December Holidays in Pahrump

Hello again.  Our last episode ended on Saturday, November 30^th.  Sunday, December 1^st, was a relaxation day.  We did a few things around the house but mostly just relaxed.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00, and then went to Walmart for some supplies and picked up some KFC for dinner on the way home. After dinner we spent the night with the TV.

Monday, December 2^nd, was mostly another stay at home day.  Jackie went over to the clubhouse in the morning to help undecorate from Fall/Thanksgiving so that they could decorate for Christmas tomorrow.  I did some work in the shed office for Silver Seekers.  We went to happy hour, then came home for dinner, some corn beef and cabbage.  We then had another night with the TV.  Tuesday Jackie went over to the clubhouse at 10:00 to help decorate for Christmas, I did some office work.  At 12:00 we left and went to the Nugget Casino for lunch and then to donate blood.  We went to Jimmy John’s sub shop in the Casino because we had a gift card we had won at the Lucky Rollers campout in Laughlin a couple months ago.  It was an OK sub, not the best, not the worst.  We then went back to the ballroom where the blood drive was being held.  Jackie went through the screening and they told her she couldn’t donate today because her blood iron level was below the minimum required.  She was just under, but it is still considered anemic, so she was out.  I actually ended up giving red blood cells today rather than whole blood.  I have O- blood, which is considered “universal blood” in that it can be given to anyone regardless of blood type.  They hooked me up to a machine that would pull out some blood, run it through a centrifuge which separated the red cells from the serum and white cells and then pumped that back into me.  It did this process three times.  This produces twice the number of red blood cells than they would get with a pint of whole blood.  In blood drive terms this is called a “double”.  After we were done there we ran a couple of errands and went back home.  We went to happy hour and then came home and had leftovers for dinner.

Wednesday, December 4^th, Jackie went to the clubhouse at 1:00 to play Pokeno.  I didn’t have guitar practice with my jam group, so I just did some solo practice in the shed and some office work.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home and had stuffed peppers that I made.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Thursday, I had a 10:00 meeting with the By Laws and Standing Rules Committee, which lasted about two hours.  Jackie had a 3:00 manicure appointment with a new person, since she was not happy with the last woman.  I went to happy hour about 4:00 and Jackie joined about 4:30 after her nail appointment.  We went home and had leftover stuffed peppers for dinner and then watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, December 6^th, we were up and out of the house by 7:30 going to the medical center to get our blood tests for next week’s physical with our primary care doctor.  You can’t have anything to eat or drink before the  blood draw, which is why we go early.  After the blood tests we went home and relaxed.  I went to the Ophthalmologist at 10:30 to get another checkup on my cataract surgery.  He said everything was looking good, but that I was still healing and needed to come back on January 3^rd, when they would do my eye exam for new glasses.  Right now I am getting by with just dime store cheaters for reading small print.  About 3:30 we left again and went to the Elks Lodge for dinner.  We went early so we could have a drink and play the slots at the bar.  Neither of us won anything.  Four other people from our park also came and we had a table for our group.  The dinner was lasagna, soup, salad, and garlic bread with dessert as well.  The lasagna was OK, a little over done and dry.  We still had a good meal and a good time with our friends supporting a worthy cause.  We were done and home by 6:30 and spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Saturday, December 7^th, Pearl Harbor Day.  Jackie went over to the clubhouse about 9:30 for the pancake breakfast.  She then stayed and played cards until about 12:30.  I did some chores around the house, including getting out the Christmas decorations and starting on decorating the lot.  After Jackie got back we went out for a late lunch.  We went to a new Mexican place called Riva’s Mexican Grill.  It is located behind the main shopping center in town, where Walmart and Albertson’s are.  It is a large, bright space, although a little plain.  It is a taquaria, where you order at the counter and then they bring the food out.  The menu looks very authentic.  I had a steak chimichanga and it was wonderful.  Jackie had

chicken taquitos, and she liked them as well.  We will probably being going back for more.  After lunch we went to Walmart for some supplies, then headed home.  We went to happy hour and then came home and spent the night with the TV.  The relatively new movie, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, the sequel to the 1998 film, was just released on the streaming service Max, so we watched it.  It was good, with lots of homages to the original throughout.  The three main leading characters were all played by the same actors I the original and it worked since this film takes place 25 years later.  The story line was a little convoluted, so in my estimation it wasn’t quite as good as the original, but it was still very enjoyable for me.  After the movie we watched some regular TV and went to bed.  Sunday we spent the morning relaxing.  About 2:00 we left to go to the Saddle West Casino to see the annual Silver Tappers Christmas Show.  The Silver Tappers are a local dance group for women over the age of 50.  There is no top limit and BJ Hetrick, the lady who started the group 30 some years ago is now 99 and still doing a little dancing with the troupe.  They do a lot of small appearances all around Pahrump, and several big productions every year, including the Christmas Show.  It is a charity event and they raise a lot of money for local charities.  The show was wonderful, as always and we had a great time.  We were back home by about 6:30 or so and spent the rest of the night relaxing with the TV. 

Monday, December 9^th, we left the house about 10:15 and drove to Las Vegas, to the Olive Garden restaurant in Summerlin.  We went to the monthly dine out for the Lucky Rollers RV club, which is part of our Co-op.  It is also Chapter 14 of the National Escapees RV Club.  Since it is the only Escapees Chapter in Nevada, a number of our members live in Las Vegas and other parts of Nevada.  We try to go to Las Vegas for dine-outs a couple of times a year so the Vegas people don’t always have to drive to Pahrump.  We rarely see anyone from other parts of Nevada.  We had a very nice lunch with 22 people.  After the lunch we went to the Costco, which was almost next door to the restaurant for some supplies.  We then headed back towards home.  We were almost home, less than a mile, when, at 3:45 pm, we came to the intersection of Manse Road and Homestead Road.  This is a four way stop intersection.  This time of day Homestead, which is a North/South road, is pretty busy.  We were driving West on Manse.  As I was pulling up to the stop sign I saw a couple of cars on Homestead go through the intersection north and south.  As I was stopped I looked to the right and saw a truck in the left turn lane to go from Southbound Homestead to Eastbound Manse.  There was another vehicle on the other side of the truck in the lane that goes straight through the intersection.  I looked to the left and there was a vehicle in the through lane of Northbound Homestead, but no one in the turn lane.  The truck on my right, waiting to turn, wasn’t moving.  The truck to my left wasn’t moving and the driver gave me a little wave to go

