Holiday Time in Pahrump - December 2023

Hello again.  Our last chapter concluded on Thursday, November 30^th.  Friday morning we were up and out of the house a little after 8:00.  We had to go down to the health center and get blood drawn for our lab work.  We have doctor’s appointments next week.  After we got home, we just did chores around the house.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home and had dinner.  After that we just watched TV until bedtime.  Saturday was also a stay-at-home day.  We did some chores and I finished up the Christmas decorations.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, December 3^rd, we relaxed around the house until about 2:00 when we left and went to the Saddle West Casino ballroom for the annual Silver Tappers Christmas show and fund raiser.  One of our friends, Debbie Forrest,  is in the group, but we would go anyway because they are enjoyable shows.  The show went from 3:00 to about 4:30 and was a pretty good production.  We went home after the show, had dinner and relaxed for the rest of the night.  Monday was a stay-at-home day for the most part.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then Jackie left a little before 5:00 to go get a manicure.  She didn’t get home until about 7:00, after which we had dinner and then spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Tuesday, December 5^th, we were up early and in the clubhouse at 9:00 for the first of the new Silver Seekers Board’s breakfast event.  Our new President, Don O and his wife Sharon, made a bunch of breakfast casseroles for the event.  We had over 30 people come, and everyone had a good time.  We also made almost $100 in profit for the Silver Seekers.  Yea.  After breakfast we went back home and relaxed for a while.  About 1:30 we left and went out to do some thrift store shopping before our doctor’s appointments at 3:30.  We went to a couple of places and got some pretty good bargains at Goodwill.  After shopping we went to the doctor for our six-month checkups.  Both of us are in pretty decent shape for our age, so there were no big surprises.  After the doctor we went back home and had some KFC we picked up on the way for dinner.  We then watched TV until bedtime.  I did have an hour break when I did my first tour of security duty for the month.

Wednesday, December 6^th, Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00.  I stayed home and did some office work and other chores.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then came home for dinner and then watched TV until it was time for bed.  Thursday I was out early for the 8:00 flag raising ceremony to commemorate Pearl Harbor Day.  Afterwards I went home, and we spent the rest of the day around the house.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home and had dinner, then watched TV until it was time for bed.

Friday, December 8^th, we had a stay-at-home day.  I did some admin work and a few chores around the house.  Jackie went out at noon to go to Artesian Cellars for another girl’s lunch.  We went to happy hour at 4:30, then stayed for bingo.  I won one of the regular games for $12, which meant I made a whole dollar.  After bingo we went home and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.  Saturday, we did some chores around the house.  We went out for lunch at El Jefe’s Mexican restaurant and then ran some errands.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then came home and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Saturday we went over to the clubhouse about 10:00 to do all the Christmas decorations for the various functions coming up.  After that we spent the rest of the day at home doing chores.

Sunday, December 10^th, we had a 10:00 meeting in the clubhouse for the Silver Seekers Association.  We were setting the calendar of activities for January.  The meeting went for about two and a half hours.  Normally we don’t do meetings on Sundays, but Don’s wife had a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, when the meeting was originally scheduled.  We later went to the 2:00 ice cream social in the clubhouse.  After the social we went home and relaxed.  Jackie made a new recipe for beef stew, which turned out really well.  We had that for dinner then watched TV until bedtime.  Monday we were up and on the road about 10:00, heading for Las Vegas for a luncheon with our park’s RV group, the Lucky Rollers.  The group has monthly lunch dine-outs, but they usually try to have at least one or two a year in Las Vegas for the people in the group who don’t live in Pahrump.  The group is open to any Escapees member, not just people who live in our co-op.  The lunch was at Blueberry Hill restaurant.  We had never heard of it, but they have three locations in Las Vegas and have been around since the 60’s.  Rumor has it that it was one of Elvis’s favorite places to eat back when he used to play Las Vagas.  The place was large, clean and the food was pretty good.  We will probably go back again.  We had about 20 people at the lunch.  After lunch we did some shopping.  Half the group ended up in the Sketchers outlet store across the street after lunch.  We also stopped at Kohl’s before heading back to Pahrump.  We got back home about 4:30, so we skipped happy hour and just spent the night with the TV.

