger food” pot luck, and about 5:30 we went over for the party.  There were quite a few people there for the pot luck, but by 7:30 all but a dozen or so had left.  The rest of us stayed, listened to music, did some dancing, and generally had a good time with friends.  We watched the ball drop in New York City at 9:00, and the party was over.  We went back home and spent an hour or so with the TV before going to bed.  We were asleep by 11:30 and didn’t really hear any fireworks or anything outside.  Of course, it had started raining right after we got home, a little before 10:00, and it was raining pretty steadily most of the night. 

Sunday, January 1^st, 2023!  Happy New Year.  For the most part today was a stay-at-home day.  I did go into the office briefly, but then spent the rest of the day on some of my own chores at home.  We didn’t go to root beer floats or really leave the house most of the day.  We had another power failure just before dark.  This time the power was out almost two hours and it was starting to get a little chilly in the house before it came back on.  It made me wish for the motorhome, which a big diesel generator we could run when the power went out.  Monday was the actual Federal holiday for New Years.  I had a 10:00 executive board meeting in the office that went a couple of hours.  After that I did a little bit of my Board work in the office and then went home.  We went to happy hour and had dinner, then watched TV until it was time for bed.

Tuesday, January 3^rd, I went in the office early for some Director duties.  I came home for lunch about 11:30 and went back about 1:00 for another couple of hours.  The guy we hired to build the steps came in the morning and made really good progress on our porch and steps.  If the predicted rain doesn’t mess things up he should be done in a day or two.  We went to happy hour and then had dinner and spent the evening with the TV.  Wednesday I went into the office early again, but was back home by about noon.  Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00 and I did some chores around the house.  We did happy hour at 4:00 and then came home and made dinner.  After dinner we watched TV.

Thursday, January 5^th, I another early start at the office due some things the Board was doing.  I was finished in the office by about 11:30 and went back home.  About 12:30 we went out to lunch at the Pour House restaurant, meeting our friends Don and Julie Kline there.  We had a very nice lunch and a visit with friends.  After lunch we ran some errands, including the mail store and Walmart.  We went home and put stuff away, then relaxed until 4:00 happy hour.  After happy hour we went back to the house and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Friday I went into the office for a little bit in the morning,  Our handyman finished the construction phase of our new porch and steps.  It is now functional, but still needs to be stained once the weather clears for a few days and the wood dries out.  At 3:00 we had a meeting of the group here at the park that is going on the cruise next month.  The main topic of conversation was trying to get a place to stay in Las Vegas the night before we leave for Los Angeles, and the day we come back from Florida.  The Los Angeles flights are all early, and we all get back late after the cruise and don’t want to drive over the hump late at night.  After the meeting we had happy hour, then went home.  I made chili for dinner and then we watched TV.

Saturday, January 7^th, we did a few chores around the house.  At about 1:00 we went out for a late lunch at China A Gogo and then a haircut for Jackie.  We left the house a little before 5:00 and went to the Elks Lodge for karaoke, for the first time in several weeks.  It was a big crowd, but we had a good time.  We got home about 9:30, watched a little TV and went to bed.  Sunday was a stay-at-home day.  We went to root beer floats at the clubhouse at 2:00 and then stayed for the Left-Right-Center game afterwards.  We were back in the coach about 4:00, had some dinner and watched TV the rest of the night.