ahead.  I started across the intersection, which is a little offset, so I have to angle a little to the left to get to the other side.  I was about two-thirds of the way across and just passed in front of the truck that was waiting on my right to make a left turn, when I saw out of the corner of my eye that the red truck that was in the through lane was moving and heading right towards us.  I only had time to turn and look and say “oh shit” when the truck hit the passenger side of our car and spun us 45 degrees to the left.  I got the vehicle stopped and asked Jackie if she was OK and she said “I think so, but I hit my head.”  I was OK except for a pain in my knee where it hit the console and a little wobbly from the adrenalin rush.  I got out and saw that the truck had pulled over on the other side of intersection.  The lady came over and we exchanged “are you ok” but that was the extent of our conversation.  Our car got hit starting from the rear part of the front passenger door and completely destroying the rear passenger door.  There was a huge amount of damage to our car.  I didn’t walk over and look at the truck.  There just happened to be a Nye County Sheriff that was driving by and he stopped not more than a minute after the accident. He took all our paperwork, and the other drivers stuff, then went and sat in his car for half an hour doing paperwork.  At one point while his was still talking to me he mention that “medical” was coming to check on us, but they never did show up.  After about a half hour he gave me a piece of paper with the information exchange stuff and said the accident report would be available in about 10 days.  He did tell me that “you are not listed on the report as being at fault.”  He didn’t mention whether the other driver got a citation or anything.  Fortunately, our car was still drivable, none of the damage was around the wheels or the front of the car.  We headed home, unpacked the car and had a drink to relax.  I contacted our insurance company to report the accident.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, December 10^th, we both had a previously scheduled appointment with our primary care doctor at 11:00 this morning.  Jackie was saying all last night that she had a headache and a pain in her neck.  We told the doctor about the accident and he didn’t do anything special other than tell Jackie that this was not unusual and it would probably go away in a few days. I think most regular practice doctors don’t like to get involved with accident cases if they can avoid it.  We both got our physicals and were pretty much as healthy as we were before.  We went back home and had lunch, then went to a Silver Seekers planning meeting.  This will be the last planning meeting I have to go to because after the first of the year a new Silver Seekers Board will take over and Jackie and I will not be responsible for the activities anymore.  It was fun for a year, but I am ready to just going back to attending and not planning.  After the meeting we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.  We did get a call from the insurance company telling us that their investigation, whatever that was, led them to state that we were not at fault and that the other insurance company would be responsible for the damage to our car.  We had dinner and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, December 11^th, we were talking in the morning that we needed to talk to an attorney, so we called one of the local personal injury firms here in Pahrump, JK Nelson.  I talked to a case rep and he took all the information and said they would be emailing me some forms to fill out.  They also made arrangements for both of us to go to one of their preferred chiropractors here in Pahrump to get checked out.  In the afternoon Jackie went over to the clubhouse for Pokeno and I went to my guitar practice group.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home and made a meatloaf for dinner.  After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.  Thursday we zoomed the Town Hall in the morning.  I had scheduled a dentist appointment for this afternoon, but called and rescheduled.  With all the stuff going on, I didn’t want to endure a root canal today.  We had our last Silver Seekers Board meeting at 1:00.  Our Board goes out of office next month.  After the meeting we went home and did some chores.  We went to happy hour, then came home and  had dinner.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Friday, December 13^th, we had a 10:00 appointment for both of us at a local Chiropractors office.  This was set up by the attorney we have engaged.  We both got an exam, some x-rays and some adjustments and massage.  After the Chiropractor we ran some errands and had a late lunch at the Pour House.  After our errands we went home and relaxed.  We originally intended to go to Bingo tonight, but we were tired and Jackie had a headache, so we stayed home and spent the night with the TV.  Saturday Jackie had a ladies luncheon at 11:30 and I was supposed to go out to lunch with some of the guys.  Jackie went but I changed my mind and stayed home.  I had some work I had to get finished and didn’t want to go out drinking.  After Jackie got home we went to the local Chevrolet dealer to look at some cars.  We wanted to get an idea of what was out there in case our car really is totaled by the insurance company.  After we got home we went to happy hour and then came home and had dinner.  We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Sunday, December 15^th, was a stay at home day.  I spent most of the day finishing up our Christmas decorations.  I decorated the yard and the golf cart.  We had dinner and then spent the evening with the TV.  Monday, our housecleaner, Margarite, came at 10:00.  I did some office work out in the shed.  At 1:30 we had an appointment at the local office of our attorney, JK Nelson, to sign the notarized power of attorney papers that they need to actually start representing us in the personal injury part of the accident.  Then at 2:45 we both had appointments with the Chiropractor the attorney is sending us to.  We both got massages and adjustments.  After we were done with the doctor we went home for 4:00 happy hour.  We then went home, had dinner and spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Tuesday, December 17^th, was a really LONG day for us.  As I mentioned previously, I had applied with Nye County to be considered for a Justice of the Peace Pro Tem, which is a part time fill-in position.  The County Board of Commissioners appoints a panel of JP Pro Tems to fill in when one of the regular Justices can’t be on the bench.  I had received a notice from the County that the Commissioners would be selecting the panel at today’s regular meeting of the Commissioners.  We went there at 10:00 when the meeting started.  Long story short, we sat through the entire meeting until 6:00 when they finally got to that item on the agenda.  Turns out there were 34 people who had applied and half of them were attorneys, or at least law school graduates.  They ended up picking three, two attorneys and one retired Nye Country Sheriff’s Lieutenant.  I got to speak to my qualifications, but didn’t get the nod.  Oh well.  After the meeting we went home and crashed for the rest of the night with the TV.  Wednesday was a normal mid week leisure day.  Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00 and I went to play with my jam session group.  My friend Len is still having trouble with his eye, and some other health issues, so he wasn’t there.  After we were done we went to happy hour and then came home for dinner, a nice pork loin, and then the rest of the night with the TV.

Thursday, December 19^th, I went over to the clubhouse at 8:30 for the regular monthly Board of Directors meeting.  That meeting went until noon.  Jackie went out for a mani at 11:00.  After the Board meeting I had a quick lunch, then went to the clubhouse again to set up for my monthly jam session here at our park.  At 2:00 most of the group that I play with every Wednesday came and we had a great two hour session.  We even had a small audience of Co-op members.  After we were done I cleaned up and joined happy hour.  We then went home and had leftover pork green chili burritos for dinner and spent the remainder of the night watching TV.  Friday we had another chiropractor appointment at 11:00.  After we were done with that we ran some errands and had lunch out.  We got back to the park in time for happy hour.  We then went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, December 21^st, we actually had a free day.  We did some chores around the house and went out in the afternoon and ran a couple of errands.  We went to social hour at 4:00, then came home and spent the night with the TV.  Sunday I went out about 10:30 to go the pistol range in one of the local gravel pits to do my annual qualification shoot for my Federal concealed carry permit.  My permit actually expired in late November, but because of my cataract surgery I wasn’t able to go do the required shooting until now.  I shot really well without glasses and qualified with no problems.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00, then came home and did some chores and relaxed for the rest of the day and evening.

Monday, December 23^rd, we had another appointment with the chiropractor at 11:00.  We went to lunch then came home.  At 2:00 we had our annual golf cart parade.  I first did this last year and it was a big hit.  We again had about 8 carts in the parade, including one smart car.  We didn’t have any bikes this year.  We went around the whole park and had a few observers.  After the parade we went into the clubhouse and had hot apple cider.  We went back about 4:00 for happy hour, then came home for dinner and a night with the TV.  Tuesday, Christmas Eve.  We relaxed for most of the day.  About 4:00 we went over to the clubhouse where we had an appetizer pot luck and then at 5:00 our annual gift exchange.  Jackie and I did the gift exchange game this year as the woman who normally does it wasn’t able to come this year.  We had a really good time and played some charades after the gift exchange.  We were done about 7:00 and went home and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Wednesday, December 25^th, Merry Christmas.  We were over in the clubhouse kitchen about 11:00 getting five hams ready to cook and getting them in the roasting ovens.  We are hosting Christmas dinner at 3:00 today.  We had over 40 people at dinner.  The Silver Seekers provided the ham, all of which was donated by members, and everyone else brought side dishes.  We had a really nice dinner.  After we cleaned up we went home and were all done by 5:00.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Thursday Jackie and I were over at the clubhouse around 11:30 getting setup for the leftovers lunch.  We had leftover ham from yesterday, as well as some deserts, new salads and some ham and bean soup a member made from one of yesterday's ham bones.  We only had about 18 people show up, but we got rid of all the leftovers.  After we cleaned up we went back home and relaxed with the TV for the rest of the day and evening.

Friday, December 27^th, we went out for a late lunch because we have Bingo tonight.  We went to what used to Irene’s Casino, but is now undergoing renovations and has become Jackpot Joanies.  Apparently, that is a big chain of small casino/restaurant/bars in Las Vegas.  They only had the new half open, which had a bar and some dining tables.  The regular restaurant won’t be open until March or April.  The food was still the Irene’s menu and it was OK.  The service was bad, but I think they just haven’t hired all the help they need yet.  After lunch we stayed and gamed a little, but didn’t win anything.  We came home and relaxed, then went to happy hour and stayed for Bingo.  Jackie won one regular game, but had to split the pot with someone.  I didn’t get anything.  We got done about 8:00, just in time for me to go out for my first shift of Security Duty for the month.  After I got done we watched an hour of TV and went to bed.  Saturday we went out after lunch to Walmart for some supplies.  We also went to Goodwill to get Bob, our yard skeleton, some new clothes.  Right now he is Santa Claus on our golf cart, but once I undecorate the yard and cart he will need new duds.  We went home to happy hour, then had dinner.  I went out for Security Duty at 8:00 and after we watched TV and went to bed.

Sunday, December 29^th, we had a stay at home day.  We just hung around the house all day.  I did all the undecorating from Christmas and got everything stored away in the shed.  Jackie spent the day inside, doing chores and watching TV.  We had some country ribs that had been cooking all day for dinner, then spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Monday our house cleaner came in the morning.  Jackie went over to the clubhouse about 11:00 to help decorate for New Years Eve.  At 1:00 I had a dentist appointment to get a root canal and crown on one of my teeth.  The work went will, I have to come back in ten days or so to get the permanent crown put in. No pain, which is good.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, I had to drink my cocktail with a straw because half my upper lip was still numb.  We then went home and had leftovers for dinner and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, December 31^st, New Year’s Eve.  We had a chiropractor’s appointment at 11:00.  After we got home I had lunch, then went over to get my equipment set up for the New Years Eve party.  At 4:15 we went over to help setup for the pot luck dinner we are hosting.  The dinner went well, we had a couple dozen people come with some really great food.  At 6:00 we started the party.  It was a small group, but we had a really great time, dancing, singing, lip sync acts, all kinds of participation.  At 9:00 we watched the ball drop in New York City, wished everyone a great New Year, and the party was over.  I left everything to be put away tomorrow.  We went home, watched a couple hours of TV then went to bed, listening to the fireworks going off all over town.

That is the end of this chapter, and 2024.  Until next time, be nice.  Bye

November Turns Chilly in Pahrump

Hi there, welcome back.  Our last episode concluded on All Hallows Eve, Thursday, October 31^st.  On Friday, November 1^st, I was up in the clubhouse kitchen about 11:00 starting to cook my chili for tomorrow.  The Silver Seekers usually puts on a “Homecoming Dinner” on the day of the Co-op’s Annual Membership Meeting.  That meeting is tomorrow and we decided to do chili, salad, corn bread and cake for desert.  I volunteered to make the chili.  Of course, instead of my usual four or five quart batch of chili I make at home, I am now making about eight GALLONS of chili in two huge pots.  I started with ten pounds of hamburger and a whole bunch of cans of tomatoes and beans.  It took me until almost 3:00 to get it all cooked and then put in the refrigerator to cool overnight and let the flavor build.  At 4:30 we went to happy hour, then did Bingo at 6:00.  I think I won one game.  After Bingo we went home and watched TV until it was time for bed.