Tuesday, December 12^th, we went to Walgreens around 11:00 and got our Covid booster shot for the year.  After our shots we did some shopping.  We went to the party store here in town, which is closing up, and Jackie got some stuff for Saturday’s 50’s party in the clubhouse.  After we were done, we went home, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.  Wednesday I stayed home and did some office work.  Jackie missed Pokeno because she was sick from the shot yesterday.  I went to happy hour at 4:00, then home for dinner and TV until bedtime.

Thursday, December 14^th, we had a meeting of the Silver Seekers at 1:00.  This was the first real open meeting we have had since I became Vice President of the association.  The meeting went pretty well.  After the meeting we went out and did some shopping.  We didn’t make it home in time for happy hour.  We just went home, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Friday was an open day, we had nothing special to do.  I did some office work and Jackie did some chores.  We had happy hour and then dinner.

Saturday, December 16^th, was a busy day.  We went over to the clubhouse about 10:00 and Jackie helped with the decorating for the 50’s party.  I spent a couple hours getting all my sound and video equipment set up for the party.  We went home for lunch and then we were back in the clubhouse by 3:30, with Jackie all dressed up in her poodle skirt and jacket.  The potluck went from 4 to 5, then I did the “Name that Tune” game at 5:00.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the game.  After that we did a bunch of 50”s songs and had a lot of dancers.  The party went until about 7:00 when everyone started heading for home.  I packed up the equipment and we went home and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.  Sunday was a stay-at-home day.  I spent tome time out in the shed putting away stuff from the party and also did some office work.  My son Roy Jr. arrived at the Escapees Park about 3:30 or so to spend a couple of days.  He is done with his job at Death Valley.  The company he works for lost the contract for Stovepipe Wells, so he has been transferred to work at Lassen National Park in Northern California.  This is very near Mineral, California where our good friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock had their huge cabin in the woods.  Peggy sold the place a couple of years ago and now lives in Redding.  Roy will actually be staying in Chester, a small town about a half hour from Lassen.  The company has an old motel there which they use for employee housing.  He is now going from a place where it’s 125 in the summer to a place where he will see 10 feet of snow and temps close to zero this winter.  Jackie made meat loaf for dinner and the three of us had a nice dinner and talked for a while.  After Roy went back to his motor home, we watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, December 18^th, Jackie had a manicure appointment at 11:00.  I dropped her off and then drove to the Northwest part of town to pick up Roy.  He had taken his motor home to a truck service place to get the oil changed and new coolant/antifreeze put in.  I picked him up and then we went out to run some errands that Roy needed to do.  Since he is going to work in the cold country of Northern California, he needs some heavy boots and clothes.  We first went to Big 5 sporting goods where he got some snow boots and snow pants, heavy gloves and some head coverings.  We then went to Goodwill, just to see if they had anything worth his while.  They didn’t.  We then went home for a little while before going back to get Jackie.  After we picked up Jackie we went to Mom’s for lunch and then Jackie had to go to Secret Sister for a bit.  Actually, Roy found a nice polo shirt in there for ten bucks.  We then headed back home and waited until about 3:30 to drive Roy back out to get his motor home.  We all got back to the park in time for 4:00 happy hour.  After happy hour we went home and talked for a while before Roy headed back home for the night.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Tuesday Jackie had a ladies luncheon at 11:30 at El Jefe’s Mexican restaurant and Roy and I decided to go there as well.  The ladies were meeting in the back room, probably over a dozen of them, so Roy and I ate in the main dining room.  We had a great lunch and afterwards went out and ran a couple more errands that Roy needed to do.  Jackie was going to get a ride home from one of the other ladies.  After our errands we went back home, and Roy went over to his coach to do some prep work for his departure tomorrow.  He is supposed to be in Chester, California on Friday, so he is leaving tomorrow for the 600-mile trip.  Right now, he is planning on overnighting in Tonopah and then the Reno area before heading into California.  At 4:00 the three of us went to happy hour, then came home and chatted for a while before Roy headed back to his coach.  We spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Wednesday, December 20^th, Jackie went to Pokeno at 1:00.  I did a grocery run to Smith’s, then came home and did some work in the office.  We didn’t go to happy hour as we had a park dine-out at Ohjah, the Japanese Steak House and Hibachi grill here in town at 4:00.  We had about a dozen people there and we all sat around the hibachi and watched the show as the chef cooked our food.  It is not inexpensive here, but the food is really good, and you get a lot of it.  Plus, the show the chefs put on is great.  We had a nice meal with friends and took home some leftovers.  After we got home we watched TV and then went to bed.  Thursday, I went to the clubhouse at 9:00 for the open meeting of the Board of Directors.  They had a lot of stuff on the agenda, so the meeting ran two and a half hours.  After the meeting we had lunch, our leftovers from last night, then at 1:00 went to the salon so both of us could get haircuts.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then a little later our friends Dale and Sue picked us up to go out for a dinner for just the four of us.  We went to Carmelo’s Bistro, a local Italian restaurant that we have yet to visit.  The owner used to be one of the Nye County Supervisors, but he lost the election last year.  We had a pretty decent meal.  Our calamari app was over cooked, but my angel hair with bolognaise and meat balls was excellent.  Everyone else enjoyed their meals as well.  The real kicker was that after we were done Leo, the owner came over and told us that a “Secret Santa” had picked up our meal and everything, apps, meals, desert and wine, were all on the house.  We both left a pretty nice tip, but still got a real bargain meal.  Dale dropped us off at home after we were done, and we watched TV for the rest of the night. 