Monday, January 9^th, we left the coach about 10:00 and drove to one of the local medical centers so Jackie could do a consultation appointment with the doctor who is going to do her colonoscopy later in the month.  The appointment only took a half hour or so, after which we went to the Lucky Rollers monthly luncheon.  The lunch was at place called Living Free, which is a non-profit restaurant supporting addition programs in Nye County.  After lunch we ran some errands and then went home.  We had happy hour at 4:00, then went home and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Tuesday I went into the office for a while to do some work and then we had a meeting over some financial stuff for the Co-op.  After the meeting I went home, then went to the Town Hall meeting in the clubhouse.  After that meeting I went home, did a few chores and relaxed.  We went to happy hour then spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Wednesday, January 11^th, I left the house about 9:00 and drove to the local DMV office to try and register the new trailer, as well as transfer the registration on the car from our Montana LLC to regular Nevada registration.  Since we no longer own the motor home, and are not full time travelers any more, we no longer need the LLC and will let it go dormant.  I got served pretty fast and learned that I needed some additional paperwork, like a VIN check on the trailer, which I knew I needed, and proof of Nevada insurance on the car.  Right now, the insurance papers show Montana.  I went home and called the Sheriff’s Office to see if someone could come out to the VIN check.  They told me a deputy would call me later.  I then called our insurance agent and got the insurance transferred to Nevada.  Jackie went to Pokeno at 1:00.  After Pokeno we left the house to go to Walmart, but before we even got to the store I got a call from a Sheriff’s Deputy that he was on his way to the RV park for the VIN check.  We quickly turned around and headed back home again.  We didn’t want to miss the deputy because when the Sheriff’s Office does the VIN check it is free, when you have to call a licensed tow company to do it they charge like $75.  We got home and the deputy, one of the motor cycle officers, came by, did the VIN check and gave me the form.  We did happy hour at 4:00, then had dinner and watched TV.  Thursday I had 9:00 Board meeting, which was the workshop session for next week’s open BOD meeting.  That meeting went until about noon.  I went home and had lunch, then went back to the clubhouse for the Silver Seekers meeting.  This is the group that operates the clubhouse.  After that meeting we went home until happy hour.  After happy hour we had dinner and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Friday, January 13^th, we went out after lunch to do the Walmart run that got cancelled on Wednesday.  At 3:00 we went to another meeting of the five couples going on the Panama Canal Cruise next month. After the cruise meeting we went to happy hour, then home for dinner.  We spent the rest of the night watching TV.  Saturday was a stay-at-home day.  It was predicted that we would have rain by early afternoon and it showed up right on time.  The rain was steady until early evening when became more on and off.  By bedtime the rain had cleared up, only to return on Monday according to the weatherman.  We had dinner and watched TV for the rest of the night.  Sunday the skies cleared, at least for a few days.  We had another relaxing, stay at home day.  We went to the afternoon social at 2:00, then stayed for the LCR game at 2:30.  We had a good time playing with friends for an hour or so.  After the games we went home and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday, January 16^th, was MLK day.  Jackie had a nail appointment at 2:00.  I dropped her off and ran a few errands.  After she was done we did a Walmart run.  After we got home we went to happy hour, then came home for dinner.  After dinner we watched TV.  Tuesday we left the park about 10:30 and started over the hill to Las Vegas to do a Costco run.  As we drove over the Spring Mountain pass we saw lots of snow on the sides of the road from the last round of rain.  The pass is close to 5,000 feet, so it tends to get snow when it rains in the valleys.  We had lunch at a place in Summerlin called Hash House A GoGo.  It is a breakfast and lunch place that we have never tried before.  The food was really good and very plentiful.  After lunch we went to Costco and spent a bunch of money.  After Costco we headed back over the hill, getting home in time to unload everything and still make it to happy hour.  After happy hour we went home and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Wednesday, January 18^th, I had an 11:00 meeting of one of my committees which went until about 12:30.  Jackie went to play Pokeno while I did some chores around the house.  At 4:00 we went over for happy hour and then stayed for the 5:00 pot luck dinner.  There was lots of good food and talk with friends.  About 7:00 we were back home and relaxing with the TV.  Thursday I had the open meeting of the Board of Directors at 9:00.  The meeting went pretty well and lasted for about two hours.  After the meeting we had lunch and spent the rest of the day doing chores and working on projects.  Friday I got a call in the morning from the President of the Board asking if I would look into an incident involving an alleged assault on one of the members of the park by an employee.  I spent most of the rest of the day talking to the parties involved and trying to review surveillance video that may have caught some of the incident.  Jackie had a 2:00 appointment at the medical center with a Nurse Practitioner regarding some aches she has in her legs that she thinks may be related to her medications.  The NP just put her on a new blood pressure med.  At 5:30 we went over to the clubhouse for bingo.  Jackie won one of the games, but had to split the pot.  She still made a couple bucks.  I got close but didn’t win anything.  After bingo we went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, January 21^st, I spent most of the day doing chores and projects.  We did go out about 1:30 to the Roadhouse Casino for a late lunch.  We both had liver and onions and it was great.  At 5:00 we went to the Elks Lodge for karaoke.  It has been a few weeks since we went.  Our friends Tom and Phyliss where there as well as a lot of other acquaintances.  We had a good time, I sang and listened to others sing, Jackie tried to win on the slots in the bar.  After karaoke we went home and relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.  Sunday, we had a stay-at-home day.  I spent the biggest part of the day working on the report regarding the investigation I was doing on the employee.  I finally got that finished by late afternoon.  We had dinner spent the remainder of the evening watching TV.

We are now a month into this episode of the blog and will close it out to get it online.  I realize that what was a travel blog has become more of a daily diary that is probably not of much interest to anyone else, but we find it a useful resource to look back and see what were doing on any given day.  Until next time, be kind, be helpful, but be you.  See ya.

The Weeks Between the Holidays

Hello again.  Our last chapter concluded on Saturday, November 26^th, while we were in the process of changing our entire lifestyle.  About three weeks ago we sold our motor home, in which we traveled the country for 17 years, and bought a destination trailer, basically a large travel trailer intended for long term stays.  In our case, we will be living in it, without it ever moving, at the Escapees Co-op park in Pahrump.  It has taken all of the three weeks for us to finally get everything moved back into the trailer and put away.  When we unpacked the motor home before trading it we unloaded all of our possessions into our storage shed here at the park. 

Sunday, November 27^th, we went out after lunch and ran a few errands.  Other than that we stayed around the house and did chores.  Monday I had a 10:00 meeting of one of the committees I attend here at the park.  I say attend because I used to be a member of this committee, the By Laws and Standing Rules Committee.  However, when I was elected to the Board I can only come to the committee meetings as an observer and advisor.  Board members are not allowed to be members of any of the standing committees of the Co-op.  While I was in the meeting our golf cart was returned by the golf cart shop here in Pahrump.  They had to pick it up late last week because it quit running.  I thought it was something in the control system, but it turned out it needed new batteries.  Since it has 7 deep cycle lead acid batteries it was not cheap, about $1,400 worth of not cheap.  I knew the batteries were old and not well maintained when I bought the cart, but I had hoped they would last a little longer.  However, when I went to use the cart in the afternoon I found that the left rear tire was flat.  Crap, still don’t have a cart.  I don’t know how to take the wheels off of the thing, so I am having to wait until the cart guys can come back out and take a look.  Jackie had a mani appointment in the afternoon and I did some more work around the lot, mostly now cleaning up the shed and patio.  We went to 4:00 happy hour, then had dinner and watched TV the rest of the night.