Saturday, November 2^nd, I was up early and in the clubhouse by about 7:30.  I needed to help set up the Zoom feed for the meeting and also to get my chili out of the fridges and warming up.  The meeting started at 9:00 and was relatively uneventful.  Not too much came up during the open sessions and the meeting was pretty much over by 11:30 or so.  They introduced the new Board, which had three new members elected, and another two new members appointed to fill a couple of vacancies.  It looks like we will have a good Board this year.  Our friend Sharon Guthrie was elected President and we are friends with all of the rest of the new Board members.  After the meeting I started the work of reheating the chili and getting ready for the dinner at 4:00.  About 2:00 I realized that I wasn’t going to have enough chili, so I had to make a quick run to the store for supplies for another five pound batch of chili.  The dinner was well received and we had about 65 people eating.  We had enough chili and everything else.  Actually had a little chili left over. After the dinner I helped clean up and then we went home and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Sunday, November 3^rd, was a quiet day.  Day Light Savings Time ended last night.  We spent the day just doing some chores around the house.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00, then came home and relaxed for the rest of the day.  Monday, we were headed into Las Vegas so I could go to Costco for the follow-up for my new hearing aids.  I was having some comfort issues with the left ear.  I have an oddly shaped ear canal on that side.  We stopped for lunch then went to Costco.  The hearing aid tech was very helpful and cured the comfort issue after a couple of different shapes and sizes of ear speakers were tried.  We did a little shopping, then packed up and headed back to town.  We didn’t go to happy hour because we were tired.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, November 5^th, Election Day.  Jackie had a 10:00 meeting in the clubhouse and then went to a mani appointment.  I stayed home and did some chores.  At 3:00 we went out again so I could go to the dentist for a deep cleaning.  After the cleaning we went home and spent the rest of the night watching the election results on the TV.  Wednesday, we had to get up at 4:00 a.m. because I had to be in Las Vegas at 7:00 for my first cataract removal.  We were pleased to find out that Trump had been elected President again and pretty much in a landslide.  We got to the surgery center about 6:40 and by 7:10 I was in Pre-op getting ready to have my right eye fixed.  It was about an hour before I went in, but the surgery was maybe 20 minutes and I was out and getting ready to leave.  We were out of the surgery center by about 10:30.  There is no pain of course, the eye doesn’t have any pain nerves, but it was very foggy still from the surgery.  They told me this was normal and would clear up by tomorrow.  We went for some brunch, then did a little shopping to kill time.  We couldn’t go home right away because I had a same-day follow-up with the eye doctor, just to be sure everything was OK.  At 3:30 we did that, then started home, getting home just before sunset.  We didn’t go to happy hour, but just stayed home and watched TV. 

Thursday, November 7^th, the vision in my right eye had cleared up by the time I woke up and what everyone told me was true – the colors were MUCH brighter.  White was actually white, not beige or yellow looking.  I had a brief meeting at 10:00 with the Security Committee and we both had a 1:00 meeting with some of the Silver Seeker Board over some kitchen issues.  Jackie had a 3:00 meeting with the Election Committee, which she has joined this year, and at 4:30 we both went and got haircuts.  After we got home we had dinner then spent the night with the TV.  Friday was finally a free day.  We both did a bunch of home and office work for most of the day, getting a lot of stuff we have been putting off, completed.  At 4:00 we went to happy hour for the first time in several days, but we didn’t stay for Bingo.  We went home, had a meat loaf for dinner and then spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Saturday, November 9^th, we had another stay at home day.  I got some office work and chores done around the house, as did Jackie.  We had leftover meatloaf for dinner and then spent the rest of the night watching TV.  Sunday, November 10^th, Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps!  We had mostly a stay at home day.  Did a few chores but mostly relaxed.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00 and then relaxed for a while.  At about 5:30 we picked up our friends Dale and Sue Vice, who live just down from us here at the park, and drove to the Pour House for dinner.  We had a very nice dinner, then came back to our place where we had some Key Lime pie that Jackie had baked this morning.  Dale loves Key Lime pie.  After they left to go home we watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, November 11, Happy Veterans Day.  I was up early for the 8:00 am flag raising ceremony to celebrate Veterans Day.  We spent the rest of the day just doing work, Jackie with her Silver Seekers treasurer stuff and me with the usual office work.  Our cleaning lady came for her bi-weekly cleaning of our trailer.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then came home for dinner and another night with the TV.  Tuesday, we both went to a 1:00 planning meeting for the Silver Seekers Board.  We discussed some potential changes as well as set up the December calendar for the park.  After the meeting we went out to Walmart for some supplies.  I then went to a 3:00 dentist appointment to get the other half of my teeth deep cleaned.  While I was doing that Jackie ran some errands.  I was finished with the dentist in time to go to happy hour.  We then went home and had dinner and watched TV for the rest of then evening.

Wednesday, November 13^th, we finally had a “normal” Wednesday.  At 1:00  I went with my friend Len to our weekly guitar jam and Jackie went to play Pokeno in the clubhouse.  Jackie had a grievance committee meeting at 3:00.  We decided to skip happy our today and just stayed home and relaxed.  After dinner we watched TV until bedtime.  Thursday we had a busy day, starting with a Town Hall meeting in the clubhouse at 9:00.  I then had an interview with a selection committee regarding an appointment to the Co-op Board to fill the vacancy of a resigning member of the Board.  I then had an 11:00 meeting of the By Laws Committee.  At 1:00 we had a meeting of the Silver Seekers Board.  That was quite a meeting with a lot of input from the members in the audience.  After that meeting we were able to go home and relax a while before going to happy hour.  After happy hour we did some hamburgers for dinner then watched TV the rest of the night.

Friday, November 15^th, I had a 10:00 appointment with my ophthalmologist to get the final checkup on my right eye after last week’s cataract surgery.  The doctor told me everything looked good.  This coming Wednesday I get the left eye done.  Yea!  After the doctor we went to Walmart for some supplies.  We stopped and had lunch at Romero’s Mexican restaurant, then headed home.  We relaxed for a while before  heading to the Elks Lodge for a fund raising dinner.  The dinner was to raise funds for our lodge’s contribution to the Elks National Foundation, ENF.  The ENF provides millions of dollars in grants every year to help kids and veterans around the county.  We had 14 people from our Co-op come to the dinner and made up about a quarter of the attendees.  We have been working hard the last couple of years getting people in our park to join the Elks.  After a great dinner we went back home and spent the evening with the TV.  Sunday was a stay at home day.  We did a few chores but mostly relaxed for the day.

Monday, November 18^th, I went to the Co-op Board’s planning session at 1:00.  Then at 3:00 we had a planning session for the Silver Seekers.  We planned out the calendar for December.  We had happy hour at 4:00, then went home and had dinner.  Spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Tuesday Jackie had a mani appointment at 10:30.  About 2:30 we left and drove to Las Vegas and to Arizona Charlie’s Hotel and Casino.  We are spending the night here because I have my second cataract surgery, the left eye, tomorrow morning at 7 am.  The surgery center is only a mile from the hotel, so we don’t have to get up nearly as early as we did last time.  After we checked in we went to the casino and gamed for a while, then had dinner in the coffee shop.  We then went back to the room and watched TV for a while before going to sleep a little early. 

Wednesday, November 20^th, we were up at 5:30 getting ready to go to the surgery center.  I couldn’t have anything to eat or drink, but Jackie had coffee.  We got to the surgery center and registered.  I got called in about 7:30 and by 10:30 we were finished and I was in the car with both eyes done now.  This surgery went as smoothly as the first one. We went to the Cracked Egg restaurant for breakfast.  Then we went to Costco for a couple of things.  We had to stay in town because, like last time, I had a 3:00 appointment at the ophthalmologist’s office for the post surgery checkup.  Also, like last time, we got there about an hour early and they got us right in to see the doctor.  He checked me and said everything looked good.  By 3:00 we were on the road headed home.  We got home before dark and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the house.

Thursday, November 21^st, I went to the 9:00 Board of Directors meeting in the clubhouse.  The new Board had a really long agenda of stuff they wanted to address.  About 11:00 or so they adjourned the meeting and tabled a number of items to the next meeting.  At noon Jackie went to Artesian Cellars for a girl’s lunch.  Six of us guys decided we needed to go out too, so we drove down to Sherie’s Ranch, one of the two local brothels, for lunch.  They actually have a café and bar in the front of the brothel.  We had a good time and the food was actually quite good.  A few of the girls walked through while we were eating, but didn’t pay us much mind.  We decided that we were forming a group, the ROMEOs, which is Retired Old Men Eating Out, which would go out every time the girls called an ad hoc lunch.  This doesn’t include the regularly scheduled Ladies Luncheon, which is a monthly event on the calendar.  We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing a few chores and relaxing.  Went to happy hour at 4:00 then went home and watched TV until bedtime.  Friday we didn’t have a real plans.  Spent a little time doing chores and office business.  At about 1:00 we went out for a late lunch to the Roadhouse restaurant where we both had their wonderful liver and onions.  We then went back home and relaxed until 4:30 when we went to happy hour and then stayed to play bingo.  Lucky us, I won one and a half games for a total of $30, and Jackie won a game for $20.  Yea us.  We then went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, November 23^rd, today we had nothing on our calendar.  We stayed home and did a few chores, watched some TV and played some games.  A very relaxing day.  Only downside, sort of , was ATT was off line all day, so we had no phones.  Fortunately, we still had our internet which is not phone based.  We didn’t even go to happy hour.  Sunday was also a stay at home day.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00, but otherwise just stayed around the house keeping busy.  The ATT phone system came back on line in the afternoon after being off for a day and a half.  Pretty sad service for a major phone provider.  We had a nice steak and scallops dinner then watched TV for the rest of the night.