Friday, December 22^nd, we did some chores around the house for most of the day.  We did go out about 1:00 for a late lunch at the Roadhouse Casino.  We went to happy hour about 4:30 and then stayed at the clubhouse for Bingo at 5:30.  Jackie won one small pot, I didn’t get anything.  After bingo we went home and watched TV until bedtime.  Saturday was the fourth anniversary of the loss of our last cat, Benji.  We still have not replaced him, the longest either of us has gone without a cat kid.  About 2:00 we gathered in front of the clubhouse for a Christmas Golf Cart Parade that we organized.  We had ten people participating, five in golf carts and two on bicycles, all of which were nicely decorated for the holiday.  We drove up and down all the roads in the park and actually had some people standing or sitting outside waiting for us to go by.  We were also playing Christmas carols and handing out candy treats along the way.  It was a great time, and we hope to be even bigger next year.  We did happy hour at 4:00 then went home, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, December 24^th, Christmas Eve.  We had the usual Sunday social at 2:00, then we gathered again about 4:00 for a light snacks potluck and then the annual gift exchange.  Our friend Phyliss did it again this year and we had a couple of dozen people participating.  Everyone got a number and she told an old poem she has used for years for these events.  The poem announces a number, that person goes to the table and picks a gift.  Then there is another number called, and it may require taking a gift from someone who already has one or taking one from the table.  There may be multiple swaps with each number.  It is a lot of fun, and you have no idea what gift you are going to end up with at the end.  We got a couple of nice gifts in the end and had a great time.  After the gift exchange we helped clean up then headed back home.  We watched TV until it was time for bed.

Monday, December 25^th, Merry Christmas.  Jackie and I exchanged cards in the morning, which is our tradition.  No gifts for any birthday or holiday, only cards.  We then relaxed in the house for most of the day, although we were cooking a full turkey and a turkey breast for the Christmas dinner at 3:00.  At 3:00 we went to the clubhouse and had a wonderful Christmas dinner with about 40 of our friends and neighbors from the park.  After dinner we cleaned up and went home where we spent the rest of the evening watching TV.  Tuesday, we had mostly a stay-at-home day.  About 5:00 we left and drove to the Elks Lodge for a Lodge Meeting.  We were going to the meeting because an acquaintance of ours from the park was being initiated into the lodge.  We were there with several other members of our park as well.  After the meeting we went home and relaxed for the rest of the night with the TV.