Tuesday, November 29^th, we both had our semi-annual physicals with our primary care doctor, Dr. Wiggins, at 11:00.  We are both in reasonable health given our ages, but we had a chance to catch up Dr. Wiggins on the specialists that we both have been seeing.  Other than that, we are in good shape.  Jackie had physical therapy in the afternoon and I did some chores around the coach.  Wednesday Jackie had her regular Pokeno game in the clubhouse at 1:00 and I did more work around the lot.  At 4:00 we drove to the Japanese Steak House, Ohjah, here in Pahrump for the monthly dine out with other people from our park.  We had about 18 people in the hibachi grill and had a great meal and a great time.  After the dinner we went back to the park and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Thursday, December 1^st, we left the park about 10:30, picking up our friends Millie and Charlene, and headed to the China Wok Buffet for another MASA meeting.  Regular readers know that MASA is a sort of insurance for ambulance bills, ground and air, and many of the members at the Co-op are also MASA members.  They invite their members to come to the sales presentations and we get a free lunch for just listening to the pitch for the hundredth time.  We had a nice lunch and then went back to the park.  Jackie had physical therapy at 2:00 and I stayed home and caught up on a bunch of administrative work I have gotten behind on.  At 4:00 we went to happy hour at the clubhouse and then came home and had leftovers from last night’s dinner for tonight.  We then spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Friday, December 2^nd, the local cart guy came by first thing in the morning and picked up our golf cart again.  When they returned it Monday after replacing the batteries I found that it had a flat tire.  As it turns out, it appears that all of the valve stems have deteriorated from age and are leaking, some worse than others.  All four tires have to be taken off and taken to the tire store to be repaired.  So, off to the shop it goes, again.  I did some more chores around the place, finally getting the patio and lanai cleaned and ready for use again.  Most of the work in the shed is done and we are pretty much finished moving into the new trailer.  We still have to hang some pictures and do some other minor work, but we are close.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and stayed at 5:00 for the park’s first “Spam-o-Rama” contest.  One of the members, Scott, dreamed up a spam cook off contest and, surprisingly, there were almost a dozen contestants.  There were all kinds of dishes made which incorporated spam, including a couple of chilis, some stuffed mushrooms (which won), bacon wrapped spam, and many more.  There was so much sampling to be had that we didn’t even have to make dinner after we went home.  It was a great idea and a lot of fun.  After we got home we watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, December 3^rd, we left the coach about 1:30 and I dropped Jackie off to get her nails worked on.  While she was doing that I ran some errands, picked up mail, dropped off some donations at the thrift store and went to Walmart for some supplies.  After my errands I picked up Jackie and we went back home.  We were about to leave to go to happy hour when our friend Charlene came by and asked if I would go with her to the local Jeep/Dodge dealership to look at a Jeep.  She was in an accident in Las Vegas a month or so ago and they totaled her old Jeep.  She has a rental car and has someone at the Jeep dealership searching for a replacement Jeep.  She told me they had just called that took a Jeep in on trade today and wanted her to look at it.  Her husband died about a year ago and she didn’t want to go alone.  I told her I would go.  We drove to the dealership and they showed her a very nice, low milage 2015 Jeep Wrangler 4dr in white.  It was the Sahara model, which is an upgrade, and it was really a good looking car.  We took it for a quick test drive and it seemed be in very good condition.  Of course, the sales guy took inside and tried to make a deal tonight.  Charlene is on a limited fixed income and she knew exactly how much she could afford to put down, and how much she could afford in payments.  The sales guy tried everything to get her to fall in love with the car and come off of her financial requirements, but in the end, after an hour of haggling, they just weren’t able to make the deal work.  It was a little too much car, cost wise, for her budget.  We drove home and Charlene came in and had dinner with us.  Jackie had made a chili relleno casserole and we had a nice dinner.  After she left we watched TV and then went to bed.

Sunday, December 4^th, was a stay at home day.  I was fighting a cold, so I did a few small chores around the house, as did Jackie.  Monday I was up early for an 8:30 meeting at the Nye County Administration building.  I had been called in for my first review of a citizen’s complaint made on a Nye County Deputy Sheriff.  It was an interesting experience, being briefed on the complaint and the investigation by internal affairs, and the proposed outcome.  The Undersheriff did the briefing and then myself and two other members of the Advisory Board discussed the issues and made our report.  Everything is confidential, so I can’t go into details, but it kind of took me back to my days at the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office when I was a Lieutenant in command of the Internal Affairs unit.  The whole process took a couple of hours.  At 1:00 I had another meeting in the clubhouse with the Board of Directors.  We were able to go to happy hour at 4:00, then went home and had steaks and scallops for dinner.  Yum.

