A Month in the Coachella Valley, Our Old Home Base

Hi there, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Sunday, December 18^th, when we left Silent Valley Club and relocated to Indio, California. We will be at Indian Waters RV Resort until January 1^st, then move over to Cathedral City for a week, then back to the Indio Fairgrounds for the Western Area FMCA Rally. We had to move from Indian Waters because after the first of the year their rates go to $59 a night, no discounts of any kind. Too expensive for us.

Monday, December 19^th, we went out after lunch and Jackie got a haircut. We then did a Walmart trip before heading back to the coach. We stayed in the rest of the evening. On Tuesday we left the RV park about 10:30 and drove into Rancho Mirage so I could go to my annual dermatologist appointment. Every year about this time I go in for a body check because I am prone to various types of skin cancers. The doc found a number of small surface issues and used up about a half a bottle of liquid nitrogen spraying them, but nothing serious was seen. After the doctor we stopped at IHOP for lunch, then went to Winco for a few things we couldn't get at Walmart.

Wednesday, December 21^st, the first day of Winter, ugh. We left the coach about noon and went to Cactus Jack's in Indio for a nice lunch. We then did our Costco run, restocking the vodka cellar and the freezer. It was fitting on the first day of Winter that the rains would come, it started in the morning and the forecast says it will be around until Thursday afternoon, then back again on Saturday. Ugh, again. After Costco we went back home and put stuff away. About 4:00 some full timing friends, Jim and Pat Goetzinger, came over to visit. They actually thought that today was the day I was doing karaoke at the RV park, because Jackie only posted that I was doing it on Wednesday, didn't say WHICH Wednesday. We still had a nice visit. We have know Jim and Pat since shortly after we started full timing, meeting them though several of our FMCA chapters. After Jim and Pat left we stayed in, listened to the rain and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, December 22^nd, we left the RV park about noon and met two of our geocaching friends from the Coachella Valley, Roy and Darcy. We met several years ago, through caching, and we try to see them whenever we are in the area. They are also retired and spent almost three months in Alaska this past summer. They only have an SUV and a small, pop up A-frame trailer, so compared to the way that we travel they are roughing it. We had a great lunch and enjoyed listening to their stories from Alaska and telling them some of ours. After lunch we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the day there. The rain finally quit about 5:00, although it is supposed to be back in a day or two. Friday we went out a little after 8:00 in the morning to get our blood tests done. Jackie always likes to be able to get it done early so she can then have her morning coffee. We are having our annual physicals in about two weeks, so needed blood work. After the lab we went back home and had our morning coffee and got cleaned up. We left again about 10:30 and drove to Palm Desert for the College of the Desert Street Fair. It was pretty small today, less than half the normal number of participants. I think the combination of the threat of rain and the fact that it is Christmas weekend caused a lot of vendors to skip this weekend. After the fair we had lunch at Islands restaurant, then headed back to the coach. We stayed in the rest of the evening.

Saturday, December 24^th, Christmas Eve. We had a stay at home day. In the afternoon Jackie made up a batch of stuffing for the Christmas party here at the RV park. We went over about 4:00 and the party started about 4:30. There were probably over a hundred people in attendance and we sat with two couples that we didn't know. There was lots of good food, most brought by guests, with the park providing Turkey and ham. We had a great meal, some nice conversation, and were back home by about 6:30. We stayed in the rest of the night, watched TV and then went to bed to wait for Santa.

Sunday, December 25^th, Merry Christmas! We celebrated our 18^th Christmas together by hanging out at the coach. I went out in the morning to get our Sunday paper and we spent the rest of the day with each other. We had a very nice, quiet Christmas day. Monday we left the coach about 11:30 and went to a local deli, TKB Bakery, for lunch with some geocaching friends. Kevin, Ron and Rex met us at the deli and we had a great lunch together. We met all three of these guys through our belonging to the local caching association, the Coachella Valley Geocachers. Kevin and Rex are good friends and they are the cachers. Ron is Kevin's partner and does not cache. After lunch we went to do our laundry and then did a Walmart run. We got all our chores done and were still back home before 4:00. Yea!

Tuesday, December 27^th, I went down to the Riverside County Veteran's Service Center here in Indio. Several of my veteran friends have encouraged me to try to get into the VA system, if not for full health care, at least for my hearing problems. I have had poor hearing and really bad tinnitus for quite a while. I went to the center and signed up for a consultation, but they only had afternoon appointments. I went back to the coach and went up on the roof to caulk around the bathroom vent where we have experienced some leaks during the recent rain storms. There did appear to be a few cracks in the sealing, so I hope I got everything sealed. We will see the next time the rain comes.

At 1:00 I went back to the vet center and talked to a very nice guy, another vet who now works for Riverside County. He copied all my paperwork from my military service and asked me what my issues were. When I told him I had tinnitus and poor hearing, he said, “that's two claims,” let's get started. He filled out a form which advises the Veteran's Administration of my intent to file a claim. He said that filing this form puts them on notice, and also locks in December 2016 as the date to which any potential compensation would be back-dated. He then gave me some paperwork for an initial screening with a local doctor, which wouldn't cost me anything. If the doctor agrees I have a serious enough hearing loss to merit filing a claim, then we will file the actual claim for compensation. After that the VA will send me to one of their doctors, who will test me again and send the results to the VA. They will review the claim and make a determination as to if, and how much, compensation I may be entitled to. He said that the process takes about 9 months.

After my interview, which took less than an hour, I went back to the coach and did a few more chores. Our good friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock came into the RV park today. They will be traveling with us, on and off, for the next three months or so. We last saw them in Pismo Beach in October. About 5:30 they came over for cocktails and then Jackie served chili relleno, which has become kind of a traditional welcoming meal whenever we connect up with the Bullock's. We ate and then visited until about 7:30 when they left. We watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, December 28^th, we stayed at the park for the day. In the early afternoon I took all my karaoke stuff over to the clubhouse and got everything set up and working for the karaoke happy hour later. About 3:30 Jackie and I went over and at 4:00 they started happy hour. At first it was a little slow on the karaoke and I was doing most of the singing, but then a few other people came up and then some line dancers started going and pretty soon it was a real party. Everyone was pretty much gone by 6:00, so a little after we packed up most of the stuff and went back to the coach. We went over to Peggy and Vernon's for cocktails and then Peggy served some ham and beans she had been making in the crock pot. We had a great dinner and about 9:00 we went back to our coach, watched some TV and then went to bed.

Thursday, December 29^th, I went over to the clubhouse in the morning and packed up the rest of the karaoke equipment. I then came back home and spent a couple of hours picking up and packing away all the Christmas decorations and lights. Jackie went out shopping with Peggy for the afternoon while I worked at the coach. About 6:00 the four of us drove to Cactus Jack's in Indio for dinner. Peggy and Vernon love to go to Cactus Jack's at least once when they are in Indio. We had a great dinner and great conversation. Vernon and I had the beef ribs, as usual, while Peggy had prime rib. Jackie went with the seafood combo. We had a chance to say hi to our friend George Bishop, the owner of Cactus Jack's, and also had a chance to say hi to actor William Devane who was at the bar. Bill Devane has a house in the Coachella Valley and is always a regular in Cactus Jack's when he is in town. We were acquainted with him when we lived here and also frequented CJ's. Jackie mentioned to him that we always had a laugh when one of his commercials for buying gold and silver comes on TV. The tag line for the commercials is always, “what's in your safe?” We always answer the TV, “none of your business!” Jackie told Bill that he needs to stop following us around the country asking about our safe. He had a good laugh at that. After dinner we went back to the coach and had a nightcap. About 8:00 the Bullock's went back to their coach and we watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, December 30^th, I left the coach about 10:30 and drove to the Palm Springs airport to get my screening test for my hearing as part of my effort to get VA benefits. The doctor is a 93 year old WW-II Navy vet who is still a practicing FAA approved flight surgeon. He as a flight surgeon in the Navy and never quit. He gives free screening exams to any vets in the area who are trying to deal with the VA. He gave me the test and filled out the VA forms, acknowledging that I had a substantial hearing loss in both ears as a result of working around jet aircraft and guns in the military.