Wednesday, December 27^th, Jackie had her Pokeno at 1:00 and I spent the afternoon in my office doing some work for one of the committees I am on.  After Jackie got home, we did a Walmart run, then came home and had dinner, then watched the TV the rest of the night.  We also did some packing for our trip this weekend.  Thursday, I had a meeting of the By Laws Committee at 10:00.  I am the chairman of the committee.  We met until about 12:30, after which I went home and did some more packing for the trip.  We did happy hour at 4:00, then had dinner and spent the evening with the TV.  Friday, we spent the day getting ready for the trip.  At 1:00 we went to the salon so I could get my toenails clipped and Jackie got a mani and pedi.  Since this takes several hours, I left her there, ran some errands and went home and did some packing.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then had dinner and relaxed for the night.

Saturday, December 30^th, we had our luggage in the car and were on the road by 10:00, heading back to Long Beach, California to go on another cruise.  It was a long, six hour plus trip, and unfortunately, we did have some rain along the route, although it was only for about an hour total during the trip.  Traffic was about normal, and we arrived at the Cove Hotel in Long Beach just about 4:00.  We always come to the departure port city a day early when we cruise.  We checked into the hotel and then had a cocktail with our friends Linda and Jim, who are also members of our park, and are also going on the same cruise tomorrow.  Jackie had contacted her Godson, Shane Cooper, who is now in his 20’s, and living in North Orange County.  Jackie had spent a lot of time with him as a baby and toddler, as did I after we got together in 1998, and he is now six foot four and definitely all grown up.  He came up from Orange County and met us at the hotel.  We went out to dinner and spent a couple of hours visiting with him before he left and went home.  After he went home, we went into the room and went to bed.

Sunday, December 31^st, New Year’s Eve.  We were up and in a cab headed for the cruise port by 10:30.  We leave the car parked at the hotel and they provide transportation to the cruise ship.  We are going on a six-night cruise aboard the Carnival Miracle, the same ship that we took in September to Alaska.  This one goes down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for two days, then stops at Ensenada for one day, with three sea days in between.  We went on it because we got a good deal, and it was a New Years cruise.  The boarding process went very smoothly, and we were on the ship and having a cocktail by 12:30 or so.  We had a balcony cabin and got moved in there before dinner.  The ship left port at 4:00 and we were on our way to Mexico.  Since this was New Years, the dinner was a formal night, so we got dressed up and went to dinner.  Then there were all kinds of parties and such around the ship for the whole evening.  We actually stayed up until midnight and brought in the new year at one of the parties in the atrium bar.  After bringing in the new year we went to our cabin and went to sleep.

This is, of course, the end of the month, as well as the end of the year.  We will close this episode for now and get it published.  Look for the details of the rest of our cruise in the next chapter.  Goodbye for now.

November in Pair-a-Dice

Hi there, welcome back.  Our last episode concluded on Tuesday, October 31^st with us in Pahrump, Nevada.  Wednesday, November 1^st, I went over to the clubhouse in the morning to set up the sound equipment for the jam session this afternoon.  I have been trying to get a regular jam session together in this park for a couple of years and this is the first time I had any response when I put out a call for players.  The jam session is part of the activities for “homecoming week” at the park, the week before the co-op holds it’s annual membership meeting.  At 2:00 we got the jam session going with myself, my friend Len (who doesn’t live in the park), another two co-op members, Margi, who was playing an autoharp, and Bob, who had a guitar.  Bob was actually a member of several bands back in the 60’s and 70’s, so he was the best player among us.  However, he also had not played in quite a while, so his fingers were pretty sore at the end.  We played for about 90 minutes and had a great time.  We even had an audience of a dozen people for a while.  While I was jamming Jackie was playing Pokeno in the other room.  After the jam I spent an hour taking down all the equipment and then we were off to happy hour.  After happy hour we spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Thursday, November 2^nd. I spent the morning doing chores.  After lunch we went out and did some grocery shopping.  When we got back we had a nurse practioner from United Healthcare come to the house for our annual “home visit” wellness check.  We are in pretty good shape for the shape we are in, so it all went well.  At 4:00 we went to happy hour then stayed over in the clubhouse for the Bingo, which started at 5:30.  Unlike last week, neither of us came close to a bingo tonight.  After bingo we went home and watched TV until bedtime.  Thursday Jackie went over to the clubhouse about 10:00 to help out in the kitchen with preparations for tomorrow night’s meat loaf dinner.  I did some chores around the house.  At 4:00 we went to happy hour and then stayed over for the 5:00 baked potato dinner.  We stayed until about 7:00 after which we went home and watched TV until it was time for bed.