Tuesday, December 6^th, I had a 9:00 dental appointment, which didn’t take too long.  I am having a new clasp put on one of my partial plates and they needed to take some impressions.  After the dentist I picked up mail then went back to the park.  I had an 11:00 meeting in the clubhouse with the Treasurer of the Co-op, which lasted about a half hour.  I went back to the house and had lunch.  At 1:00 Jackie and I both went to the clubhouse for the Townhall Meeting.  There were not too many people there and very few people had anything to say, so the meeting was pretty short.  After that meeting I spent another hour or so doing some work on the clubhouse sound system.  Jackie had left to go to her PT appointment.  We went to the 4:00 happy hour and then came home and had scampi for dinner, then spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Wednesday, December 7^th, Pearl Harbor Day.  Jackie woke up feeling the effects of having caught my cold.  She was supposed to have gone to play Pokeno this afternoon, but she decided not to go so as not to spread germs.  I spent most of the day doing chores.  About 3:30 I started setting up for our howl at the moon gathering in the patio area of the clubhouse.  I took our portable firepit to go along with the park’s firepit because it was supposed to be cold.  We started gathering about 4:00.  I had my guitar and our friend Scott had is ukulele and we were providing a little entertainment.  The moon came up about 4:40 and we all howled.  It was not a huge gathering, maybe a dozen or so, but it was very cold.  We hope to make it a monthly thing, weather permitting.  We broke up about 5:30 or so and we went back to the house, had some dinner and watched TV until bedtime.  Thursday I had 10:00 meeting with the new audit committee members, turning over the books and records.  At 1:00 I went to the Silver Seekers meeting.  Jackie spent the entire day on the couch nursing her cold.  We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the house with the TV.

Friday, December 9^th, I had a committee meeting in the clubhouse at 10:00.  About 2:00 I went to the dentist to get my newly repaired lower partial.  It didn’t take too long to do the fitting and I walked out with lower teeth again.  Yea, steak time again.  We did 4:00 happy hour at the clubhouse, then came home and had dinner.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Saturday was a chores day.  Jackie had a 1:00 manicure appointment and after I dropped her off I ran some errands, including doing a Walmart run.  After I picked her up we went back home and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We are both trying to recover from colds and cold weather is not making it easy.  We are not so much sick as just uncomfortable with runny noses and an occasional cough.

Sunday, December 11^th, we stayed home and relaxed for most of the day.  About 2:00 we left, along with our friend Millie, and drove to the Saddle West Casino for the annual Christmas Show put on by the Silver Tappers group.  The Silver Tappers are all local women, over the age of 50, who dance and entertain locally.  Our friend Debbie is a member of the group.  The show was a little under an hour and was very entertaining and enjoyable.  After the show we headed back to the park, had dinner and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Monday we were up and out of the house by about 10:00, headed to Las Vegas for lunch at the Olive Garden with the park’s RV group, the Lucky Rollers.  Normally the Lucky Rollers do their monthly dine outs in Pahrump, but we do have a number of members who live in Las Vegas, so at least once a year they try to do a lunch in Vegas.  We had almost 30 people and it was a great lunch.  Olive Garden did a wonderful job taking care of such a large group and we all enjoyed our meal.  After lunch we went to the nearby Costco for some needed supplies.  After Costco we headed home, getting back before dark.  We spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Tuesday, December 13 I had a Board of Directors planning meeting at 9:00 that went most of the morning.  After the meeting we both just stayed in because we still weren’t feeling a hundred percent.  I did some office work, but we mostly just relaxed.  Wednesday Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00 and I spent the afternoon catching up on office work, mostly related to the Board of Directors.  We did happy hour at 4:00, then came home for dinner.  We spent the rest of the night watching the TV.

Thursday, December 15^th, I had the regular open Board of Directors meeting at 9:00.  The meeting was pretty much uneventful and went for about 90 minutes.  After lunch I had to back to the clubhouse for an Executive session meeting with the Board.  That meeting ran until almost 4:00.  I just stayed in the clubhouse after the meeting and Jackie came over with our happy hour cocktails and we sat with the happy hour crew and chatted.  After happy hour we went home and fixed a nice pork loin for dinner then watched TV until bedtime. Friday we went out about 1:00 for a late lunch at Romero’s, one of our favorite Mexican places.  After lunch we ran some errands, including a Walmart visit.  After we got home and relaxed for a bit we went over to the clubhouse a little after 5:00 for the monthly Bingo game.  Jackie won one game, which she had to split.  I didn’t get anything.  We were back home by about 8:30, watched some TV and went to bed.

Saturday, December 17^th, was a stay at home day.  I got some things done around the lot.  We had an early dinner and went over to the clubhouse about 5:30 or so for Trivia Night.  We had done this in the late summer and had a really good time.  Our friend Scott was the MC again and asked the questions.  We had six people on our team and had a really good showing in the first half, but sort of fell behind in the second half, finishing second overall for the night.  It was a lot of fun and we look forward to the next one.  After trivia we went home and watched TV until bedtime.  Sunday was another stay at home day.  We did a few chores, but mostly were just lazy today.  About 4:00 I went over to the clubhouse with my audio equipment and set up for karaoke.  At 5:00 we had a pot luck in the clubhouse and at 6:00 we did karaoke.  We didn’t have too many singers, or too many people who stayed after dinner.  However, those that did participated and we had a really good time for about 90 minutes.  Everything was over about 8:30, after which we sat and watched TV before going to bed.