Vernon had gone along with me so we could go to lunch after my doctor's appointment. Peggy and Jackie had gone out for lunch and haircuts, so Vernon went with me. When I was done with the doctor we went to lunch at Boy's, a restaurant that I used to frequent when I worked in Cathedral City. They have the best pastrami sandwich anywhere. Vernon and I both had it. We then did a drive through of the RV park in Cathedral City where we are moving on Sunday. It is kind of run down, but it will be OK for the week we are going to spend there. We then drove back to the RV park and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. About 5:00 we went over to the Bullock's coach for dinner. Peggy made pork chops and sweet potatoes, along with some veggies. We had another great dinner and stayed until about 8:00 visiting and enjoying each other's company. We then went back to our coach and watched a little TV until bedtime.

Saturday, December 31^st, the last day of 2016. After lunch we went out and did a Walmart run for some supplies. About 6:00 the four of us went down to the clubhouse for the New Year's Eve party. There were a over a hundred people in attendance and they had music provided by the DJ''s who work at the RV park in Pahrump. The food was catered by Sherman's Deli in Palm Desert, a very well known restaurant. They had brisket or salmon, along with veggies and salad. They provided wine and bar, but we brought our vodka to drink. The food was very good but the music was a little boring. As in the past, they did a New York New Years,which meant they turned on the TV at 9:00 and watched the ball drop in New York City. We stayed another half hour or so and then headed back home. We watched a little TV, listened to the sound of gunfire in the Indio neighborhoods and then went to bed.

Sunday, January 1, 2017. Happy New Year!!!! Today was another moving day for us. In the past we would stay at Indian Waters until the Western Area Rally starts, which this year is one week. However, since our old Western Horizon's membership company is no more, they don't offer the big discount rates any more at the old WHR resorts. We were able to stay for the last two weeks through another of our discount affiliates, RPI, at only $27 a night, but after today the rates go up to $59 a night with no discounts available. We are not going to pay that kind of money, so we are moving to another RPI park in Cathedral City for the week until the rally starts.

We were on the road about 11:00 and were in the Cathedral Canyon RV park before noon, it was only a 20 mile trip. It took us a while to get settled in because the first spot they gave us was under a tree and no matter how I parked the coach, I couldn't get TV. We finally moved across the street and got settled in. The Bullocks also moved and are in a spot right across from us. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon after we got set up. About 5:00 we went to the Bullock's for cocktails and then BBQed some great steaks on the grill. We had a nice dinner at the Bullock's and went back to our place about 8:30 where we watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, January 2^nd, the actual Federal holiday this year since the 1^st was on a Sunday. About 10:30 we left with the Bullock's in our car and drove to Banning to go to a friend's open house in Sun Lakes. Bonnie Green has been a friend of Peggy and Vernon's for many years, and we met her a few years back. She invited us to a holiday open house, so we took the 45 minute drive to visit. There were a lot of people there, but Bonnie was the only one any of us knew. We stayed until about 1:30 and then drove back home. I did some chores and repairs and we relaxed the rest of the afternoon. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon about 5:00, but did dinner on our own. We had leftovers from last night's steak dinner. We watched TV and went to bed.

Tuesday, January 3^rd, we went out after lunch to do some geocaching with the Bullock's. We haven't done any real geocaching in several months. We were able to get eleven new finds in a few hours, with no new DNFs. After caching we stopped at the grocery store for a few things and then headed back home. The Bullock's came over about 5:00 for cocktails and then we had dinner with them in our coach. Jackie made some calamari scampi over angel hair pasta and it was very good. We sat and talked after dinner until about 8:00 when Peggy and Vernon went back to their place. We watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, January 4^th, we were out of the house by 10:00 and headed to breakfast with the Bullock's. We went to an old favorite of ours from the days we worked in Cathedral City. Don and Sweet Sue's is well known in the area as a great restaurant. I had machaca and it was the best I have had, even better than when I get it in Mexican restaurants. Jackie had a chicken liver omelet which she said was great. Both Peggy and Vernon had chicken fried steak. The only complaint was that Peggy's eggs were undercooked.

After breakfast Jackie and Peggy went out on their own. Jackie had her annual mammo- gram scheduled in early afternoon and after that they went shopping. Vernon and I left the restaurant and went to the Palm Springs Air Museum. It has been over a dozen years since I went to the museum and they have added a lot of new planes and displays. They have one hanger dedicated to the pacific war with mostly Navy and Marine planes, another dedicated to the European theater with Army and German planes. They have a fairly new hanger that houses their B-17 bomber, one of eleven in the world still flying. They are in the process of constructing another new hanger for the Vietnam era aircraft and displays. They have a lot of old 50's through 90's aircraft out on the flight line waiting for restoration and display in the new hanger. We spent a couple of hours enjoying the museum before heading back to the RV park for the rest of the afternoon.

Peggy and Jackie got home about 4:00 or so and we had cocktails at our place with the Bullock's and some other friends of ours, John and Suzanne Budevic before dinner. The Budevic's got in yesterday. We have actually known them since our days with the local Elks RV groups before we went full time, but have not been really close friends. We meet up with them occasionally as they are also full timers and tend to travel the same circuit us us. The Budevic's left about 6:00 and we went over to the Bullock's for dinner. Peggy made a pot of excellent tortellini soup for dinner. We sat and talked until about 8:00 when we went back to our place for the rest of the night.

Thursday, January 5^th, we again went out after lunch to do some geocaching with Peggy and Vernon. We were not as successful this afternoon, finding seven caches and having to DNF two. After caching we did a little sight-seeing in Palm Springs, driving around the Movie Colony neighborhood where many of the stars from the 40's had vacation homes. We didn't have any kind of a map, so we really didn't know where any specific houses were, except for Liberace. We had addresses for both the homes he lived in here and drove past them. The picture is one of those homes.  After our tour we stopped at Walmart for some supplies and then headed back to the RV park. We had cocktails and dinner on our own tonight, then watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, January 6^th, we went to lunch about 11:30 at a local Italian restaurant called Nicolino's. We used to go there occasionally when we worked in the area. We went with Peggy and Vernon and met with Bonnie Greene, the lady whose home we went to on Monday for the open house. Because there were so many people, we didn't have a chance to talk to her much, so she said she would drive in for lunch with just the four of us. We had a very nice lunch and talked for almost two hours. After lunch we did a Costco run. After we got home we relaxed for a bit and then had cocktails and heavy snacks with the Bullocks and Budevic's. Everyone left about 7:30 and we relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

Saturday, January 7^th Jackie and I went to the College of the Desert Street Fair. Didn't buy much, but had a good time walking around the vendors. After COD we stopped at Denny's for a quick lunch before returning to the RV park. I spent a little time outside putting stuff away and getting ready to move again tomorrow. About 5:00 we went over to Peggy and Vernon's for cocktails and then dinner again. Peggy made some spaghetti and meatballs that was very tasty. We sat and talked until about 7:30 then went back to our coach for the rest of the night.

Sunday, January 8^th, moving day. We were packed up and out very early, at least for us. We were on the road by 8:30 heading back to Indio. It is only a 20 mile trip, so it didn't take too long. The reason we left early is that we are going to the Western Area FMCA rally at the fairgrounds and we are parking with the Overland Trailblazers (OTB) Chapter. They have great parking right up close to all the activities. The parking people wanted to park all the big groups early, so we had to be there and ready to park by 9:30. The parkers did a great job and we were in our spot and set up by lunch time. We have a great spot this year, right on the paved road heading out of the fairgrounds. We are also very close to the gathering place for the OTB Chapter. We took a little walk to pick up our welcome bag and also stopped by the Babcock's coach. They are parked in the handicap area.

We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. About 4:00 the OTB group had a social hour. There are supposed to be 30 rigs with the Chapter, so the group for cocktails was quite large. We knew a lot of the people because we went to two rallies with the group this summer, one in St. Maries, Idaho and then the one in Astoria, Oregon. At 5:00 a lot of the group left to go to the Soup Plantation for dinner. We don't like to do dinners with these large groups, so we went to Peggy and Vernon's coach and had leftovers for dinner. About 8:00 we headed home and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Monday, January 9^th, I was up and out of the coach about 7:30 so I could drive to the Indio office of the County Veteran's Service office to drop off the paperwork from my hearing test. I was in and out of the office in 40 minutes and I now have an official claim made for veteran's benefits based on a hearing loss. I have to undergo another test a few months from now and then the VA will make a determination of benefits. Only time will tell. About 10:00 we packed up our laundry and went to the laundromat. By noon we were done with the clothes, stopped and had a quick lunch, and then went back to the coach.