Monday, November 25, we had another stay at home day with nothing on our schedule.  We had a relaxing day at home.  Tuesday was the same as Monday.  We went out and did some shopping in the afternoon, had happy hour and then relaxed with the TV until bedtime.  Wednesday Jackie had Pokeno at 1:00 and I just stayed home and did some office work and played.  We went to happy hour, had supper and watched TV for the rest of the night.

Thursday, November 28^th, Happy Thanksgiving.  Today was a busy day.  I was up and over to the clubhouse by 7:00 so that my volunteer turkey cookers could get in when they wanted to.  Jackie is making one of the turkeys and four other people are doing the rest.  The five turkeys are for the Silver Seekers Thanksgiving Dinner, which is at 3:00 today.  For the rest of the morning and early afternoon I was back and forth checking on the progress of the cooking.  Four people are cooking their turkeys in the clubhouse in the roaster ovens, one person took a turkey home earlier in the week and is doing it in their home.  At about 1:30 Jackie and I went over and started getting setup for the meal.  I had a lot of volunteers helping and we were carving turkeys, making gravy and setting up.  By 3:00 everything was ready for service.  We had about 60 people and lots and lots of sides to accompany our turkeys.  We had a wonderful meal and everything went off without a hitch.  I had lots of help cleaning up the clubhouse and doing dishes.  By 5:30 we were done and went home.  I relaxed until 8:00 when I had my first tour of security for the month.  After that was done I crashed with the TV until bedtime.

Friday, November 29^th, we had announced at the dinner yesterday afternoon that we were having leftovers for lunch today.  I went out and bought a bunch of bread for hot turkey sandwiches and some extra dressing since we were running low.  We had lots of potatoes, veggies and other sides that we had saved.  I went over about 10:00 and started heating everything up and getting the room set up.  At noon we had about 25 people who came for lunch and they managed to finish off all the turkey, stuffing and potatoes.  After lunch we cleaned up, again with lots of help, then went home and spent the rest of the day resting from some very busy days.  Saturday we went out in the afternoon and ran a few errands and did some shopping.  We skipped happy hour and had dinner.  I did my last tour of security for this month and then we watched TV and went to bed.

This marks the end of November and the time to get this episode published.  Until nest time, be happy and enjoy life.  Bye.

Fall Comes To Pahrump, the Heat Reluctantly Subsides

Hi, welcome back.  Our last chapter concluded on September 30^th, with us just chilling in Pahrump.  Tuesday, October 1^st, I had an appointment with my dermatologist at 10:00 to discuss how to proceed with a small skin cancer on the side of my neck.  I had gone for a regular appointment at the end of August and the doc had done a shave biopsy on a spot on my neck.  While we were on the cruise last month they called and told me that it came back as a very early squamous cell cancer and I needed to have it removed.  The appointment today was quick, I just said let’s get it out and they set me up for a MOHS procedure on Thursday.  I have had MOHS procedures several times in the past.  They basically very thin layers of tissue where the cancer is, have it analyzed right away by means of a portable lab they set up in the office.  Once they get a layer that has no cancer cells they stich you up and send you on your way.  Only once have they had to go beyond the first slice, and then it was OK on the second.  While I was gone the cleaning lady came and cleaned the house.  After I got home we just did some chores around the house.  We went to happy hour and then came home for dinner and TV for the remainder of the evening.

Wednesday, October 2^nd, We went to the clubhouse at 11:00 for a MASA presentation.  Regular readers know that MASA is basically insurance for any emergency medical transport, whether by ground or air.  We have had MASA since 2007, but they encourage members to come to the presentations and, since they always provide lunch, most members attend.  We had Panda Express takeout after the presentation.  After lunch I went to guitar practice with my group of friends, and Jackie went to Pokeno with her friends.  At 5:00, right after happy hour, some of the younger members of the park put on a Cake Walk event.  Everyone who wanted to participate brought some kind of snack food and then we played a modified game of musical chairs, except that once everyone sat they would call a number and the person in that numbered chair would have to complete a “task” of some sort.  Silly stuff, but we had a good time.  After that we went home, had dinner and then spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Thursday, October 3^rd, I was up, showered and in the dermatologists office at 7:00 for my MOHS procedure.  Luckily my first cut was clear of cancer cells, so I was stitched up and out of the office by 10:00 with a big bandage on the side of my neck.  We spent the rest of the day just doing stuff around the house.  We didn’t go to happy hour, so we had dinner and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Friday, I was up early again for a 9:00 appointment with the Peace Officers Advisory Review Board.  The POARB is a volunteer board for Nye County that is charged with reviewing internal affairs investigations from the Nye County Sheriff's Office.  I have been on the Board for a couple of years and this is only my third Board.  They have 12 members on the Board and for each review they randomly select three people to be the review board.  It was a pretty cut and dried case that was unfounded, meaning the alleged wrong didn’t occur, so the deputy was cleared.  After looking at the paperwork and watching the body cam footage we agreed with the findings.  I was done by lunch time.  We went out to lunch and ran some errands after I got home.  We went to happy hour and then had dinner.  We then watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, October 5^th, Jackie had a 10:00 haircut.  I stayed home and did some chores.  We spent most of the day at home doing the usual stuff.  Sunday was also a stay at home day.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00 then did stuff around the house for the rest of the day.  Monday I had guitar practice with my group.  We changed from Wednesday because I was not able to be there on Wednesday.  After I got home we went to happy hour, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, October 8^th, we had a Silver Seekers workshop meeting at 1:00.  We spent most of the meeting putting together the tentative calendar for November.  After the meeting we went out and ran some errands.  After we got home we had dinner and were going to spend the rest of the night with the TV.  Not too long after dinner Jackie was complaining that she had pains in her stomach area.  She finally went to bed a little early because it hurt.  When I came to bed around 10:00 she was saying that it really hurt and was getting worse.  We decided that she needed to go into the emergency room to get checked out.  By 10:30 or so we were in the emergency room at the Pahrump hospital.  It was not real busy so she got checked out fairly quickly.  By 12:30 or so in the morning, after a CT scan, the doctor told us that Jackie had appendicitis and needed to have her appendix removed.  They also said that they would be calling an ambulance to take her to Summerlin Hospital in Las Vegas for the surgery.  The ambulance came about 1:30 and took Jackie to Summerlin Hospital.  Since I couldn’t do anything for her at this point, I went home and went to bed.  She called me about 4:00 in the morning and told me that she was in a room and would have the surgery sometime today, meaning on Wednesday.

Wednesday, October 9^th, I was up and on my way to Las Vegas about 10:00.  Jackie had told me that the surgery was scheduled for 1:00 this afternoon.  I stopped for a quick lunch and was in Jackie’s hospital room about 11:30.  They came and took her down to the pre-op area about 12:30 and I was able to stay with her.  I left about 12:45 to go to Costco to pick up my new hearing aids.  We were going to be coming to Vegas today anyway, it just worked out that Jackie came early.  I figured she would be going into surgery shortly, so I went and picked up my hearing aids.  Because they had to do some more testing, the appointment went until almost 3:00.  I headed back to the hospital and went right up to Jackie’s room, figuring she would be in it already, but she wasn’t.  I went to the nurses station and asked them to check on her.  They finally told me that she was just now (3:15) going into surgery and it would be a while. About two hours later they finally rolled her back into her room and got her in bed.  She was in quite a bit of pain at the incision sites.  They did the laparoscopic surgery where they make several small incisions and use tools to do the surgery.  About 4:30 the doctor came in and said that Jackie was going to spend the night and would be released sometime tomorrow unless something happened.  Jackie was kind of sleepy so we agreed that I would go ahead and drive back home tonight.  I headed back to Pahrump and when I got to the park I went to another event put on by members, this one called PickleFest.  Everyone brought something pickled for everyone to try.  It was basically a social gathering and was a lot of fun.  By 8:00 I was home and I was in bed shortly thereafter because it was a busy, tiring day. 

Thursday, October 10^th, I was supposed to have a couple of meetings today, one at 9:00 and one at 1:00, but I was back on the road again, headed to Vegas about 10:00.  I got to the hospital around 1l:30 and we just sat in the room and waited for her to be discharged.  About 12:30 or so they had her sign the discharge papers and we were headed back home.  We stopped at In and Out for lunch, eating in the car as Jackie was still in the nightshirt she arrived in two nights ago.  We then went back home and spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing.  Jackie was still hurting pretty bad.  Friday I had a Board Meeting at 11:00 regarding the budget, and had to attend since I am on the Budget Committee.  Jackie watched from home on Zoom.  Then at 2:30 we participated in a virtual home health care visit from a nurse at United Healthcare, which is our health insurance company.  After we just relaxed the rest of the evening.  Jackie slept on the couch tonight because getting in and out of bed was aggravating her surgical sites and causing pain.