Monday, December 19^th, we went out after lunch to run some errands.  We stopped at the Dollar Store for some Christmas decorations for the golf cart and some wrapping materials for the gift exchange.  We then picked up mail and did a quick Walmart run for some we needed.  After that we headed back home.  We went to 4:00 happy hour, then came home and had dinner.  After dinner we watched TV until bedtime.  Tuesday was a stay at home day.  Got a lot done around the house.  We got some pictures hung and some other chores completed.  Wednesday was also a stay at home day.  Jackie went to the clubhouse for Pokeno at 1:00 and I stayed home and did chores.  The biggest one was replacing four of the roller shades inside the trailer.  When we got the trailer we noticed that some of the shades had grey or silver markings that didn’t match the other shades in the coach.  A couple weeks ago we received new shades from the Forrest River factory in Indiana.  I got all four shades changed out this afternoon.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then went home and had dinner.  We had country ribs cooking in the crock pot all day.  After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.

Thursday, December 22^nd, we didn’t have anything on our schedule until 1:00 when we participated in the park’s Christmas golf cart parade.  We had our cart well decorated and even had Christmas carols playing.  We had about seven carts in the parade and drove around the entire park.  We were pleased that a number of the residents had come outside and were sitting waiting for the parade to go by.  After the parade we had hot chocolate and snacks in the clubhouse.  We were back in the clubhouse at 4:00 for happy hour.  After happy hour we went home, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

We are now a month into this episode and it is time to close it out.  Until next time, ponder the words of writer Alexandre Dumas, “Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives and remembering what one receives.”  See ya soon.

A Whole New Lifestyle Begins

Hi there, welcome back to our story.  Our last chapter concluded on Saturday, October 22^nd, while we were in Pahrump, Nevada.  Sunday was basically a stay at home and do chores day.  Roy and I did go to the Clubhouse at 2:00 for root beer floats.  We spent some time packing for our trip tomorrow to Laughlin, Nevada.  As we stated in previous episodes, we have decided to “hang up the keys” so to speak as far as motorhome travel.  We have been looking for a destination trailer that we like and can afford to replace our current motorhome.  A destination trailer is essentially a large travel trailer that is intended to stay in one place for an extended period.  It is very similar to a “park model” which is intended for actual permanent installation.  We have done a lot of online research and visited dealers in Las Vegas that had a few that met our criteria.  We have leads on a number of prospects in Laughlin itself, in Bullhead City, across the river in Arizona, and in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  That is the reason for our two day trip to Laughlin. In the evening we visited with Roy for a while and said our goodbyes since he is leaving early in the morning to head to Death Valley for his winter job.  After Roy left we watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, October 24^th, we were up early and on the road in the car by 10:00, headed for Laughlin, which is about 150 miles.  We stopped for lunch at the Denny’s in Searchlight, Nevada, and got into Laughlin around 1:30.  The check in time at the Riverside Resort was 2:00, so we decided to visit the RV dealer actually located in Laughlin first.  It was RV Country, which used to be called Paul Everett’s RV.  We are familiar with the company, which has a number of stores in the Western states, because when Monaco was still in business they were one of the biggest Monaco dealerships.  We used to always see the sales people at FMCA and Monaco International rallies.  It was sadly funny that when we pulled into the dealership in Laughlin there was still a “Monaco Coach Dealer” sign on the gate, even though Monaco went out of business in 2008.  They had two destination models, on the lot, but one of them was a loft model, which we do not want.  The one they showed us, a Wildwood brand, was clearly an entry level trailer.  The quality of the trailer was very bad and very disappointing.  We would not even consider something as cheaply built as that one. 

After we left the Laughlin dealership we decided that we would check out the dealership in Bullhead City on the Arizona side of the river.  This one was Cousin Terry’s RV, and it was a small operation.  However, they had four or five destination trailers from two manufacturers, Bay Point and Bridgeview.  This place was recommended by a couple of members at our Escapees park who had bought or shopped here.  We looked at all of the ones they had on the lot except for a 54 foot monster rig with two bedrooms.  That would not even be legal at our park which has a 45 foot limit on RVs.  We did find one Bay View model that was OK.  It had a nice floor plan, but some of the amenities were not what we wanted.  It probably would be OK if there was nothing else available, but not our favorite.  After Cousin Terry’s we went to the Riverside Resort and Casino and checked in for our two night stay.  We have stayed at the Riverside before, but it has been a few years back.  The place seems to have gone a bit downhill since then.  The room was OK, but hadn’t been cleaned very well.  Lots of dust and stains and few amenities.  After we got set up in the room we went down to the casino and had dinner and gamed a little.  We weren’t winning, so we gave up and just went up to the room about 7:30 and relaxed.  Watched a little TV and went to sleep about 10:30.