About 2:00 the diesel service guy arrived for our appointment to have the annual oil change and lube of the coach done. I have been having my oil changes done here in Indio by this guy for the last three years, and have been very happy. He finished up in an hour or so and we relaxed for a while. At 4:00 we had a social hour with the group we are camping with. About 5:00 we went over to the Babcock's coach, along with the Bullock's, and had cocktails. Then the six of us drove to one of our favorite places in Indio, the China Bistro, for dinner. We had one of the group dinners, you know, the kind where “with six you get egg roll” kind of items. We had a wide variety of food to share and all left very full. By about 8:00 we were back in the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, January 10^th, Jackie went to an Overland Trailblazers Chapter ladies luncheon about 11:00 with Peggy. They went to Mario's Italian restaurant. The l I stayed home and did some chores around the house. About 2:00 Jackie and I left the fairgrounds and went to our doctor for our annual checkups. The checkups went well and we are in fairly good health. My only big concern was my sugar level was too high, putting me at risk for diabetes. I have to make a point of losing some weight and am going to start working on that. After our doctors appointment we did a quick Walmart run and then came back to the coach. About 5:00 the Babcock's and Bullock's came over for cocktails. We sat and talked until about 7:00, after which we had dinner on our own. We relaxed the rest of the night.

Wednesday, January 11^th, we were up early so we could take Jackie to a 9:00 appointment with the orthopedic doctor about her knee. After talking to the doctor for a while it was decided that she should have the arthroscopic surgery to repair the torn meniscus in her knee. This will be several weeks from now, so we will have to drive back up here from Yuma, but hopefully it will help with her pain. After the doctor's appointment we went back to the coach and had a quick lunch so Jackie could get to the rally administrative area by noon to do sign ups for the craft class she is doing at this rally.

For a number of years Jackie has been making lanyards of aluminum can pop tabs and colored yarn for us and for friends. Every rally requires you to wear a name tag or entry slip so they know you are an authorized attendee. She has gotten a lot of feedback from people about how popular the pop tab lanyards are, so this year she elected to teach a craft class on how to make them. She has two sessions, one on Thursday morning and one on Saturday. She has to sit at the craft sign up table today to collect the $15 fee, which reimburses her for the cost of the tabs and yarn, and sign people up for the two classes.

While Jackie worked her sign ups I went back to the coach and did a few chores. About 1:30 I went back up to the auditorium for the Chapter Fair. This is where any chapters who want to can set up a booth to try to encourage new members to join. This year I wasn't working any booth, so I could go around and check out other chapters and visit with people I have become friends with over years of attendance at motorhome events. About 3:00 both Jackie and I were finished with our activities in the auditorium, so we went back to the coach for a bit. At 4:00 we went to a pot luck with the Trailblazers Chapter that we are camped with. Every year at the Western Area Rally the group has a big BBQ with chicken and ribs, and a lot of side dishes from the members. By the time we got to the table the chicken was gone, but the ribs and side dishes were great. We sat and talked and ate until about 5:30. We then went in our coach and had a drink with the Bullock's before they left to go back to their coach at 6:30. We then watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, January 12^th, the first real day of the rally. Officially the rally started yesterday, but today is when the seminars start and the vendors open, which are the reason most people come to these events. We were up early again because Jackie had to be at her craft seminar at 8:30. Peggy went with her to help. After I dropped them off I went back to the coach for a little while. I did a couple of chores and then about 10:30 I went back to the seminar area so I could participate in a seminar on Full Timing. I was the one that initiated the Full Timing seminar at this Western Area Rally about four years ago. Prior to that the Full Timers Chapter had only put on the seminar at the big FMCA conventions. It has been a hit and was well attended again today. I was part of the panel for the seminar and had a good time. Jackie's craft class was also a big hit and was well attended. She and Peggy enjoyed doing the class.

After my seminar the four of us, we and the Bullock's, left the fairgrounds and went to La Casita in La Quinta for lunch. We had a nice lunch and then returned to the fairgrounds where we went shopping at the vendor area. We only bought a few little things, after eleven years of RVing full time we pretty much have everything we really need, and/or can afford, for the coach. About 4:00 we went back to the coach and then went out on the street for the parade. Every year the Western Area chapters put on a parade based around the theme for the rally. This year the theme

was Beach Party. A lot of people in swim and surfing costumes. Some of the floats and costumes were really cute, especially considering that the Chapters don't really put a lot of money in the floats. It was unfortunate that the rain, which had been threatening all day, started at 4:10, making the parade participants and audience a little uncomfortable. Some of the groups quit marching before the parade end because the rain got a little harder. After the parade we went back to our coach and had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon. They left about six and we watched TV the rest of the evening.

Friday, January 13^th, we finally got to sleep in a little bit, no early activities. It had rained all night and was still raining pretty steadily when we woke up. We left the coach about 11:00 so we could drive back to Rancho Mirage and the Eisenhower Hospital campus so Jackie could take a quick nasal swab for the MRSA bacterium. MRSA, a highly contagious and antibiotic resistant bacteria, is a big problem in hospitals, so they require a screening prior to any surgery. It appears this is the only pre-op procedure required for Jackie's surgery next week. After we got the screening test we headed back to Indio and met the Babcock's and Bullock's at Cactus Jack's for lunch. Although we have been a couple of times this month, Ray and Suzie hadn't had the chance and wanted to eat there before we left for Yuma on Sunday. We had a great lunch, most of us the beef ribs again, and some good conversation.

After we got back to the fairgrounds we walked down to the vendor's tent for another quick walk through, despite the fact that it was still raining. Fortunately, we are only a hundred yards from the vendors, so we didn't get too wet. We did finally buy some of the “My Pillow” pillows to try out. We have been waffling about getting some for a couple of years now. After we got back to the coach we had the rest of the group over at 5:00 for a happy hour. The rain was still coming, although it did appear to starting to clear up some. Everyone left our place by 6:30 and we watched TV the rest of the night. The rain finally stopped about 7:00 and it is supposed to be clear tomorrow, the last day of the rally.

Saturday, January 14^th, the sun finally came out, Yea! Jackie and Peggy had to go back up to the events area to teach their second class on making lanyards. Today's class was at 11:45, so she didn't have to leave early. While they were teaching I went back to the coach and did some chores, including putting stuff away prior to our leaving tomorrow. After I picked Jackie up we went out and finally checked on our 10 geocaches that we have hidden around the Indio area. We have been trying to find the time to do that since we got here. After we check on our caches we did a quick Costco run, mostly for the Costco brand vodka we drink. There is no Costco in Yuma and we like their brand better than the Sam's Club brand available down there. After we got back we went to a meeting of the Trailblazer's Chapter and then went back to our coach and had cocktails with the Babcock's and Bullock's. They left about 6:30 and we watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, January 15^th, another travel day. As is usually the case with rallies, people were already pulling out of the fairgrounds at 6:00 a.m. We were packed up, hooked up and on the road about 10:30, heading southwest to Yuma, Arizona. We crossed over the border about 1:00 and time traveled ahead an hour, then arrived at the Carefree Village RV Resort about 1:30. The Babcock's also traveled to the same place and were already parked when we got in. Peggy and Vernon are not coming in for a couple weeks, so it is just us and the Babcock's for a while. We got the basic stuff set up and were pretty much moved in by cocktail hour. We had drinks with the Babcocks and then went back to our coach and relaxed the rest of the night.

It has been nearly a month since we last published the blog, so our beginning a new season in Yuma marks a good spot to stop and print. We are going to be here nearly two months before moving on the next rally in Phoenix in early March. Until next time remember the words of Jackie Gleason. “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.” See ya soon.

A Quiet Month in the Mountains

Hello again. Our last chapter concluded on Friday, November 18^th, when we arrived at the Silent Valley Club, our time share RV resort in the mountains south of Banning, California. We are going to be here for a month. Saturday was a stay at home day. I spent several hours getting things set up outside and then did some admin work inside. Jackie got a few chores done as well, but it was mostly a chill day.