Saturday, November 4^th, today is our Co-op’s annual meeting day.  This is the only meeting where the membership is in charge and gets unlimited time to speak, unlike Board meetings where the Board members are in charge.  I was up about 7:00 to get to the clubhouse by 8:00 to help set up the Zoom equipment to put the meeting online.  The meeting started about 9:00 and we actually had a quorum, which is a minimum of 93 memberships.  Although each membership has a maximum of two people, it only has one vote in co-op matters.  Things went fairly smoothly until they opened it up to the membership, where a number of people got up to make proposals for changes in the park’s governing documents.  It really wasn’t too bad, but there were a couple of times when people started talking out of turn and some nasty comments were made.  The meeting went on until after noon when the current Board went into executive session to elect their officers for the coming year.  Although there was an election for members of the Board, and five of the six running were elected to the new Board, there were few changes to the make up of the Board.  Three of the people on the Board were temporary appointments made during the year to fill vacancies.  Of those three, two were reelected to full terms.  Of the nine members on the Board now, only two are actually new to the Board.  After the new Board was introduced the meeting was over.  We went home and relaxed until 4:00.  At 4:00 we went to happy hour and then stayed over for the meat loaf dinner.  It was quite good and we had a nice time with friends.  About 7:00 we headed home and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Sunday, November 5^th, we had a stay at home day.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00 and then we did a happy hour on our own patio, inviting about ten of our friends from the park.  Normally there is no happy hour on Sunday, so we decided to use our patio for the first time.  Since today was the first day after changing the clocks back from daylight savings, it got dark early, about 5:30, so we were able to use our fire pit and everything.  We had a really nice time and went until about 7:00.  After happy hour we watched TV and went to bed.  Monday we didn’t have much on our calendar but we went out and ran some errands in the afternoon.  We didn’t do happy hour because we were meeting two other couples at the China Wok for dinner.  After dinner we went home and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, November 7^th, I had committee meeting in the morning.  After lunch we went to a planning session for the Silver Seekers group.  After that meeting we went to the local community hospital so Jackie could get her annual mammogram.  After that we went home and then to happy hour.  After happy hour we had dinner, then spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Wednesday was another busy day.  I had another committee meeting at 9:00 in the clubhouse.  After lunch Jackie went and played Pokeno and I went out and ran some errands.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 then home for dinner TV for the rest of the night.

Thursday, November 9^th, was another busy day.  I had a 10:00 meeting of the By Laws Committee, of which I am the chair.  We had the regular meeting of the Silver Seekers group at 1:00 and I was elected Vice President of the Silver Seekers, along side of my friend Don, who is the President.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then about 5:00 we had our first food truck visit to the park.  There are some members of the Board who don’t think we should have outsiders in the park for any reason, but we did the food truck thing anyway and it was a huge success.  They sold out of food and actually had to turn away the late comers, including me!  We will now be scheduling food trucks into the park on a regular basis.  After the gathering for the food truck we went home and spent the night with the TV.  Friday, Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps!  At 2:00 we went out and went to Walgreens where we both got our second shingles shot and an RSV vaccination.  On the way home we planted the directional signs for the yard sale that is going on at the park tomorrow.  I was responsible for the signs.  We then went home and went to happy hour.  After happy hour we went home, had dinner and then watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, November 11^th, Veterans Day.  Today was the craft and yard sale at the park.  It was all in the clubhouse and I was assigned to work security in the Clubhouse and around the park.  We started at 7:00, so it was a very early day for us.  Jackie also volunteered for the event, being the cashier for the food concession.  The sale was a moderate success and we didn’t have any major problems, so we will probably do it again sometime.  After the sale was over we went home and just collapsed in front of the TV until bedtime.  Sunday I had to go out to one of the local abandoned gravel pits to qualify with my pistol so I can renew my concealed carry permit.  I have to do this every year and the last few years I have used Invictus Firearms Training to do it.  I like the instructor and the way he does qual shoots.  I was out about three hours, then returned home and we spent the rest of the day and evening in the house.