Tuesday, October 25^th, we woke up, had coffee in the room and got ready to leave to drive to Lake Havasu City, Arizona to look at more trailers.  We left the resort around 10:30 or so and headed south about 60 miles to Sunshine RV in Lake Havasu City.  It took a little over an hour for us to arrive and find the dealership.  We met with a salesperson named Shelly who told us that she had four park models on the lot, all of them new 2022 models.  Three of them were Sandpiper brands, which is also made by Forest River.  The other was a Jayco model.  She also said she had one unit in their other lot on the south end of town, but it was a loft model in which we had no interest.  We did not like the Jayco model at all, but one of the Sandpiper models really caught our eye.  It did have a few minor things that weren’t exactly what we were looking for, but all in all it checked most of our boxes.  We expressed an interest in it and told Shelly to run the numbers.  She took all the information on our coach to use as a trade and told us to check back in an hour or so.  We drove into town and had lunch at the Black Bear Diner.  While we were eating Shelly called and told us that her manager had told her he wasn’t sure they would take our coach as a trade because of the age and mileage.  However, she had the mileage wrong and the actual mileage was 100,000 less than she had originally told the manager.  We were disappointed that we might not be able to get the new unit, but we really can’t do it without doing a trade in our coach. After lunch we started to drive back to Laughlin, but we decided to stop at a Dillards store on the North end of town, which happened to be right next door to the dealership.  We walked around Dillards for a half hour or so and were in the car just getting ready to leave town when Shelly called again and said the manager agreed to take the trade and she had a prospective deal for us to look at. 

We went back into the dealership and checked the deal.  The list price on the trailer was about 92,000, they discounted it about $16,000 and gave us a trade in allowance of about $28,000 for our coach.  That is about 15,000 less than we MIGHT make if we sold it ourselves, but we really don’t want the hassle.  The final amount after taxes and everything was about $50,000 which we would finance.  That would give us about a $500 a month payment with a 15 year loan.  We told Shelly we needed to talk it over and we would call her later tomorrow.  We got in the car and started driving back towards Laughlin.  Of course, while we were driving we were discussing the deal, the trailer, and all the aspects and before we even got back to the hotel we decided to take the deal and try to make it work.  We called Shelly and gave her a $1,000 deposit over the phone and told her to start the process.  It appears that one the financing is approved it will take a week or two to get the trailer delivered.  We finally got back into Laughlin and we went over to the Aquarius Casino, next door to the Riverside and did a little gaming, but we still were not having much luck, and we were tired.  So, we went back to our room and watched a little TV then went to bed.

Wednesday, October 26^th, we were up early and on the road by 9:30, headed back to Pahrump.  We needed to get home by about noon because the repair guy was supposed to be at the coach at 1:00 to fix the black tank issue.  We got home exactly at noon and I did what I needed to do to get ready for the repair guy.  Jackie went over the Clubhouse for her weekly Pokeno game.  At 1:00 the repair guy called and said he had some dental work done and wouldn’t be able to make it over until tomorrow.  With that I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on paperwork and chores and also took a bunch of pictures of the outside and inside of our coach to send to the dealership as “proof of life” so to speak.  They wanted to ensure that it didn’t have any major damage or appearance issues.  We went to the 4:00 happy our and talked to people about our prospective new home.  After we got home we had dinner and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Thursday, October 27^th, the repair guy finally came over about 1:00 and managed to get the black tank valve fixed in a little over an hour.  After he was done we ran some errands, including dropping off our completed mail-in ballots for the General Election and doing a Walmart run.  After we got home and put stuff away we went to happy hour with the group.  After happy hour we went home and had dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.  Friday was a stay at home day.  I spent several hours getting the storage shed ready to serve as a temporary warehouse for all the stuff from the motorhome.  We need to have everything out of the coach by the 9^th of next month.  I also went around to friends and collected a variety of boxes and storage bins that we can use to pack stuff.  We went to happy hour with the group, then had dinner and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Saturday, October 29^th, was another stay at home day.  I had a meeting at 10:00 that went until 12:30.  After we had lunch we actually dug into the job of packing stuff from the coach and getting it stored in the shed.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then went home and had dinner.  The rest of the evening we watched TV.  Sunday we went to the laundromat in the early afternoon to do our laundry.  After we got home we put stuff away and did a little packing.  We had dinner and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Monday, October 31^st, Happy Halloween.  We spent most of the afternoon packing stuff from the coach and getting it stored in the shed.  About 4:00 I went over to the clubhouse and got my karaoke stuff set up for the park’s Halloween party.  We went back to the clubhouse a little before 6:00 for the party.  We had snack foods and a pretty good turnout.  The best part is that, for the first time since I have done karaoke here at this park, we actually had participation from members in the park.  We had four singers from the park in addition to me and our friend Phillis Howell, who came to the party with her husband Tom.  We also had some dancers in the group when I just played some dance music.  All in all it was a good party.  The party broke up at about 8:00 after which I packed everything up and took it home.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, November 1^st, we both had our dermatologist checkups at 1:00.  Neither of us had any issues and don’t have to come back for another year.  After we got home we spent the rest of the afternoon packing and storing.  We did go to happy hour at 4:00, then had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.  Wednesday we left the park about 1:00 after spending some time in the morning packing.  We drove to Las Vegas to take Jackie to her appointment with the Gastroenterologist.  This was next step in trying to find out what is causing the bad acid reflux and coughing that has been plaguing her for months.  The doctor took a lot of information, gave her a new, stronger medication, and scheduled her for a gastro scope in a couple of weeks.  After the doctor we stopped at Skechers so Jackie could exchange a pair of shoes, and then did a Sam’s Club run.  We headed back over the hill and got home just at dark, about 6:20.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Thursday, November 3^rd, Jackie had a nail appointment about 12:30 and a chiropractor appointment at 2:00, so she was gone most of the afternoon.  While she was gone, I did some chores around the coach, including more packing of stuff for our impending move into our new trailer.  Friday we were up early and out of the house by about 9:30, headed for the Nye County administration building in Pahrump for the graduation ceremony for the new appointees to the Nye County Peace Officers Advisory Review Board.  I first signed up for this unpaid position almost a year ago.  After being appointed by the County Commissioners last December I had to go through eight weeks of training classes put on by the Sheriff’s Office.  It was only four hours a week, but it didn’t start until May and there were a number of delays along the way.  Now I am official and can participate in reviews of citizen complaint investigations at the Sheriff’s Office.  Only four of the original 12 appointees completed the training and graduated today.  The Sheriff and several of her senior staff were there, as was the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.  It was a nice ceremony.  After the ceremony we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the day and evening working and packing.