Sunday, November 20^th, we left the RV park about noon and drove down the hill to the Banning-Beaumont area. We stopped and picked up the Sunday paper to read later. Unfortunately, there is no where up on the hill to get a paper. We then went to La Casita, one of our favorite places to eat, and had a nice lunch of taco salads. After lunch we sought out a couple of geocaches, finding one and having to DNF the other. We then went to Walmart for supplies before heading back up the hill. We stayed in and watched TV the rest of the evening. Monday was a stay at home day. After lunch we went down and spent the afternoon in the laundry. There are not a lot of people up here this time of year, so we had the place to ourselves. After laundry we went back tot he coach and stayed in the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, November 22^nd, the 53^rd anniversary of JFK's assassination. As with most American's of “a certain age,” (i.e. baby boomers) I remember with perfect clarity where I was that afternoon. In the hallway of Maryvale High School in Phoenix as a Junior waiting for English class to start. We had another stay at home day today. I got several chores done, actually had a pretty productive day. Jackie also got a few things done that she wanted to do. Wednesday we also stayed up on the mountain. In the early afternoon our old friends from Indio, Bob and Gloria Baron, brought their motorhome up and parked in a spot very near us. I did a couple of chores in the afternoon and at 5:00 we went over to the Baron's for cocktails. About 6:30 we went back to our coach and we stayed in the rest of the night. Dinner was a new beef stew recipe that Jackie did in the crock pot.

Thursday, November 24^th, Happy Thanks-giving. We are staying up on the hill for the holiday and have planned to have an early dinner with our friends Bob and Gloria. Jackie put in a big turkey breast and spent a good part of the early afternoon making sweet potatoes, stuffing and the other things that make up a good Thanksgiving feast. About 2:00 Bob and Gloria came over with more food and we sat down and had a great Thanksgiving meal. We sat and talked for a while and about 4:30 they headed back to their coach. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing after cleaning up from dinner. Friday we left the coach and went down the hill around noon. We had lunch at Patsy's Country Cafe, another of our favorite local places. Great food, good service, huge portions and reasonable prices. Can't beat it. After lunch we went to Kohl's and fought the Black Friday crowd to get some new sheets on sale. We then did a Walmart run before heading back up the hill for the night.

Saturday, November 26^th, we stayed up on the hill again. Before lunch, about 11:00, we went down to the Village Center for the craft and swap meet. It was cold and windy and there were only a half dozen booths set up, so not much of a turnout. I did get a couple of nice, new Old Guys Rule hats for $5 each, which was a bargain. After lunch we stayed in because it started to rain. We had some really hard rain for a couple of hours. About 5:30 we went down to the restaurant and bar in the park with Bob and Gloria. We had a cocktail at the bar and then went into the restaurant for dinner. The restaurant up here has a bit of history. From the time we joined in 2001 until a couple years ago the restaurant had a great cook/manager and a really good menu. The food was excellent and we ate there quite a bit when we were up here. A couple of years ago the park was having financial problems and the manager left, so they changed the operation to weekends only with a volunteer staff and only “fast food” type fried items. Not very good, although we did try it a couple of times. Just this year a new guy has come up who has started to turn the place around. He put a few more good items on the menu and also has a special on Friday and Saturday nights which is a restaurant quality item. Tonight it was Chicken Florentine. It was good, not outstanding, but good. The soup, a beef vegetable was really good too. We all had the same thing and enjoyed it, not bad for $10 a head. After dinner we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime. Sunday started cold, windy and rainy and didn't get any better. We just stayed home, played some cards, watched some TV and stayed dry and warm. Yea!

Monday, November 28^th, was still cold and overcast, but at least the rain stopped. We went down the hill after lunch to do some shopping. We hit Kohl's, Ross, and Walmart getting a few items that we needed. We then went back up the hill, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime. Tuesday was another stay at home day. It was cold and windy still, but at least the clouds are gone and we have a little sunshine. I got several projects done today, including making a small end table for next to our couch. This is a project I have had the materials on hand for several months, just never got around to it. I also made a big batch of pulled pork in the crock pot, some of which we had for dinner, most of which went into the freezer. All in all, a nice and productive day.

Wednesday, November 30^th, we left the park about noon and drove down the hill and on to Menifee, about 45 miles southwest. We were headed for a lunch at Ray and Suzie Babcock's house. We haven't seen Ray and Suzie since June, the last time we were up at Silent Valley. We were meeting some other friends, Gary and Ramona Wilson, whom we also had not seen since the beginning of summer, and Bev King, another old motorhoming friend. We last saw Bev back in June also, and since that time her husband Jerry passed away. He died while back east at a Navy unit reunion several months ago. Ray cooked a nice ham and we had that with sweet potatoes, beans, salad and Jackie made some key lime pies. We had a great time talking and catching up. At one time we all traveled together often, going to Monaco rallies in particular since we all had Monacos. The King's sold their coach shortly before Jerry died, and the Wilson's have stopped full timing due to health considerations, although they still have their coach and go out from time to time. It was great visiting with old friends. About 4:30 we left the Babcock's and headed home where we stayed in the rest of the night.

Thursday, December 1^st, the beginning of the end of 2016, wow! We left the coach and went down the hill about noon to meet an old friend, Marianne Conner, for lunch. We first met Marianne and her husband David in the Indio Elks RV club and we became good friends. They sold their house in Bermuda Dunes and went full time within a few months of when we did it in 2005. We traveled on and off with them for almost two years, after which they decided that the full time life style was not for them and they bought a house in Highland Springs, a community north of Banning. David had some health problems and he passed away about five or six years ago. Marianne still lives in Highland Springs and we try to at least get lunch with her when we are in Silent Valley, since it is so close to her house.

We had lunch at a Japanese place called City Sushi and Grill in Beaumont. The food and service was very good. I am not too fond of most sushi, but they had some really good terryaki dishes too, along with some great tempura shrimp and calamari. We spent almost two hours talking and catching up. After lunch we did a Walmart run and then went back up the hill. We spent the rest of the evening in the coach. Friday was a stay at home day. We had a real windstorm going on, gusts in the 50 mph range, and it was cold. It only got up to 53 today, so we spent the entire day inside relaxing. About 5:30 we did go down to the Village Center and had a cocktail at the bar and then dinner in the dining room. Today's special was spaghetti and meatballs with clam chowder as the soup. Everything was pretty good and the whole meal was less than $20 for the both of us. We went back to the coach after dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, December 3^rd, was another stay at home day. The biggest chore we got done was getting some Christmas decorations put up. Jackie put up our little tree and did some other inside decorations. I put up a few lights and decorations outside. I didn't do the full complement of lights and decorations that I have in the past because there is hardly anyone up here to appreciate it. Since Thanksgiving people have been leaving every day with no one new coming up. We are the only rig in about a hundred yard circle in our area. About 6:00 we went back down to the restaurant in the Village Center for dinner. Tonight's special was meatloaf with potato and veggie. The soup was tomato and everything was excellent. We had plenty to eat and it was $20 for both of us. We then went back to the coach and watched TV for the rest of the evening. Sunday was a stay at home day. Spent the day relaxing and enjoying the quiet.

Monday, December 5^th, we left the RV park about 10:00 and drove into the Coachella Valley to Rancho Mirage to take Jackie to the doctor. She took a hard fall on her knee back in September and it has not gotten any better, so she decided to go to an orthopedic specialist to get it checked. This is the same ortho center that I went to a few years back when I tweaked my knee. She got to see the doctor, but didn't really learn anything new because they need to have an MRI done before they can see any soft tissue damage. She was unhappy because of the delay, but also because she didn't think the doctor was very nice. He was abrupt, uncaring and seemed to be in a hurry. We drove back to Beaumont and went to Walmart, then drove back up the hill and spent the rest of the night in the coach.

Tuesday, December 6^th, our friends Ray and Suzie Babcock came up about 11:30 to spend the day with us. They are also owner/members in Silent Valley, but they just drove the car up today. They have been up with the motorhome many times while we were here in the past. We had a great visit with just the four of us. About 1:30 I served lunch, the pulled pork I made last week, along with fries and cole slaw. They brought some lemon cake with them for dessert. We had a great visit and they left about 3:30 so they could get home before it got dark. We watched TV for the rest of the night. Wednesday was a stay at home and relax day. Jackie worked on some stuff for her craft classes at the Indio Rally next month. Thursday we also stayed in all day.