Monday, November 13^th, we left the house about 11:00 and went to the Stagecoach Grill, a local restaurant, for a dine-out with the Lucky Rollers.  This is the RV travel club here at the Escapees park.  It is also a chapter of the national Escapees organization,  We had a nice lunch with about a dozen or so people present.  After lunch we went to run some errands and do some shopping.  After we got home we went to happy hour and then went home for dinner.  We watched the TV until bedtime.  Tuesday Jackie had a decorating committee meeting in the clubhouse at 10:00.  We both had a Silver Seekers calendar planning meeting in the clubhouse at 12:30.  That last meeting went for a couple of hours, but we got the December calendar finalized for the first time with the new Silver Seekers team.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then home for dinner and TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, November 15^th, Jackie went to Pokeno at 1:00.  At 2:00 I provided the Zoom support for a meeting of the Storage task force meeting in the clubhouse.  This is a member driven team that is looking at solutions to the problems with storage here at the co-op.  These are the spots in the back of the property where members can store RVs, extra vehicles, trailers, etc.  Any member can get a storage space, if available, but there are no where near as many storage spots as members, so shortages and disputes have been occurring recently.  This group is looking at various solutions to suggest to the Board and the members.  We had happy hour at 4:00, then went home and spent the rest of the night with the TV.  I did have my first hour long tour of duty as security tonight.  Thursday there was a 9:00 meeting of the Board of Directors and I was providing the Zoom support for the meeting, which went on for almost three hours.  I had a 2:00 appointment at one of the local banks, along with the other new officers of the Silver Seekers, to make changes in the groups bank account.  Jackie went out about 3:00 for a haircut appointment and then had a mani appointment at 5:00, right after happy hour.  After she got home we had dinner, then watched TV the rest of the night, except for my hour of security duty.

Friday, November 17^th, Jackie had a 12:00 luncheon with her girlfriends at the Artesian Cellars restaurant.  My friend Len came over and we had a guitar practice session since we had missed the last couple of weeks.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then went home.  I had my last tour of security duty for the month tonight.  We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.  Saturday, we went over to Petrack Park here in Pahrump after lunch to see the annual Pow Wow.  We spent an hour or so there watching the Indian dancers and looking through the booths and displays.  After we got home we had happy at 4:00, then went home and had clam chowder for dinner.  Our friend Max came for dinner.  His wife Nancy is back in New York with family, so we invited him over for a home cooked meal.  After Max left we watched TV and then went to bed.

Sunday, November 19^th, was a day off for us.  We did go out to do a quick Walmart run, but mostly stayed home and did chores.  Tomorrow we are leaving for a couple of days staying in Death Valley National Park, so we were getting stuff together for that trip.  Monday we packed our suitcase in the morning for our trip and left about 11:00, headed for Death Valley.  We stopped for gas and a quick lunch at Carl’s Jr. before leaving Pahrump.  Death Valley is about 90 miles west of Pahrump.  My son Roy Jr. has been working there the last 18 months or so as a work camper at Stovepipe Wells, one of the three settlements in the park.  He made arrangements with his company for us to spend two nights at the lodge there.  We got into Stovepipe Wells about 2:30 and met up with Roy.  While waiting for the room to be ready we did some shopping at the general store.  The company that Roy is working for did not win the bid to be the concessionaire at Stovepipe Wells for another year and is leaving after the first of the year.  As a result, they were clearing out all the souvenir merchandise in the store for 60 percent off, plus Roy got another 50 percent of the remainder for his employee discount.  As a result, the normally expensive $35 tee shirts we got for about $7.  Jackie and I both got several shirts and she got some jewelry.  After the room was ready we moved in and then spent the rest of the evening visiting with Roy.  He took us to dinner at the restaurant, which was also comped, and we had a great time.  After Roy went back to his RV, we watched some TV and went to sleep.