Saturday, October 12^th, we just had a stay at home day.  Jackie spent the day just resting and taking care of herself.  I did a few chores around the house and ran some errands.  I did go to a 4:00 Celebration of Life for one of the long time members of the Co-op.  Linda Moody passed away a month or so back and her husband wanted to have a memorial in the park for all their friends and family.  Jackie slept on the couch again tonight.  Sunday was much the same, just staying around the house while Jackie relaxed and tried not to do things that hurt.  After dinner I did go to the clubhouse for another member generated activity that was basically music trivia. It was well done and had a good time.  Jackie was on the couch again.

Monday, October 14^th, happy Columbus Day.  Back in the old days this was an official holiday, but Columbus has been beat up on by the younger generations so it is not so big a holiday anymore.  Jackie was feeling a little better and decided that we would go the Lucky Rollers dine-out in Las Vegas.  The Lucky Rollers is the Co-op’s camping club as well as the official Escapees Chapter (#14) for the State of Nevada.  Today we went to the Blueberry Hill restaurant in Las Vegas.  They have excellent food and service and we had a good time.  Most dine-outs are in Pahrump, but because we have several member of the camping club that live in Las Vegas, we try to have one there at least once a year.  After the dine out we went home and relaxed for the rest of the day and evening.  Jackie was hurting a little from being up and around today.  I did my first tour of security duty tonight.  Jackie was finally able to go back to sleeping in our bed tonight.  Yay!

Tuesday, October 15^th, Jackie was feeling OK enough to drive herself to her manicure appointment at 10:30.  She made it back in time to come to the Silver Seekers lunch, which today was burritos, rice and beans.  We had a nice meal and Jackie was able to visit with people for a while.  After lunch we went home and Jackie rested while I did some office work.  We skipped happy hour because Jackie had been up and about all day and was tired.  We had dinner, watched TV and went to bed, although I did have to go out at 8:00 for my second night of security duty.  Wednesday, was a fairly normal Wednesday, with Jackie playing Pokeno at 1:00 and me doing guitar practice.  Today it was just Len and I at our house because our usual hosts were sick.  We went to happy hour, had dinner and spent the night watching Tv.

Thursday, October 17^th, I was over I the clubhouse by 9:00 for the regular open Board Meeting.  This is the last Board Meeting for the current Board because November 2^nd is the Annual Membership Meeting and three new Board members will be elected.  There will actually be five new members going on the Board as two have left the Board, one resigned and one recalled.  So next year five of the nine members will be new.  After the Board meeting I set up in the clubhouse for the big Jam session that I keep trying to do here in the park.  At 3:00 we had the jam and actually had most of the group I have been practicing with, which gave us five people.  Unfortunately, I was the only one who was a member of the park.  The jam was fun and we were done by 4:00.  I cleaned up my stuff and went to the last half of happy hour.  We then went home, had dinner and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

Friday, October 18^th, I had to go the dermatologist at 10:45 to get my stiches taken out.  That took about 10 minutes.  Jackie went with me because we had some errands to run afterwards.  We went to the bank so she could so some Silver Seekers stuff as she is the acting Treasurer.  We then went to the French Bakery for lunch and then did a Walmart run.  We went to happy hour and spent the rest of the night relaxing with the TV.  Saturday Jackie was supposed to go to a ladies luncheon, but she decided to cancel because she was still hurting a little.  We spent the day doing chores around the house.  We did go to happy hour and then came home for dinner.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Saturday, October 19^th, we had a stay at home day.  Jackie was still hurting quite a bit.  We did a little office work but mostly relaxed for the day.  Sunday was also a stay at home day.  We did a little bit of packing for our trip on Monday to Laughlin.  We went to the ice cream social after which we did some chores and shopping.  We spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Monday, October 21^st, we were all packed up and headed south to Laughlin, Nevada, about 11:00 or so.  We are going there for the Fall Lucky Rollers campout.  This is the camping club here at the Co-op.  We don’t have a movable RV anymore, so we stay in the hotel.  On the way we stopped at Angie’s Lobster House in Las Vegas for a lobster roll.  This is a really good and affordable place to get great seafood.  After that we just drove to Laughlin, getting in around 2:30 or so.  We checked into the Riverside Hotel and Casino, put our stuff in the room, and then drove up to the campground were the Lucky Rollers were staying.  The campground is part of the Riverside Resort complex and is just across the street from the hotel.  We can see it from our room.  We stayed and visited for happy hour, then went back to the hotel.  We gambled for a while, then went into the café for dinner.  After dinner we gamed some more.  Jackie had really good luck, hit four deuces on a poker machine three times on the same machine.  I didn’t do so well, but we had fun.  About 10:00 we went up to the room, watched a little TV and went to bed.  Tuesday we had coffee in the room and relaxed in the morning.  We then left and drove across the river to Bullhead City, Arizona.  We had lunch in the IHOP restaurant, then went to Sam’s Club for some recreational shopping.  After Sam’s club we went back across the river and stopped at the Aquarius Casino for some gaming.  That was a bust. At 4:00 we went to the campground for happy hour.  After happy hour we went over to the Golden Nugget Casino for dinner with Sue and Dale Vice, some friends from the Co-op who are on the campout.  We had a very nice dinner at Bubba Gumps seafood house.  After dinner we gamed at the Nugget for a while, then went back to the Riverside for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, October 23^rd, we relaxed in the hotel room in the morning.  We gamed a little, then went over the campground around noon.  Our friend Max and his wife Nancy were cooking ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch.  We had lunch and visited for a while.  We then left and went to the Tropicana Casino to game for a while.  Didn’t have much luck there, so we went back to the Riverside.  About 3:30 we went to the Prime Rib room at the Riverside for dinner with the group.  Jackie had won two free tickets for the Prime Rib room on her players card, so we ate for free.  It was a great dinner with friends and good food.  After dinner we played for a while, then went up to the room for some TV and bed.

Thursday, October 24^th, we spent the morning in the room, then went down to the casino.  Jackie had also gotten two free buffet tickets from her players club account, so we went and had breakfast in the Riverside buffet.  After that we gamed for a while.  About noon we went over to the campground for the meeting of the Lucky Rollers.  We had the meeting, then drew for the various prizes, goodie bags, 50/50, and door prizes.  We won a couple things.  We then played Pokeno for a while.  At 4:00 we had happy hour and I played guitar and sang for the group, and we did some sing-a-longs.  About 6:00 we were done there so we packed up our stuff and went back to the hotel.  Most of the campers are staying in the campground until Sunday, but we are leaving tomorrow.  We went back and gamed for a while.  Tonight was my lucky night, I hit a natural Royal Flush on a nickel poker machine for $250.  That pretty much made me whole for the trip.  Yea!  We went to bed about 10:30.

Friday, October 25^th, we were packed up and out of the room at 11:00.  We stopped for lunch at the In and Out in Laughlin, then head North for home.  We got home about 2:30, unpacked and did some laundry.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, came home and had leftover prime rib for dinner, then spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Saturday, we spent most of the day doing chores and catching up on office work.  We did go out and do a Walmart run for supplies in the afternoon.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Sunday, October 27^th, we had another stay at home day.  We did some office work and a few chores around the house.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00, then came back and did a little more work.  We had dinner about 6:00, some country ribs that had been cooking all day, then watched TV until bedtime.  Monday the housecleaner came about 10:00.  I did a few office jobs in the shed while she cleaned.  At 12:30 we had a Silver Seekers lunch in the clubhouse with hamburgers and various sides.  After lunch we just hung around the house and did some chores.  We went to happy hour and then came home for dinner.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, October 29^th, we had the first real Fall day, windy and cold.  Yesterday was the beginning of what we call “Homecoming Week” which is the week before the Co-op’s annual Membership Meeting.  We were supposed to have a “meet your neighbor” event this morning, where people just walk around the park and visit, but with the winds and the cool temps no one went out.  We went out about 1:30 to get some taco salads for lunch and then to look at golf carts to replace our cart which quit working six months ago and has resisted all efforts to fix it.  I finally gave up and decided we would just replace it.  We looked at several new carts, which were in the $6,500 to $9,500 range, as well as a couple of late model used carts.  One was a three year old cart that was pretty much what we were looking for for $5,000.  We decided to think on it and went back home.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home and spent the night with the TV.