Friday, December 9^th, we went down the hill about noon and had lunch at Wings Garden Chinese restaurant. The place had good reviews and is located in downtown Banning, right next to the Fox theater where we like to go to movies. We have wanted to try the place for a while. The food was good, not outstanding, but good. I had the orange chicken, which was overly sweet, and Jackie had the almond chicken, which had a lot of fresh ingredients, but didn't have a flavor that popped, a little on the bland side. After lunch we did some geocaching. We went after a few caches we had DNFed several years ago. We were able to find three, but struck out again on the fourth. These were all high difficulty caches, one of them being a four and a half out of five difficulty rating. We found that one. After caching we stopped at Walmart and then went up the hill and spent the rest of the night in the coach.

Saturday, December 10^th, was a stay at home day. We got a few things done, but mostly relaxed. About 6:00 we went down to the restaurant in the Village Center for dinner. Today's Chef's special was beef stroganoff, with Italian Wedding soup. The soup was outstanding, one of the best I have had. The stroganoff was good, although it could have had a little more sauce and been a little more sour, the taste I expect from stroganoff, sour cream. It was still very good though and a very filling meal. After dinner we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, December 11^th, we went down to the restaurant at about 11:00 to try their Sunday breakfast. It was a buffet with scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, French toast and biscuits and gravy. It is only $7.99 a person, so quite affordable. The biscuits and gravy were weak, with little sausage flavor. The rest of the stuff was pretty good, although they had let the fires go out on the pans, so it wasn't very hot. It was still a decent breakfast for the price. After breakfast we drove down the hill to do some geocaching. We cached in the Calimesa/Yucaipa area a little northwest of Beaumont. We have to go out further and further from the Beaumont/Banning area because we have already gotten most of the caches in the area. We had a fun afternoon, getting seven new finds and three DNFs for our troubles. After caching we went back up the hill to the park and stayed in the rest of the night. Monday was a stay at home day. We did out laundry at the park and relaxed the rest of the day.

Tuesday, December 13^th, we left the coach early, about 8:30, and drove to Palm Springs so Jackie could get an MRI on her knee. She has another appointment on Friday with the orthopedic doctor and they need an MRI in order to properly diagnose the problem. The test took a half hour or so and by 10:30 we were back on the road headed west. We stopped in Beaumont for lunch at La Casita, one of our favorites, and then stopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond so Jackie could get a power scrubber she wanted. We then went back up the hill and stayed around the coach the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, December 14^th, we left the coach about 10:30 and headed west to the city of Eastvale, just south of Ontario, to have lunch with our friends the Babcock's, Wilson's, and Bev King. This was the first time we have seen Bev's new house. They moved to this house a couple years before Jerry King died, but we had not had the chance to get there yet. It is a very nice house in a newer gated community. We had a great lunch, Mexican food, and spent the entire time talking with the group. We left about 3:30 and managed to miss most of the traffic heading back east, arriving back at the coach just before 5:00. We spent the rest of the night relaxing. Thursday was another relaxing day around the coach.

Friday, December 16^th, we left the coach about 9:15 and drove to Rancho Mirage for Jackie's doctor's appointment. It had rained most of the night, often quite hard, and was still raining when we left Silent Valley. Not only was it cold and raining, it was foggy until we got down into Banning. The rain and the wind was really bad on the freeway until we got to Palm Springs, when it cleared up. The temp went up to the low 70's. Jackie saw the PA at the orthopedic center and he looked at the file and the MRI and explained to Jackie that there was nothing seriously wrong, no torn tendons, no bad ligaments. She had a very small tear in the meniscus, mostly an aggravation of age related degeneration. He gave her a cortisone shot to help the inflammation and pain. This is the same treatment they gave me when I tore a little hole in my meniscus a few years back. It worked for me, I hope it works for her.

After the doctor's appointment we stopped at Denny's for a light lunch, then drove back to Silent Valley. As soon as we left the Coachella Valley it started raining very hard and got very windy. We still had fog on top of the mountain too, but we made it back tot he coach safely about 1:30. It rained on and off all afternoon, so we just stayed in and relaxed. About 6:00 we went down to the restaurant at the Village center for dinner. Tonight's special was shrimp scampi. It was wonderful, lot's of big shrimp on a bed of angel hair pasta, with garlic bread. I had the tomato bisc soup and it was as good as Cactus Jack's tomato bisc. After dinner we went back to the coach and watched TV. It rained until just before we went to bed.

Saturday, December 17^th, the rain had stopped but it was COLD. I waited until after lunch to go outside and start putting stuff away prior to departure tomorrow, but even then I still found pockets of ice where ever there was standing water. I was bundled up and even had to wear gloves to get everything put away. It took a few hours, but I finally got everything done. We relaxed for the afternoon and about 6:00 went down to the club's restaurant for one last dinner. Tonight's special was salmon Provencal, which Jackie had and said was outstanding. I am not a huge salmon fan, so I had the fish and chips. It was also outstanding. A very nice presentation, a lot of fish and chips, and very tasty. After dinner we went back to the coach and relaxed until bedtime. Sunday was a travel day. We got out about 10:30 and started down the hill. The skies were clear, but it was very cold and VERY windy, probably the highest I have felt on the road going down the hill. Fortunately, it is a slow drive in the coach, so there was little danger of losing control, but the coach was rocking a couple of times. We stopped for propane at the Morongo truck stop, then arrived in Indio at the Indian Waters RV Resort about 12:30. We got in, set up the minimum stuff and then went to In and Out for lunch. After that we went back and finished setting up for our two week stay here. We stayed in the rest of the day.

Our arrival here in Indio, after a month on the mountain at Silent Valley Club, marks a good place to close this chapter. We will be here in Indio through the Holidays and the FMCA Western Area Rally, about four weeks total. Until next time, remember, if you hadn't done anything stupid when you were young, you wouldn't be able to remember something funny when you're old. See ya soon.

At "Home" in Pahrump

Hi readers, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Wednesday, October 26^th, in Pahrump, Nevada, our official home of record. We are about half way through our month long stay here. On Thursday we went out to lunch with the tag along group from the RV park to Mom's, one of our favorite diners here in town. I won the drawing, which was a certificate for a free lunch or dinner at Moms the next time we come. Yea! After a very nice lunch with four other couples we ran a bunch of errands. The first thing we did was go back to the courthouse to vote. Today the line was fairly short and we only had to wait about ten minutes before we got into a machine to vote. For us the election race is now just noise. We dropped some stuff off at the Elks Lodge for their rummage sale, stopped to get our mail, and did a Walmart run. After Walmart we headed home and relaxed in the coach for the rest of the evening.

Friday, October 28^th, we woke up to rain. We are catching the tail end of a storm moving through Central California. It rained on and off for the better part of the day, so we didn't go anywhere off property. By late afternoon it cleared up, just in time for us to go to the clubhouse at 5:00 for the Halloween party and karaoke. Jackie and I wore our orange Halloween tee shirts, about as much costume as we care to muster. There were a lot of people at the party, many in some pretty neat costumes. There was a big group from an FMCA Chapter rally that was being held at the park this weekend. The park provided pizza and other people brought pot luck items, so we were able to have a dinner at the party. Because of the number of people, I only got to do three songs, but we still had a great time. I won another drawing prize, ironically, another certificate from Moms for a free meal! The party broke up a little after 9:00 and we went home and watched a little TV before bedtime.

Saturday we went out after lunch and got a couple of geocaches. We then ran a few errands before returning to the coach. About 5:00 we went to the group happy hour at one of the coaches across the road. We had a small group, only six couples, but a nice pot luck dinner. Jackie made a couple of key lime pies for dessert. We all sat around and talked until it got too cool, about 8:30 or so, when we went back home and watched TV for the rest of the night. Sunday I got up early and was out of the house by 8:30 to go do my qualification shoot for my retired peace officer's concealed carry permit. I was done by about 10:00 and after I got home we decided that we would do a stay at home day. Got a few things done, but mostly had a relaxing day.