Saturday, November 5^th, the day of the Annual Meeting of our Co-op.  The meeting started at 9:00, but I was over in the clubhouse about 7:45 to start helping to set up and run the Zoom portion of the meeting.  The meeting went until about 1:30, after a half hour break for lunch.  The last thing the current Board of Directors did was announce the results of the election for three new BOD members to replace the three whose terms had expired.  I was elected to the Board as a Director and was the top vote getter of the six candidates.  Yea, I guess.  As soon as the results were announced the new BOD adjourned to an Executive session to select officers for the new board.  I managed to not get elected to one of the four officer positions as I thought it best to get a year under my belt before I tried a leadership position.  After the meeting was finally over, we cleaned up and went back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing.  It was a busy, tiring day.  Sunday, we ran some errands in the afternoon and spent some more time packing.  Today was the end of daylight-saving time, so it now gets dark at about 5:00.  Yuk. 

Monday, November 7^th, I had an executive meeting of BOD at 1:00 and Jackie had a chiropractor appointment at 2:00.  Other than that, it was just another day of working toward unloading the motor home so we can take it in to trade it for the new trailer in a couple of days.  Tuesday was election day, although we had done early voting a couple of weeks ago.  I had a couple of park meetings over the course of the day, and we worked to finish the unloading and cleaning of the coach.  Tomorrow, we take it to Lake Havasu City, so we had to get it all finished.

Wednesday, November 9^th, we were packed up and on the road with the motor home for the last time.  We left Pahrump around 10:30 and rolled into the dealership in Lake Havasu City about 3:30 in the afternoon.  We lost an hour when we got into Arizona.  They came out and inspected the motor home and took the keys and we unhooked the car and left our baby of 17 years parked in the street.  The last time we would drive, or probably even see, the old girl.  We drove to a hotel where we had a reservation and got checked in and relaxed for a bit.  We went out for some dinner, then went back, watched some TV and went to bed. 

Thursday, November 10^th, Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps.  We were up early and at the dealership when they opened at 9:00.  We did the inspection and walkthrough of the new trailer, then spent an hour in the office doing all the paperwork.  By 11:00 we were on the road in the car heading back to Pahrump.  The dealership had made arrangements with an RV transport company, and they were going to hook up the trailer and bring it up to Pahrump by late this afternoon.  We made it back to Pahrump around 3:00 and about an hour later our new house rolled into the RV park.  The transport guys pulled it onto our lot, got it sort of level, unhooked and headed off into the sunset.  I got all the utilities hooked up and we went in and spent the first evening in our new home.  One of the first things we discovered was the “King Size” bed was actually an RV King, which is about 10 inches narrower than a regular King, so the sheets didn’t really fit.  The mattress was also a little thin and we pretty much made up our mind the first night that we were going to swap the mattress for a regular Queen size ASAP.  Friday was Veterans Day, and I was up early for a flag raising ceremony.  Jackie had dentist appointment and a nail appointment in the afternoon, so I spent the afternoon starting to bring stuff from the shed into the trailer.  The trailer has a lot of storage, but the layout is completely different, so we have to find new places to put stuff.  By the time evening rolled around we were bushed and just collapsed in front of the TV after dinner.  We really like the big 50-inch TV and the electric fireplace.  We miss not having the satellite TV, which we can’t get installed until next week, but we do have the local Las Vegas channels. 

Saturday, November 12^th, we just spent the whole day trying to make the trailer livable and finding places to put our stuff.  We didn’t go anywhere and even skipped karaoke at the Elks because we were so tired at the end of the day.  Sunday, I had to go out about 11:00 to do my annual pistol qualification for my concealed carry permit.  The wind was blowing about 30 miles per hour which, along with the cold, made for a very uncomfortable couple of hours in the desert.  After I got done, we ran a couple of errands and spent the rest of the day moving into the new place.

Monday, November 14^th, we left the park about 11:00 and drove to Las Vegas.  We were taking our friend Charlene down there so she could stay overnight in a hotel, then get on a plane to go back to her old stomping grounds in Massachusetts.  We had told her we would do this for her several weeks ago because at that time I had a follow-up appointment with my Urologist after my procedure a few weeks back.  Last week I learned that the follow-up was just a phone call rather than an office visit, but we kept our word to Charlene and drove to Vegas.  As it turns out, Charlene got to the hotel and had decided she couldn’t travel after all.  She had a car wreck a couple of weeks ago and bruised some ribs and pulled some muscles and she was in a lot of pain and decided to not try to fly.  So, we had lunch and all drove back to Pahrump.  At least it was a nice day for a drive.  After we got home, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.  I did have to go out at 8:00 for an hour of security patrol, my first of my three evenings for this month.