Wednesday, October 30^th, I had a meeting of the Nye County Police Officers Advisory Review Board (POARB) at 9:00.  Another citizen complaint against a Nye County Sheriff’s Deputy that we had to review.  We finished with that around 11:00 or so.  Since I was close I then went by the golf cart place and did a closer inspection of the three year old cart we were interested in to make sure I didn’t miss anything the other day.  I then talked to Garry, the owner, and offered him $4,500 and our old cart.  He accepted the offer, but to avoid additional expenses I needed to pay in cash.  I went home and did some funds transfers, then went to the bank and got the money.  I paid for the cart and he said it would be delivered tomorrow.  Yea!  I then stopped at what used to the Pour House, but is soon to be something else, I don’t recall what.  I ordered a pizza for dinner since we have to be in the clubhouse at 6:00 for the trivia night I am putting on.  The pizza was just shy of $25 and while I was waiting I sat at the bar and played the poker machine.  When the pizza came out I cashed out and I had won $25 over what I started with.  Basically, FREE PIZZA!  Yea!  I then went home and relaxed for a little while.  We went to happy hour and I got everything set up and working for the trivia session.  We started at 6:00 with four teams, a total of about 25 players.  We went until a little after 7:30 and it seems everyone had a good time, although the scores were not very high.  I use pretty tough questions.  After we finished I cleaned up and we went back home and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, October 31^st, Happy Halloween.  After a relaxed morning I went over to the clubhouse after lunch and set up my sound equipment for tonight’s Halloween Party.  At 4:00 we went over for the Halloween pot luck dinner at the clubhouse.  We had about 35 people there and some pretty good food.  A lot of people were already in costume for the party.  After the pot luck we cleaned up and then at 6:00 we started the party.  We had about 30 people there.  I was expecting more, but the younger crowd, what we call the Xers, (for GenX) didn’t come.  They had their own thing going on I guess.  We still had a great time.  We played dance music, did some karaoke, did some lip sync and just had a great time.  I know people were having fun because most of the crowd was still there when I shut down at 8:00, which is late for a crowd in this park.  I got everything torn down and cleaned up and we went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Well, that is the end of another month here in Paradise.  Until next time, stay calm and carry on.  Bye.

A Hot September in Pahrump and a Two Week Cruise

Hi there, welcome back.  Our last chapter concluded on Saturday, August 31st.  The heat wave is not over, they are predicting temps over 100, close 110, for at least the first two weeks of September.  Sunday was a slow day.  We did some packing and planning for the cruise trip that starts on Thursday night when we fly from Vegas to Baltimore.  We went to the ice cream social and then came home and had dinner.  

Monday, September 2nd, Happy Labor Day.  We went over to the clubhouse about 11:30 to help with the Silver Seekers Labor Day hamburger lunch.  By job was cooking hamburgers on the flat top and I ended up doing over 70 burgers.  We had a great turnout of over 60 people!  A real success.  After the lunch was done and we had cleaned up the kitchen and clubhouse, we went back to the trailer and just relaxed the rest of the day.  Tuesday was another day with not too much going on.  I did some office work and at 10:30 we went to the nail salon.  I just got my toenails cut, Jackie had a full mani/pedi.  While she was doing that I ran some errands.  After we got home we were too tired to go to happy hour.  While she was getting into the big chair they use for pedicures, Jackie slipped and fell, hitting her knee and shin on the hard plastic.  It hasn’t swelled up, but she says it really hurts.  This is the same knee she hurt years ago and has had two orthoscopic surgeries on.  It has always bothered here some, now it really hurts.  We watched TV for the rest of the night and went to bed.

Wednesday, September 4th, Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00.  I skipped my jam session this week because I have stuff I have to do before we leave tomorrow on our cruise.  I went out and ran some errands while Jackie was at the clubhouse.  We spent most of the late afternoon and evening getting our packing finished.  Thursday, sort of the first day our of cruise vacation.  Our cruise leaves on Saturday out of Baltimore, Maryland.  Because of the possibility of problems with air travel, we asked Norwegian Cruise Lines to fly us to Baltimore a day early.  We made our own hotel reservations because Norwegian said they did not have any deals with hotels in Baltimore.  Well, the cruise line met the letter of our request by flying us out of Las Vegas on Thursday, just at 11:55 pm!  We packed the car with our luggage, and set up the trailer for our absence of over two weeks, then left for Las Vegas about 5:00.  This got us over the hump and into Vegas before dark.  After we got into town we drove to the Blueberry Hill restaurant just North of the airport for dinner.  After dinner we drove to the Best Western McCarren hotel right on the perimeter of the airport.  The airport is now Harry Reid International Airport, but the hotel kept the old name of McCarren.  This hotel had a “park and ride” program which didn’t require we stay in the hotel.  It cost us less to park there than it would have at the airport, and they provide a shuttle to and from the terminals.  After we got the car parked and secured, we had the shuttle take us to the airport, even though we were about four hours early for our flight.

After we got to the airport we checked our bags, which American Airlines charged us $170.  We then went to the gate to wait for our flight.  We went through security and Jackie’s carryon got flagged for an inspection.  They threw out her water and a small can of hair spray, but let her keep a small pair of haircutting scissors.  When we got to the gate we just had a cocktail and relaxed until boarding time.  The flight boarded on time and we were off just after midnight headed first to Chicago.  The flight was full, the seats were uncomfortable and neither of us could fall asleep.  We landed at Chicago O’Hare a little before 6:00 am Central Time and watched the sun come up.  Our connecting flight didn’t leave until 8:30 or so, so we just relaxed for two hours.  The connecting flight was also on time, and also full.  This one was a smaller plane with just two seats on each side of the aisle.  I was still uncomfortable and a little bumpy.  We finally arrived in Baltimore, Maryland at BWI, just before noon Eastern Time on Friday, September 6th.  Fortunately, all of our bags arrived with us, so we gathered everything up and caught an Uber to take us to our hotel.  We had reservations for the night at the Courtyard Baltimore Inner Harbor Hotel.  Well, the Uber driver took us to the Baltimore Marriot Inner Harbor.  When I tried to check in they let me know we didn’t have a reservation there.  I showed them my conformation email and they told me it was a different hotel.  Seems there are several hotels downtown that use the term “inner harbor” in their name.  We caught a cab and got a ride to the right hotel.  Fortunately they had a room ready for us so we got settled in and took a nap.  Later in the evening we had a couple of drinks in the hotel bar, then went next store to a deli that was in the same building and had a very nice dinner.  After dinner we went home, watched a little TV and went to bed after a 12 hour day/

Saturday, September 7th, we had an 11:30 check in time scheduled with the cruise ship.  The ship was only about 10 minutes away from our hotel and the hotel desk clerk had set up a ride for us with someone she knew who did ride shares.  The driver arrived right on time with a big SUV.  We had originally asked for a bigger vehicle because we thought our friend Peggy Bullock and her friend Wanda, who are also booked on this cruise, were staying at the same hotel.  Turns out, they were staying at the one we had mistakenly gone to first yesterday.  We did find a very nice, older couple from Holland waiting in the lobby for a ride to the cruise port, and asked them if they wanted to share a ride.  They did so the ride was half price for each couple. 

We got to the port, checked our bags with the ship’s baggage people and got checked in for the cruise.  The check in process was very organized and we were on the ship all ready to go after only about 30 minutes.  Once we got on the ship we went to the buffet and had lunch, the found a bar to have a drink.  The “drink package” was included in our cruise fare, so we could drink as much of whatever we wanted.  While at the bar we met up with Peggy and Wanda.  We had never met Wanda, although we knew of her from conversations in the past with Peggy.  They have been friends for years and are both widows.   After a couple of cocktails we went to our cabin and started to unpack our bags, which were arriving in our stateroom.  The ship, the Norwegian Sky, is an older, smaller, ship so the cabin was pretty small and storage was a major problem.  Nonetheless, we managed to find somewhere to put everything and we were ready to cruise.  We spent the afternoon just looking around the ship.  

Because of the fall Jackie took a couple days before we left, her knee and leg really hurt.  We arranged for a rental scooter to be brought to the ship and when we went to the cabin it was there, outside in the hallway.  Jackie used the scooter while we were on our explorations, getting used to driving it, not too fast, not too slow, and not running into people or things.  It was tricky at first.  The ship sailed at 4:00, leaving Baltimore Harbor and headed down the Chesapeake Bay towards Virginia Beach and the open ocean.  All four of us were up on deck when we left taking pictures of the concrete pylons left over from the recent collapse of the Key Bridge after one of the supports was hit by a wayward cargo ship.  We all went to dinner in the dining room about 6:30 and had a very nice meal.  We didn’t get out in time for the Welcome Aboard show in the showroom, so we just checked out the casino and gamed a bit, then checked a couple of bars before heading back to our cabin after an early and busy day.

Before I go into the next day, the first full day aboard the Sky, I want to give a little information about the ship.  This is an older ship, the second oldest in Norwegian’s current inventory.  It was built in 1999 and sailed as the Norwegian Sky until 2004.  In 2004 Norwegian Cruise Line purchased American Cruise Line, which had operated two ships on cruises limited to the Hawaiian Islands.  American went bankrupt and NCL purchased the company.  They sold the older ships American had used and transferred the Sky to the new subsidiary, NCL America for service in cruising the Hawaiian Islands.  The ship underwent some changes and was rechristened  “Pride of Aloha.”  US Federal laws require that ships which sail solely between United States ports must be registered in the United States, and have United States citizens as crew, so that was why the ship had to be transferred to the new company.  The major renovation undertaken was removal of the casino and replacing it with a Hawaiian cultural museum.  Since the ship never left US waters, it was not allowed to have a casino.  The ship sailed at the Spirit of Aloha until 2008 when NCL terminated the NCL America company and withdrew from the Hawaiian Island cruise business.  The ship went back into dock and was again slightly modified with the casino being restored and the ship being rechristened back to Norwegian Sky and reregistered in the Bahamas, where all the other NCL ships are registered.  In 2019 the ship went into drydock and was completely refurbished.  As I said, it is a smaller ship with a nominal capacity of about 2,000 passengers, with a crew of 900.  This is in comparison to some of the newest “super cruise ships” which have passenger capacities approaching 7,000.  The ship is 848 feet long, and has a beam of 118 feet, narrow than most of the other ships we have been on, explaining the smaller cabin size.  The décor on the ship is modern but actually quite plain compared to other ships we have cruised on.  The two dining rooms are located on deck 5, the lowest passenger deck, one aft and the other amidships, with the galley in between.  Another feature we have never seen is that the main showroom is located in the aft on decks 6 and 7, right above the aft dining room.  Every other cruise ship I have been on has the main showroom in the forward part of the ship.  All in all, it was a very pleasant ship and the small passenger load meant that you saw a lot more of the same people every day.  