Tuesday, November 21^st, we got up about 8:00 and by 10:00 or so we were in the car and out exploring Death Valley.  We had Roy along as our personal tour guide.  We have only been to Death Valley twice, once in 2007 during our first visit to Pahrump, when we became residents of Nevada.  Then again in 2019 when we came out for the day with our friends Peggy and Vernon.  We spent most of the day exploring, going out to Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in North America at minus 282 feet elevation.  This is normally a dry lake bed, but the bad storms this past summer caused a lot of flooding in Death Valley, and all of the water ended up in Badwater basin, so it was still a “temporary” lake.  We also went to Artists Palette and several other side trips in the park, with Roy providing context and explanation.  It was really a lot of fun.  We went to the visitors center and then had lunch at Furnace Creek, the biggest of the settlements in Death Valley.  After our tours we went back to Stovepipe Wells, did some more cheap shopping, and then spent the evening with Roy.  After he went home we went to bed.

Wednesday, November 22^nd, we were packed up and ready to head back to Pahrump about 11:00.  We said goodbye to Roy and started back.  After we got back into Pahrump we stopped for lunch and got home about 1:30.  Jackie went to the clubhouse at 2:00 for the second round of her Pokeno group and I did some unpacking and laundry.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then went home and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.  Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving!  We relaxed in the morning, then went over to the clubhouse about 2:30 for the park’s Thanksgiving pot luck dinner.  We had a really good time visiting with friends and having way too much good food.  We got back home about 5:00 and just vegged with the TV until it was time to go to bed. 

Friday, November 24^th, was a stay at home day.  Didn’t want to be anywhere near a store on Black Friday.  We went to Bingo in the clubhouse at 5:30.  Jackie and I each won one of the regular games, getting $12 each in winnings.  Yea!  After Bingo we went home and watched TV until bedtime.  Saturday we went out after lunch for a Walmart run and some errands.  We stopped by the Elks Lodge with one of the people here at the park who wanted to join.  We sponsored their application.  After shopping we went to happy hour, then came home and had chili relleno casserole for dinner.  We spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Sunday, November 26^th, I got out the Christmas decorations from the shed and started doing some decorating around the lot.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00 and then went out for a quick grocery run.  After we got home we had dinner, then relaxed with the TV until bedtime.  Monday my brother Russ and his wife Zen, who live in Las Vegas, came up for the day.  We had a great time visiting.  Even though we live close to each other, he still works full time at the Golden Nugget Casino downtown and we have been pretty busy this summer as well.  Jackie made a nice late lunch of Chinese chicken casserole, fried rice and egg rolls.  After dinner we sat and talked until about 5:00 when they left to drive home.  We spent the rest of the night watching TV. 

Tuesday, November 28^th, I had an appointment at 1:00 with my ophthalmologist.  The appointment only went about a half hour and I was back home.  I did a few chores around the house until we left to go to the monthly Escapees Park dine-out at the Roadhouse casino and restaurant about 3:30.  Tuesdays is when they have their baby backs on sale, so the majority of the 24 people at the dine-out had ribs.  Yum.  After dinner we stayed and gamed for a little while.  I didn’t do well, but Jackie cashed out $52.  Yea.  We then went home and watched TV for the rest of the evening.  Wednesday was a typical Wednesday.  Jackie went to Pokeno at 1:00 and Len came over about that same time and we had a little guitar jam session. We went to happy hour at 4:00 and them home for dinner and the TV for the rest of the night.

Thursday, November 30^th, last day of November.  I had a meeting of the By Laws and Standing Rules Committee, of which I am the chairman.  The meeting went a couple of hours and I think we accomplished some good things organizationally.  After the meeting I had lunch and then did some decorating for Christmas.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then came home for dinner and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

That concludes the month of November and it is time to close out this chapter.  Until next time, do good deeds, but have fun.  See ya.