Monday, October 31^st, Happy Halloween! Boo! About noon my brother Russ, who lives in Las Vegas, came up for a visit. His wife Zen was not with him as she is visiting with relatives in Riverside, California. We went out to lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside talking. We had a great visit. He left about 5:30 to drive back home and we went down to play Texas Hold'em. We both struggled to win tonight. I ended up down a couple bucks, Jackie was down about $10. Oh well, it was fun and cheap entertainment. Tuesday we went out after lunch to run a bunch of errands. I went to the Sheriff's Office and picked up my renewed concealed weapons permit, we dropped some more stuff off at the Elks, stopped and got mail and then went to Walmart for supplies. After we got home I did some office work and Jackie made up a big pot of clam chowder. We had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, November 2^nd, we went out after lunch to do a couple of errands. Jackie got her nails done and then we stopped for an hour or so at the Saddle West casino. We both lost about $30, but we had fun. Later in the evening we went down to the clubhouse for one of their Wednesday night wine dinners. The winery that is on the same property as the RV park, Pahrump Valley Winery, has a restaurant called Symphony that is very well known as a high end restaurant. The RV park has an arrangement with them to have a Wednesday night dinner that it prepared by Symphony, but served in the clubhouse to those who sign up. You get a full meal, with three or four glasses of wine, for $15. Tonight they had sliced sirloin, so we decided to give it a try. There were probably 12 or 14 people there and we had a great time meeting new people. The food was excellent and the wine, which is from the winery, was very good too. After dinner we stayed down at the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. I lost a couple dollars and Jackie won a couple, so we were basically even for the night. We then went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the night.

Friday, November 4^th, we mostly had a stay at home day. We did go out after lunch for about an hour running a couple of errands. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse for the karaoke. There were a lot of people, including a lot of people not in the park, and the rotation was very long. I still got to sing about four songs, but we went until 10:00. After karaoke we went back to the coach, watched a half hour of TV and went to bed. Saturday we left the coach about noon and drove 35 miles west to Shoshone, California for their annual Shoshone Days festival. We went to this a few years back as well. It has a fairly large craft fair and some entertainment and gave us something different to do for the day. We had lunch at the only cafe in town, the Crowbar Bar and Grill. Shoshone only has a population of about 35, with a store, post office and gas station rounding out the town businesses. Lunch took a while as the staff was somewhat overwhelmed by the hundreds of people milling around the little community. The food was OK, if a little cool when we finally got it. We spent a couple of hours in Shoshone before going for a little Saturday drive. We continued north to Death Valley Junction and then back east towards Pahrump on the northern route into town. After we got back to the coach we relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, November 6^th, I went out for the paper in the morning and we had a relaxing morning. We stayed in for the day, both of us getting a number of small chores completed. At 5:00 it was dark! Going off daylight savings time sucks. Monday we didn't too much either. We went out after lunch and picked up mail and did a Walmart run. We had an early dinner and went down to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. I had a good night for a change. I cashed out seven dollars up from my $5 buy in, plus I had the high hand for the night. When we start playing it costs $5 for the buy in, but then an additional dollar which goes into a pool for the high hand of the night. Tonight I had a straight flush and won the additional $12 for that. Yea! After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Tuesday, November 8^th, Election Day. We decided that we had consumed enough political garbage and were not going to concern ourselves with 18 hours of discussion on how the vote was going. We had voted a week ago and had done our part. It was now out of our hands. We went out for lunch at Red Sky, a great BBQ place here in Pahrump. A half rack of VERY meaty and tender ribs, with all the extras, for $11. A great value and a great meal. We then went to the casino and gamed for a couple of hours. We both ended up about $40 down, but we had fun. We then went home and spent the rest of the night watching some of the shows we have recorded on the DVR over the last few weeks. No election coverage. I have to admit that I did not have confidence that Trump could pull out the election and I didn't want to have Hillary in my face all night. We didn't watch news or any of the election coverage shows. We didn't know what was happening until we got a call from Jackie's brother Dennis telling us that Trump was winning and was likely to pull it out of the fire. At that point we switched and watched until just after midnight when the networks finally called it for Trump. We listened to his brief speech and went to sleep. Wednesday we awoke to the dawn of a new age for the United States. We had a stay at home day, got a few chores done and watched a lot people on TV eating crow. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse for poker. I ended up down $3 and Jackie was even, and we had a good time.

Thursday, November 10^th, Happy 241^st Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! After lunch we went out ran some errands and did some shopping. After we got back to the coach we had dinner and watched TV for the rest of the night. Friday was Veterans Day. We went out to a late lunch at Mom's Cafe to use the second of our two free meal coupons. After lunch we did a Walmart run, getting some stuff we needed before we leave on Tuesday. About 6:00 we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. I got a couple songs in before we left and went back to the coach for the rest of the night. Saturday we did some chores at home and went out and ran a few last errands before settling in for the night. Mostly a relaxing day.

Sunday, November 13^th was a stay at home day. We spent the morning with the paper and in the afternoon did some chores. I took down the outside stuff in preparation for travel on Tuesday and Jackie did some cleaning. Monday we left the coach about 10:00 and headed south to Las Vegas. We don't normally like going to Vegas, but we are going down to see my brother Russ and his wife Zen. Zen was out of town visiting relatives earlier this month when Russ drove up to see us. She is now home and we wanted to see her and Russ before we left. However, our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop in Las Vegas. I have been wanting to get a smaller, lighter concealed carry pistol for a while now. I have a small Glock 9mm, which is a great gun, but a little heavy and big for comfortable continued carry. I had done some research and knew that I wanted a small .380 auto and had narrowed the field down to three. I ended up with the Beretta Pico, a very nice weapon. I bought that and some hollow point ammunition and then we headed over to Russ's place in North Las Vegas.

We got to Russ's about 1:30 and Zen already had lunch ready. Zen is Filipino and had made some great Filipino food for lunch. We had a great time and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting and talking. We left about 4:30 and then started back over the hump to Pahrump. We arrived back home about 6:00 and then just stayed in and relaxed the rest of the day.

Tuesday, November 15^th, a travel day. We pulled out of the RV park about 10:00, heading south to Hesperia, California. Hesperia is a stop over with Silent Valley, our “time share” RV park in Banning, as the final destination on Friday. Along the way we stopped to fill the propane tank and also at the Mad Greek in Baker, California, for lunch. We arrived at the Hesperia Elks Lodge about 3:30 and got settled in for our three night stay here. Once we got set up and registered we stayed in the rest of the night. Wednesday we went out after lunch to run some errands. Jackie got a haircut, we did a little Walmart run and then went to Costco for the first time in several months. After Costco we stopped at the Victorville Elks Lodge, a lodge we had never visited before. We wanted to check out their RV parking, which is not much. Only one very tight spot with water and electric. The Lodge was open, so we went in and had a couple of cocktails and got a lodge pin. The few people that were in the lodge were very friendly. Not a big lodge, just over 300 members, but a very nice building. After the lodge visit we went back to the coach and settled in for the night.

Thursday, November 17^th, we left the coach after lunch and went to the movies for the first time in several months. We saw the movie Arrival, which was a very beautiful movie with great cinematography, and interesting characters. Ultimately, without giving away too much of the movie, the story deals with theories about the space-time continuum. It can be a little hard to understand in parts, but it does have you leaving the theater thinking about what the movie was about. In that way it was similar to the 2014 movie Interstellar, another one that left you thinking about multiple dimensions and time travel.

Friday, November 18^th, another travel day. Today we left the Hesperia Elks to travel 75 miles to Silent Valley, our time share RV park south of Banning, California. The day got off to a terrible start when I did something that I have not done in 11 years of RV travel. I moved the coach without disconnecting the power cord. We had not hooked up the car yet, I was only moving from the parking space to the sewer dump, so I had not done the checklist that we use before hitting the road. The only damage to the coach was I pulled the plug off of the power cord, an easy fix. I did, however, pull down the power pedestal and crack the water pipe. Fortunately, there was someone in the lodge and they got the water turned off. I left them the information on how to contact me with any costs, and we hit the road. It only took a couple of hours and we arrived at Silent Valley. We got settled into a space fairly quickly and set up the basic stuff. It took me a half hour to fix the power cord, but it worked fine. After we got the basics set up we relaxed the rest of the day and evening.

Well, it has been a little over three weeks since we published, so our arrival here at Silent Valley marks a good place to close this chapter. Until next time, remember the words of Aristotle. “The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.” I will try to meet that standard. See ya soon.