Tuesday, November 15^th, Jackie had a 2:00 chiropractor appointment and I had a 1:00 Board of Directors Planning session.  We were both done about 3:30 and spent a little time continuing the moving in process.  It seems to be slow going, but we are getting more and more stuff put away in the new trailer.  I had my security duty at 8:00 and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Wednesday we were again on the road, about 8:30, headed to Las Vegas for Jackie’s endoscopy appointment.  By 1:00 she was done, and we were in the car headed home.  The good news is that they did not find anything wrong with her throat, esophagus, or stomach.  No hiatal hernia, no nothing.  It is becoming apparent that all of her problems, which were diagnosed as severe acid reflux, were actually caused by a prescription she was taking for blood pressure control.  One of the know side effects of the medicine, which I also take, is severe cough in some people.  After a week of not taking it she has no more cough, and no more sleepless nights.  I actually take a larger dose of the same medicine, but I have no issues with it.  Weird.  She is now starting to eat some of our old regular foods and not having any issues.  Yea!.  After we got home, we did some chores and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Thursday, November 17^th, I had my first Board of Directors meeting at the park at 9:00.  It was a fairly quiet meeting with only a few issues and went pretty well.  The meeting only lasted about an hour.  Jackie had a chiropractor’s appointment at 2:00 and I did some chores in the afternoon.  We ran some errands after Jackie got finished.  After dinner we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.  Friday was a chores day for the most part.  We are finally getting to where most of the stuff we took out of the motor home, and intend to put back in the trailer, are in and put away.  The shed is beginning to empty out to some extent.  We also had the local propane company come out today and install a large outside propane tank for our use.  The trailer only has two 30-pound propane bottles, which only last four or five days each in the winter when the furnace is running.  Since we don’t travel with the RV anymore we can go to the big tank.  We had our monthly bingo session at the clubhouse today at 5:30 and had a pretty good turnout.  We had fun and Jackie won $30.  I didn’t win anything tonight.  After bingo we relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Saturday, November 19^th, we had a fairly quiet day.  More unpacking and straightening out.  In the afternoon the Direct TV technician came out and we got the satellite TV set up and working again.  Yea.  We really miss our multichannel satellite.  Because we are no longer traveling we changed our service address to our actual Pahrump address instead of the “phony” Southern California address we were using.  We were using the address of an RV park we used to be a member of outside of Banning, California as our service address.  This gave us the West Coast channels out of Los Angeles for our network channels (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) which allowed us to pick them up anywhere in the country.  We now have our network channels from Las Vegas, which means we get more local news on the satellite instead of over the air.  A saleslady from AT&T, which now owns Direct TV, also came out and gave us what we thought was a really good deal on new phones and changing from Verizon, which we have had for 25 years, to AT&T.  Hopefully we will save some money.  All of this took a good part of the afternoon and evening.  After we watched some TV we went to bed.

Sunday, November 20^th, was another day of chores around the house.  Didn’t go anywhere or do anything.  Monday, we went out in the afternoon to do mattress shopping.  We only have three furniture stores in Pahrump and one was closed on Mondays.  We found a mattress we really liked and thought was comfortable in the second shop we visited.  We bought it and they delivered it to the park two hours later.  They took out the “old” RV King mattress and we now have a regular Queen size and more room between the bed and the walls in the bedroom.  We had a really good nights sleep on the new mattress.  Tuesday we went early in the morning for our annual physical blood tests.  We see the doctor next week.  The internet service guy came by this morning and got our internet service working again.  So now all the infrastructure for the new trailer is installed and working again.  Yea!  Jackie had PT in the afternoon and I just spent some more time working around our lot and shed.  Wednesday Jackie finally got to play Pokeno with her girlfriends in the clubhouse in the afternoon.  She had not been to the last two or three sessions because of all the moving stuff.  I had some Board business to attend to in the afternoon.  After Jackie was done we ran some errands, then came home and had dinner.  After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.

Thursday, November 24^th, Happy Thanksgiving.  We took a day off from our moving activities and just relaxed today.  We had a nice pot luck dinner in the clubhouse at 2:00 and there were probably 50 people at the gathering.  It was very nice to spent the afternoon with friends.  After the dinner we went home and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Friday was a chores day, we ran a few errands and did some work around the house.  Saturday we went out for a late lunch at the Mountain Falls Country Club.  After we got back to the park we had a visit from our friend Millie and some of her family that came to visit her for a belated Thanksgiving.  We knew her son and some of the other family from out times with Millie after her husband Dick died from Covid a couple years ago.  We were able to finally go to the Elks Lodge for Saturday Karaoke after a month off because we were so busy.  We had our friends Tom and Phyllis were there, as well as several people from the RV park who came to listen.  We had a really good time.  We got home about 9:00, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

We have finally reached the point where I have caught up the blog.  We have been over a month since we published and I was not able to keep up with the daily entries while we were so busy moving out of one RV and into another.  Things are a little back to normal now, so I can put this online and get back to the regular schedule of every three weeks or so.  Until next time, remember that life is like a roller coaster.  It has it’s ups and downs.  But it’s your choice to scream or enjoy the ride.  See ya soon.

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.