Sunday, September 8th, was a day at sea.  We slept in, relaxing in the morning with our coffee and enjoying the warm weather and calm seas.  When got ready leave to go to lunch we stepped out into the corridor and saw Jackie’s mobility scooter was gone!  We had parked it outside our door because we had tried, and failed, to get it into the small cabin.  Our cabin steward told us that because the cabin attendants had to have there cleaning and supply carts in the hallway most of the day, the housekeeping staff took the scooters and park them in the crew hallways where they would not be in the way.  He said when we need it, they would call for it to be brought back.  He made the call and a little while later the scooter appeared.  We went up to the buffet for breakfast and then were touring around the ship looking for something to do.  Suddenly the scooter alarmed and indicated it needed to be recharged.  This surprised us since we hadn’t used it that much yesterday or today.  We immediately went back to the cabin to charge it.  I finally figured out that if I took off the seat I could maneuver it around the end of the bed into a place near the door to the balcony, where it was out of the way.  When I took the charger out of the basket and pulled out the instruction book to see where I needed to plug the charger in, I noticed a tag in the basket that said this was the “spare” scooter provided by the rental company.  It was then I also noticed a couple of other details, different colored zip ties and so forth, and figured out, this wasn’t Jackie’s scooter.  This was an extra provided by the company.  It was identical to her scooter, as well as a half dozen others that we had seen around the ship.  The average age on this cruise was well into the 60’s, so there were a lot of scooters in use.  We had the cabin attendant call and sure enough, Jackie’s scooter was still in the crew area.  They brought it back and we made the switch.  Jackie used the scooter for rest of the day.  We had dinner in the dining room around 6:30 again with Peggy and Wanda.  After dinner we went to the showroom for a Magician and Mentalist named Eric Walton.  He was a very good entertainer and magician and quite funny.  He involved the audience a lot and his act was well received.  After the show we went back to our cabin and went to bed.

Monday, September 9th, we awoke about 8:00 or so just in time for our arrival into the Port of Boston, Massachusetts.  We had visited Boston back in 2017, when we were still full-timing.  That was the year that did the “Grand Northeast Tour” to get to all the States which we had not yet visited with the motorhome.  We up, had some coffee and got ready to go ashore about 9:00 or so for the tour we had booked through the ship.  The tour was a “hop on, hop off” tour of Central Boston, which, according to the brochure, hit all of the main historical and cultural sites in town.  We got on the trolley, which had a very interesting and knowledgeable guide narrating the trip, and decided to take the entire round trip first, just to see where we might want to get off and explore later.  We had plenty of time since the “all aboard” time wasn’t until 7:30 this evening.  The round trip took about an hour to complete, after which we continued the ride until we reached the stop for the Quincy Market and old downtown area.  We got off here and did some shopping and had lunch in a nice seafood place.  We also got a couple of geocaches.  After we explored the area and checked out some of the historical sites, we got back on the trolley and took it back to the dock so we could reboard the ship.  After we got back to the ship we had a cocktail and just did some of the activities on board, like trivia.  We had dinner about 6:30 or so.  After dinner we went to the showroom to see a featured female vocalist named Mellissa McLaughlin.  I had never heard of her, but I guess she works the cruise ship circuit.  She had a decent voice, but she was a little too shrill and loud for us.  We watched for about a half hour and then left.  Since the ship had now sailed we went to the casino for a little while before heading off to bed.

Tuesday, September 10th, day four of the cruise.  Today we arrived in Bar Harbor Maine about 9:00 a.m.  We didn’t have any scheduled shore excursions for this stop.  We had also been in Bar Harbor back in 2017 and had camped at a big campground just off the island that Bar Harbor is situated on.   About 10:30 we boarded a tender to go into town.  Bar Harbor does not have a dock big enough for a cruise ship, so we were anchored out in the bay.  We did a little shopping in the small harbor area of town and then went into a café for lunch.  After lunch we decided to take a tour of the town, so we bought tickets for a small sightseeing trolly and looked around town an listened to another interesting speaker telling us about town.  It was a good tour and we were glad we took it.  After the tour we caught a tender back to the ship.  We rested for a while and watched while we left port about 4:30. We wandered around the ship and played some trivia before going to dinner.  Tonight we had dinner with Peggy and Wanda in the dining room.  They had found a waiter named Dias that they really liked and we asked to be seated in his section.  Dias, which is his last name, but easier to use than his first name, Zennium.  He is East Indian with a strong, but understandable Indian accent.  He is very funny and very attentive.  We had a great dinner and afterwards just went out and wandered the ship for a couple of hours enjoying different bars and checking out the karaoke at 9:00.  The featured artist in the showroom tonight was a soloist violinist and neither of us had much interest.  The Karaoke was great.  There wasn’t a big crowd at the beginning and I ended up doing both the first and second songs of the session before anyone else got brave enough to put in their name.  They had a great setup in one of the smaller showrooms. They had a wide selection of songs and the sound system was the same one they use for the professional entertainers that play in the room.  They had the spotlights on and you really felt you were on stage.  I did about four songs before the rotation started to become fairly big, at which time we headed back to the cabin and went to bed.

Wednesday, September 11th, the fifth day of the cruise.  Of course, we have to remember the terrible day of September 11, 2001.  Ironically, today was the first port stop in a Canadian port, Saint John, New Brunswick.  We didn’t have any excursions set up for this stop, so we just walked around the port area and did some shopping and exploring.  We did couple of geocaches too.  We stopped in a local brewery so I could get a tee shirt since none of the shops had anything I liked.  After a couple of hours we were tired, and Jackie’s knee was hurting, so we got back on the ship and rested for a while.  The ship sailed early, about 4:00 and we watched from our balcony as we left port.  We had dinner with Wanda and Peggy again, at Dias’ table.  Today he remember that Peggy, Jackie and I all drank double Tito’s vodka on the rocks and when he came to the table he already had the drinks for us.  Wow!  We had another very nice dinner.  After dinner we went to the main showroom for one of the two production numbers put on by the ships dance company.  This one was fashioned as a “sing off” type contest between the four lead singers of the group.  Of course it was done with lots of neat costumes, sets, lights and dancing.  It was a very good show.  After the show we went to the casino for a while, then headed up to bed.

Thursday, September 12th, day six of the cruise.  Today we arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.  We had lunch on the ship then went ashore for another hop on, hop off, excursion.  This was a very nice city and we took the entire tour without getting off.  After the tour we walked around the port area for a while, got some geocaches, and then got back on the ship.  The ship left about 7:00 as we were having dinner in the dining room with “our” waiter Dias.  We had another really good meal.  The variety of foods on this cruise is not quite what we experienced with Carnival, but the quality was very good and I always had a great meal.  After dinner we went to the showroom at 9:00 to watch the cruise ship version of “The Newlywed Game.”  This seems to be a staple for cruise ships and we have seen it on every cruise we have been on, regardless of which cruise line.  It was funny and entertaining, as it usually is.  After the show we spent some time around the ship, then went to the cabin and bed.

Friday, September 13th, day seven.  Today was another port call, this time the city of Sydney, Nova Scotia, at the very Northern tip of the province.  We did get off of the ship for a little while and did some shopping in the port area.  I did walk into town to drugstore to get some pain patches for Jackie’s leg.  It is a pretty, if small, rural seaport town.  We got a geocache at the world's largest fiddle, and then got back aboard the ship.  Today was the day we had our dining reservations in Cagney’s Steakhouse.  On this cruise we got two specialty dining credits, where we can go to the fancy ala carte restaurants on the ship for free.  We had an excellent meal.  I had the 16 oz rib eye and Jackie had the lamb.  We had a really nice dinner.  After dinner we went to the casino and a bar since we didn’t want to go to the show.  It was the same lady that we walked out on earlier in the cruise.  After a nice evening we went to the cabin and went to sleep.

Saturday, September 14th, day eight.  Today our port call was in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.  We had booked a tour for this port, but it didn’t leave until 1:00.  We had a relaxing morning and lunch on the ship.  We went ashore and boarded a very nice Prevost tour bus for a tour of the city and the bridge which connects Prince Edward Island with the mainland and New Brunswick.  The tour was nice but a big part of it was just driving through the countryside to the bridge.  This eight mile long bridge is the only land connection between the province of Prince Edward Island and the mainland of Canada.  Until the bridge opened in 1997 the only way to get to PEI was by air or boat.  It is the longest bridge in Canada, and the longest bridge over ice covered water in the world.  In the winter the sea around PEI freezes solid.  We drove over the bridge and made a stop at a little shopping area on the New Brunswick side.  We also got a geocache there.  We got some geocaches in Charlottetown and then got back on the ship.  