At the Beach with Friends, and then Home

Hello again, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Monday, October 3^rd, as we arrived in Pismo Beach to spend 10 days with a group of RVing friends. Monday was mostly an arrival day, with people coming in and getting set up. Tuesday we went out after lunch to go visit Jackie's Aunt Donna and her grandson and caretaker, Corey. Regular readers will remember that Donna has lived in Pismo Beach for over 40 years and has a nice house, with a great view, on the side of a hill. You can actually see her neighborhood from our RV park, although the actual house is hidden by trees. We spent the afternoon with Donna, Corey, and Jackie's cousin Pia, who came over to see us.

About 3:00 we went back to the RV park so Jackie could start to cook her taquito casserole for the happy hour tonight. About 5:00 we joined the group, which is about 20 RV's, for cocktails and heavy hors d'oeuvres. This is a group of friends and relatives, most from the Sacramento, California area, who call themselves The Gold Panners, and do a lot of RV outings together. This Pismo Beach trip has been an October event for the group for decades. We know five or so couples from the group from previous RV trips, having met them through our friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock. We met Peggy and Vernon on our 2009 Alaska trip, and then have met a lot of their RVing friends in the ensuing years.

Curt Minard and his wife Sharon, one of the couples we do know, are the organizers for this outing and Curt had everyone do introductions and talked a bit about what was going to be going on for the next ten days of the gathering. The food was wonderful and there was a lot of it. No one would need to have dinner tonight. We stayed out with the group until about 7:00 and then went back inside to watch TV, including tonight's Vice Presidential candidate debate.

Wednesday, October 5^th, we went out after lunch to run some errands and do some geocaching. We were able to get eight new finds, and one new DNF, before we stopped so we could go to the grocery store and get back home. We needed to get back to the coach because tonight we are going out with a bunch of the people from the group to the melodrama theater in Oceano, just down the road from Pismo Beach. We left the coach a little after 5:00 and drove to Juan's Cantina, a great Mexican restaurant in Oceano. We had dinner with two other couples from the group. After a great dinner we headed to the melodrama in downtown Oceano.

We had gone to this theater with Jackie's aunt and cousin back in 2013 and enjoyed the show. Probably two thirds of our group went to the show tonight and we were all seated in the same general area. Tonight's show was not the traditional melodrama, which is usually set in frontier days and has a villain and a hero and a maiden, and the audience is encouraged to boo and hiss the villain and cheer the hero and maiden. This was more a musical comedy, a parody of Beauty and the Beast, called Trudy and the Beast. The music was all familiar songs with new lyrics and the actors were pretty good. Although we missed the melodrama touches of audience participation a little, it was still very funny and very entertaining. After the two act play concluded the actors came out in regular clothes and did a third act that was a Sinatra tribute. That was very good too. We finally left the theater about 9:30 and went back to the coach for the remainder of the evening.

Thursday, October 6^th, we left the coach about 11:15 and went into downtown Pismo Beach to have lunch with Peggy and Vernon at Splash Cafe. Splash is one of our favorite spots in the area, with THE best clam chowder anywhere. I had an ahi sandwich and a bowl of chowder and it was a great meal. Jackie had calamari and also had chowder. After lunch Peggy and Vernon went off to do some errands and we walked around downtown for a little while. We did pick up one geocache on the beach under the approach to the Pismo Pier. We ran into some other cachers also looking for the cache and it took about fifteen minutes to finally spot it. Yea! We then drove up the hill to Aunt Donna's house and spent a couple of hours with her and Corey. Jackie's nephew John, who had been in Oregon most of the summer, was also there, staying for a few days. We had a great couple of hours of conversation and left to go back to the coach about 3:30.

We relaxed for a while and then about 5:00 we and the Bullock's got in our car and drove north about 12 miles to San Luis Obispo for the Thursday night street fair. It was kind of late in the season and there were a lot of vendors that didn't come out tonight. It was mostly food vendors, produce and community service kiosks. We walked around for a while and then the four of us went into the SLO Brew restaurant for dinner. SLO, of course, means San Luis Obispo, and this was a brew pub. The food was excellent and not overly expensive. We had a great meal on the patio right on the sidewalk, so we were able to people watch. Although a bunch of them were going to go, we never did see any of our group on the street. We left a little before 9:00 and drove back to the RV park. We watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Friday was a stay at home day. About 3:30 I set up the karaoke and music equipment in our gathering area so we could have music tonight. About 5:00 everyone in the group started gathering and we had a hot dog roast over a roaring wood fire, along with all kinds of side dishes. About 6:30 we started doing karaoke and, as is often the case with these kinds of groups, there were no singers other than me and Sharon Minard, the same woman who sang with me a couple months ago at our friend's wedding in Mineral, California. Nonetheless, we had a good time and kept the songs going until a little after 8:00 when we packed it in and went back in the coach for the rest of the night.

Saturday, October 8^th, we left the RV park with the Bullock's about 11:00 and drove to nearby Avila Beach for lunch. Avila Beach is a community on the north side of San Luis Bay. Pismo Beach is in the center of the bay and Oceano near the south end. At the turn of the century the area around Avila Beach was Port San Luis and was where the piers were on which the ocean going freighters moored to off load their cargo. We had lunch at a place called Custom House, from back in the day when there was a Federal Customs House located here. The food was good, although a little expensive. You did get big portions, however, so you didn't feel cheated. The service was spotty, but it was a busy Sunday lunch. After lunch we visited a couple local shops, explored the waterfront a little and got one geocache. We then went into Grover Beach to do some quick shopping. The Bullock's needed some food for their dog and we needed some sweet potatoes. After that we went back to the RV park and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon, and the two Minard brothers, Ray and Curt, and their wives Del and Sharon. We sat outside of Ray Minard's coach until about 7:00 when we went back in our coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday I was able to get the Sunday paper at the little store in the park, so we enjoyed our Sunday morning with the newspaper and the morning talk shows. After lunch we drove up to Donna's house and spent a couple of hours visiting with family. Today was the day we lost our nice clear days. As we were at Donna's, which is way up on a hill, we watched a fog bank move in to Pismo Beach. It was very neat to watch. After we got back to the park we had cocktails at 5:00 with the the Bullock's and Curt and Sharon Minard. About 6:00 we did some steaks on the BBQ and then had a dinner in Peggy and Vernon's coach with us, the Bullock's and the Minard's. We had a great evening with some great conversation. About 8:00 we were back in our coach and watched TV the rest of the night. We watched the presidential debate, which we had recorded earlier this evening, before heading to bed.

Monday we drove to Avila Beach after lunch to get a photo of a geocache that we needed for a virtual souvenir, then drove to Grover Beach to the grocery store for a couple of things. We went back to the coach and relaxed before leaving again about 5:30 with the Bullock's, headed to our favorite local steakhouse, Jocko's. The Bullock's had tried Jocko's once before and didn't like it. We convinced them to go back and try it again. I had the large rib eye, or Spencer as they call it, and Jackie, of course, had lamb. Both Peggy and Vernon had the small Spencer and this time they enjoyed it. The first half of our visit was marred by a very large party of very loud guys right across from us. Once they left it quieted down and we had a good time. After dinner we drove back to the coach and watched TV the rest of the night.

Tuesday, October 11^th, Jackie left about 11:00 with Peggy and they picked up Donna to take her to lunch. They went to a nice place on the water in Pismo Beach. I stayed home and did some computer stuff. Jackie got back about 1:30 and we went out so she could get a haircut. After that we went back to the coach until about 4:30 when we left to go have dinner with the group at a pizza parlor. The restaurant is called Klondike Pizza and is an Alaska themed restaurant. Lots of wood and timbers, dirt floor covered with peanut shells, Alaska posters and other stuff. Having been to Alaska, it was not too far off from some of the places we saw there.