Sunday, September 15th, day nine of the cruise.  Today was a day at sea, the second of our two sea days on this cruise.  We slept in and relaxed, we had lunch in the dining room with our regular waiter.  We spent the rest of the day just around the ship doing whatever.  We spent some time in the casino, played some trivia, and just had a quiet day.  We had dinner with Peggy and Wanda and after dinner wandered around some more.  We went to the showroom for a magician and mentalist show.  He was Eric Walton and he was very good.  He was also very funny and got the audience involved with the show.  In fact, since we were in the front row, he actually came and took Jackie up on stage to help with one of his mentalist things.  She did great.  After the show we went to karaoke again and I got to do about three songs.  After a good day at sea we went back to the cabin and went to bed.  

Monday, September 16th, today we are making port in Saguenay, Quebec, Canada.  This is a port city located at the end of an almost 80 mile fiord northwest from the Saint Lawrence

River.  We entered the fiord early in the morning, about 7:00 or so, and finally made port at noon.  It was very interesting cruising up the fiord with the rock walls on either side of the ship.  The fiord is only about four miles wide, but it is very deep.  We had a tour booked for today, but the tour didn’t leave until 4:30, so we spent some time on the ship.  We had lunch and then went ashore about 2:00 or so.  It turns out there wasn’t much shopping in the port area, so we spent a couple hours just sitting.  We did get a geocache though.  The tour was on a very nice Prevost coach and we toured the entire area.  The city was formed by combining three smaller communities into one large municipality.  It is a very pretty area and the tour was fun.  Saguenay is sort of the end of the world for mainland Quebec.  There are no roads that go north out of Saguenay and there are no settlements north or East on the mainland except for some small tribal communities.  After the tour we went back to the ship   We had dinner with Peggy and Wanda and after dinner went to the production show in the showroom  Tonight’s show was called Rock you Tonight and was really good with a lot of great music.  After the show we gamed a bit, then went to the cabin and to bed.

Tuesday, September 17th, day 11 of the cruise.  we arrived in Quebec City about 9:00.  We had one more tour scheduled, but it wasn’t until 2:00.  We had lunch on the ship and spent several hours in the afternoon packing our suitcases.  Tomorrow is the day we get off the ship.  The ship actually just stays in Quebec City overnight.  We had to have the bags packed and outside the cabin by 9:00 and we had a lot of things planned for the day.  We went on the tour with Wanda and Peggy and it was very interesting.  At one point the bus stopped for a little while in a large riverside park and we noticed that is was very close to the hotel we had booked for two nights after the cruise.  It seems to be in a very nice neighborhood, so we were happy we chose that one.  After the tour we went back on the ship.  We had our second specialty dining tonight in the French restaurant, Le Bistro.  We went at 6:30 and had a fabulous dinner.  Jackie had lamb and I had the filet and both were excellent.  After dinner we went to an adult comedy show in the showroom, which was very funny.  After the show we just went to bed because the shops and casino were closed since we are not leaving port tonight.

Wednesday, September 18th, we were up early because we had to be out of the cabin by 8:30.  We got our carryon bags packed and were out in time.  We went to breakfast, then found a place to wait to get off the ship.  By 9:30 we were called to get off the ship.  We didn’t have to go through Canadian customs, I guess because we have been in Canada for the last eight days.  We got our bags and got a cab to take us to the Le Concorde Hotel.  This hotel is in the main part of the city, on the hill above the port.  It is a very nice hotel and has a revolving restaurant on the roof.  We got to the hotel and they told us we couldn’t check in until 4:00, so we checked our bags with the porter and caught another cab down to the old part of the city, much of which we had seen on the tour yesterday.  We spent a couple of hours walking around the old square, which dates back to the 1700’s.  We did some shopping and also some geocaching.  It was interesting in the old town area there was what I assume was an art installation with giant pink inflatable babies all over the buildings.  One was looking in a window, another was looking over a roof, another was strung up like it was flying.  Very odd.  After our shopping we went back to the hotel and got in our room.  We had an excellent room on the 17th floor which was in a corner of the building so we had views out of two sides.  One overlooked the park and river, the other overlooked the city and port.  The room was very large and very nicely done.  We went out to dinner about 6:30 or so and the street that the hotel was on had at least a dozen or more restaurants and bars.  We finally settled on one and had a great dinner in a sidewalk café.  After dinner we walked around the street a little, then went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Thursday, September 19th, we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then went to the lobby and caught a cab to go to the port area again.  We had booked another tour that was supposed to be a ride on a boat down river to a place called Canyon St. Anne.  Wanda and Peggy met us at the boat dock and we got on a small, enclosed, water taxi.  It’s a good thing it was enclosed because the weather was terrible.  It was cold and windy, the worst weather day we have had on the entire trip and it had to be on the day we were on a small boat.  We went up river to a dock, and then had to take a bus to the canyon.  The canyon is on private property and has been developed as a tourist attraction.  Jackie didn’t want to walk the canyon, but I went and did the entire one mile round trip.  The canyon is spectacular with waterfalls and rapids.  I took lots of pictures.  While I was doing that Wanda and Jackie took a zip line ride that took them over the same area in which I was walking.  We spent a couple of hours there and then had to catch the boat back at 4:00.  We got back to Quebec City and went to the hotel.  We had to say goodbye to Wanda and Peggy because they are leaving very early in the morning to fly back to California.  Our plane doesn’t leave until afternoon.  After we got back to the hotel we rested for a while, then went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner.  We had a really nice dinner and then we went up to the revolving restaurant on the roof for a night cap.  The view from up there was fabulous.  After that we went down and went to bed.

Friday, September 20th, was our return to Las Vegas day.  We had lunch in the hotel, then caught a cab to the airport.  We were flying Air Canada back to Las Vegas.  Our flight got out on time, about 3:30, and flew to Toronto, which was only a 45 minute flight.  We then had a long layover in Toronto before catching the flight to Las Vegas.  Both flights were crowded and uncomfortable.  Flying today is torture unless you can go first class.  We got into Vegas just before midnight.  After we got our bags we took the shuttle to the motel where we left our car.  We got into the car and drove to Arizona Charlie’s Hotel and casino to spent the night.  We didn’t want to drive over the hill in the dark this late and this tired.  We settled into the room and went to sleep.

Saturday, September 21st, we checked out of the hotel, had lunch and then drove over the hill to Pahrump.  After we got home we found the house just as we left it.  We unpacked and stared doing laundry and putting things away.  We did go to happy hour to see our friends at 4:00.  We went home and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.  Sunday was also a work at home day getting all cleaned up from the trip.  We went to the ice cream social and then back home.  We pretty much got everything done, all the laundry done and everything put away by the time it was time for bed.

Monday, September 23rd was pretty much a stay at home day for me.  I had a lot of stuff from Silver Seekers I had to catch up on.  Jackie went in the afternoon for a mani appointment.  We went to happy hour and then relaxed the rest of the night.  Tuesday I had an appointment in Las Vegas in the afternoon to set up the appointments for taking care of my cataracts.  I went through a bunch of tests and then worked with the assistant to set up the surgery dates.  They will do one eye the second week of November and then the other one two weeks later.  Kind of scary but everyone tells me I will see much better.  Jackie had to drive home because they had dilatated my eyes.  We got back in time for happy hour, after which we had dinner and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, September 25th, we were finally back on a normal schedule.  I went to guitar practice with my friend Len over to another friend’s house.  Jackie went to play Pokeno.  After our fun times we went to happy hour then had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.  We have a lot of TV to catch up on from being gone two weeks.  Thursday, we ran some errands and then worked around the house.  We had a pot luck in the clubhouse at 4:00 with some very good food and time with friends.  After the pot luck we went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, September 27th, I had appointment with our new dentist.  Neither of us liked the way our old dentist ran his office.  He seemed to not care much about his patient’s time.  The new dentist did some x-rays and wrote up a plan that included a deep cleaning, a root canal and crown for a bad tooth, and new partial dentures.  Our insurance will pick up half or so of the cost.  I set up some appointments for December because I didn’t want to mess with dental stuff during the time I am doing the cataract thing in November.  We went to happy hour, then had dinner and relaxed for the rest of the night.  Saturday we had a 10:00 meeting of the Silver Seekers to finalize the October calendar.  Then we just worked around the house the rest of the day.  After dinner I had my first night of Security Duty.  After that we watched TV and went to bed.

Sunday, September 29th, we pretty much just stayed around the house, went to the ice cream social, had dinner and watched TV.  I had security again tonight.  Monday, the last day of October.  We were headed back into Las Vegas about 11:00 so I could go to Costco to get my hearing tested and get fitted for new hearing aids.  My last set finally wore out after seven years.  I used Millie’s late husband Dick’s for a while after mine broke.  He and I got them in Mexico at the same place and time.  They were not perfect, but they did work for me for about 8 months before they too quit working.  We had lunch at the Omelet house then went to Costco.  Jackie shopped while I got tested.  I was surprised at how thorough the test was.  After the testing the technician showed me the various brands they carried and tried them on me to see what I liked.  I decided on the one’s made by Phillips.  I have to come back in week to pick them up.  After all that we headed back to Pahrump.  We went to happy hour, then home to relax with the TV the rest of the evening.

That is now finally the end of this episode, which is quite long because of the cruise.  Until next time, be happy, be safe and have fun.  Bye.