Tuesday is Chowdown Night, which is an all you can eat meal. For $9.99 you get salad and all the pizza you can eat. They have servers coming around with various pizzas as they come out of the oven. You can try any or all of the various varieties, although you never know what's coming out. The bakers don't tell the servers what is in the oven. The pizza was good, not the best I have ever had, but good. Some of the varieties were really good, including one they called “Road Kill” which included reindeer sausage, pork sausage, pepperoni, and a bunch of other stuff. It had the red, tomato sauce I like. Jackie tried a couple of slices that used white, garlic sauce. I prefer the red. After dinner we went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, October 12^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove to the Costco in San Luis so we could stock up the freezer and get some vodka. We will be in Pahrump for a month and the closest Costco is 60 miles away in Las Vegas. On the way we picked up Corey because he had told us he needed a few things too. We did our shopping and drove back to Donna's house. We spent a couple of hours there visiting, our last visit on this trip as we are leaving tomorrow morning. After that we went back to the RV park. About 5:00 everyone got together for a final, farewell happy hour. They had a lot of snacks, so we wouldn't need any dinner. Once the get together was over we went in the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, October 13^th, we had the coach packed up and were on the road by 10:30. Today we are driving about 150 miles to Bakersfield. Along the way we stopped at the Jack Ranch restaurant, which is located only a few hundred yards from the intersection where James Dean was killed in 1955. It is a favorite stopping spot for a lot of the other members of the group and we ended up with a dozen of us there for lunch. The food was good and inexpensive, a good stop for next time. We arrived in Bakersfield about 3:00 and got settled in for a one night stay. We didn't even unhook the

car. The next morning we were on the road about 10:00 and continued east to Dagget, a small community just outside of Barstow. The RV park is right across the street from the huge Marine Corps Logistics Base. Again we were in for a one night stay and never left the park. Saturday morning we were on the road at 10:30 on our last leg, headed to Pahrump, about 150 miles. We made a stop at the Mad Greek in Baker, California, a stop we make every time we come or go from Pahrump. We arrived at the Wine Ridge RV park in Pahrump about 2:15 and got the rig parked for a one month stay. Yea, one place for a while. We got the basics set up and then relaxed and tried to cool down. It is still in the very high 80's here, so it was quite sweaty getting set up. Because of the big lunch we didn't have any dinner, just relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.

Sunday, October 16^th, we woke up to a beautiful desert morning. I went down and bought the Sunday Las Vegas paper and we spent the morning reading the paper, drinking coffee and watching the Sunday morning shows. Today was a stay at home day and I took advantage of the time to catch up on some chores and office work. I also finished decorating the outside of the coach, getting my flagpole up for the first time in several months. After lunch we did make a Walmart run, our first Walmart in a month or so too. They are not as popular in Washington, Oregon and Northern California as they are in the Southwest. It can sometimes be hard to find a super Walmart in those areas.

Monday, we went out after lunch and did a whole bunch of errands. I picked up the paperwork at the Sheriff's Office for my concealed carry permit renewal, we picked up our mail, a LOT of mail, and then went to the laundromat and washed clothes. After we got home we put everything away and did a few chores. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse and played Texas Hold'em for the first time in a couple of years. We knew some of the people at the game from other visits, including Len and Debbie Forrest, who we run across a couple of times every year. They are also full timers, but spend a lot of time work camping here in Pahrump. Between the two of us we lost about five dollars, but I made a big comeback from being five dollars down at the halfway point and having to make another buy in. After cards we went back to the coach, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Tuesday, October 18^th, we went out after lunch and took Jackie to a chiropractor’s appointment. Usually when we get to Pahrump in the Fall her neck and back are in need of adjustments and she likes the doctor here. She was in there for a half hour or so, after which we went to Albertson's for some meat that they had on sale. We then went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the day. I went into the hot tub for the first time this trip, it was nice.

Wednesday we went out after lunch to check on the ten geocaches that we have hidden in the Pahrump Valley. We found all ten caches in pretty good shape. We replaced a few logs and one container, but at least all the caches were where they were supposed to be and had not been stolen. We also found one new geocache, a cache we DNFed last year. After checking on our caches we stopped at the Golden Nugget Casino for a bit of gaming. We each lost about $20, but spent over an hour there, so we had fun. We then went back to the coach. We BBQed a couple of burgers for dinner and watched the Presidential debate instead of going to Texas Hold'em at the clubhouse. Not the best performance by either candidate. The best description of this election cycle I have yet heard was a news commentator who referred to “this dumpster fire of an election.” Very apropos in my mind.

Thursday, October 20^th, we left the coach about 12:30 and went with several other couples from the RV park on a “tag a long” lunch. We went to a local place called Johnny's, which was mostly Mexican food, but did have some American stuff too. I had a combo and it was quite good. Jackie had machaca con heuvos, which she said was OK, but not very spicy. We had a great time visiting with the other people, some of whom we knew, others we did not. After lunch we picked up our mail and did a couple of other errands before heading back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at home.

Friday we went out after lunch for Jackie's second chiropractor’s appointment. After her session we did some geocaching. Although we have done most of the caches in the urban area of Pahrump, there are always new caches being put out in areas further out. We did part of a fairl

y new series along a gravel road south of town. We got 14 new finds before we decided that it was a little too warm to continue. Yesterday we had temps in the mid 70's, today it went back to the high 80's. Go figure. After caching we went back to the coach and had an early dinner. We walked down to the clubhouse about 6:30 for karaoke. Since the high season hasn't started yet, there were only a half dozen singers in the rotation, so I got to do about seven or eight songs. We had a good time and around 9:00 we were back at home and relaxed until bedtime.

Saturday, October 22^nd, my brother David's birthday. Happy birthday Bro! We left the coach about 1:00 to go to a late lunch at a really good Thai restaurant here in town, Chatt Thai. It is a family run operation and the food is great. We had a wonderful lunch, after which we went to Walmart for a few supplies. We then went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. At 5:00 we joined a group of other folks from the RV park for a Saturday evening get-together. There were six other couples there and we had some heavy snacks, as well as a key lime pie that Jackie made this morning. This was a really good group, very friendly and easy to talk with. We played some games intended to ease conversation and ended up staying out until about 9:30. We then went back to the coach, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Sunday, October 23^rd, I got the Sunday paper first thing and we had a relaxing morning with the paper and coffee. Today was forecast to be rainy, and it was sprinkling on and off most of the day. We did go out after lunch to one of the casinos and spent about 90 minutes playing video poker. I lost $40, but Jackie left a hundred up, so we were in good shape for a change. We then went to Smith's for some groceries and things we couldn't find at Walmart the other day. We then went home and spent the rest of the day in the coach, watching the rain. We did BBQ some nice steaks for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Monday was a stay at home day. It rained all night, even some periods of thunderstorms. The rain kept up, on and off, for most of the day. By late afternoon it finally started to clear. We did a few chores, but mostly had a relaxing at home day. About 6:30 we went down to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em again. Jackie broke even and I lost another $10, not seeming to be able to get any decent cards. We went back to the coach after cards and watched a little TV before heading off to bed.

Tuesday we left the coach after lunch and drove to the courthouse to vote. Nevada early voting started on Saturday and we like to vote early. However, the line was very long, so we decided to come back later in the week. After that we stopped at a clothing store where Jackie knows the owner and just wanted to say hi. We then picked up mail and then went out and did two geocaches, one of which was a Travel Bug hotel where we were able to trade out all our travel bugs. We also met the owner of the cache, who happened to come by while we were there. After caching we stopped at one of the casino's to do some gaming. I lost $20, Jackie lost $40. No big wins today. We stopped at Carl's Jr. for a quick dinner and then went to the Elks Lodge for meeting night. We try to go to at least one Lodge meeting every year. We transferred our membership from the Indio Lodge to the Pahrump Lodge when we became residents here nine years ago. Tonight was an initiation night, which meant a nice meeting, but it also went on for over two hours. We were grateful we waited until the end however, because I won the 50/50 drawing and got $27. Yea! We didn't get home until 9:30 and the cats were not happy. We watched a couple of sit coms on TV and then went to bed after a full day.

Wednesday, October 26^th, we had another stay at home day. Jackie got a bunch of chores done and I did a few as well. After dinner we went down to the clubhouse for poker. I finally had a winning night, leaving eight dollars up. Jackie only lost a dollar, so all in all, it was a good night.   I wanted to include this last picture as a sort of, "Only in Nevada" thing.  There is a guy named Dennis Hof who is running as an independent for one of the Nevada State Assembly seats out of Nye Country.  Only thing is, Dennis owns three of the four legal brothels in Nye County.  This is one of the many similar billboards posted by his opponent. Only in Nevada!

We are at the point where it has been a little over three weeks since we published the blog, so I am going to close it here and get it online. We are here in Pahrump for another two and a half weeks before we move on to Silent Valley, near Banning, California. As the election approaches in just a few weeks, I leave you with this quote from one of my favorite books, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. “Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” Good luck and see you soon.