Fall comes to Pahrump

Hello again.  Our last chapter concluded on Saturday, September 30^th, as we were recovering from the cold we caught on our Alaska Cruise, which was the highlight of the month.  Sunday was a day of rest for us.  I am about 90 percent better, but Jackie is still running at about 70 percent at best.  This is a tough cold or flu or whatever to shake.  I did a couple of little chores, but we mostly just relaxed.  We even skipped the Sunday Ice Cream social.  After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.

Monday, October 2^nd, we went to the clubhouse at 11:00 for a MASA presentation and free lunch.  The presentation was the same as always, the lunch was take-out from Panda Express here in Pahrump.  There were about 40 people at the presentation and we had a great lunch.  After lunch we went out and Jackie went for a manicure while I went and did some shopping.  After I picked her up we went back to the park and went to happy hour.  Most of the summer travelers are returning to the park, so the happy hour group is growing back to winter levels.  After happy hour we went home and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.  Tuesday was a stay at home day.  I did some chores and worked on my project of cleaning out the shed.  When we moved from the motorhome to the trailer, which was almost a year ago now, we just unloaded stuff from the motorhome and stuffed it in the shed.  Now we need to go through and clean out stuff we no longer need or want.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then had supper and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, October 4^th, Jackie went and played Pokeno in the clubhouse at 1:00 and my friend Len came over and we did our weekly jam session on the patio.  After Jackie got finished we went to happy hour, then came home and relaxed for the rest of the night.  Thursday was also a stay at home day.  I spent a few hours working on the shed cleaning project.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then came home for dinner.  After dinner we watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, October 6^th, we had another stay at home day.  We did book another cruise, this one a 6 day cruise over New Years.  It leaves Long Beach New Years Eve (Sunday), and comes back the following Saturday.  It is on the Carnival Miracle the same ship we went to Alaska on last month and the one we cancelled a February Hawaii cruise on.  We cancelled Hawaii because we decided we didn’t have the stamina health wise to do longer cruises, like the last two 15 day tours we took.  We still want to do short cruises.  We are going again with Jim and Linda Sullivan.  Other than that we had a relaxing day.  We had some nice steaks on the BBQ for dinner, then spent the rest of the night with the TV.  Saturday we had a 1:00 meeting of the Silver Seekers social club in the clubhouse.  This was a planning meeting for the group, which is having their regular monthly meeting next week.  After that meeting we went out to grab a late lunch at Arby’s, then did some grocery shopping at Smiths.  After shopping we went home and relaxed until about 5:00 when we changed clothes to go to a show at the Saddle West Casino ballroom.  Our friend Debbie Forrest, the wife of Len who I play guitar with on Wednesdays, is a member of a local dance troupe called the Silver Tappers.  This is a group of all women over 50 who perform all around the Pahrump Valley putting on shows.  Tonight’s show was one of their annual USO show fundraisers for veterans groups.  It was a really good show and we went with Millie, Charlene and Julie from our park.  The show went almost two hours and after the show we drove back home and watched a little TV before going to bed,

Sunday, October 8^th, Jackie left about 10:00, picked up our friends Millie and Julie, and drove to Secret Sisters, a thrift boutique store that they like.  They were having a sidewalk sale.  I stayed home and did some chores, including making a batch of chili Colorado for dinner.  We were going to have our neighbors, Don and Sharon Olney over for dinner, but they had to cancel for a family emergency.  I did a few other chores, but mainly had a relaxing Sunday at home.  Monday was a busy day.  At 10:30 we went to the China Wok buffet for another MASA presentation and free lunch.  After we got home we had to go to the clubhouse at 3:00 for a meeting of the park’s RV club, the Lucky Rollers.  The meeting was to discuss the upcoming campout in Laughlin in two weeks.  We are going and will be staying in the hotel for the campout.  After the meeting we had the usual happy hour until 5:00.  About 5:30 we left again and drove to Mountain Falls Country Club to have dinner with two other couples, Dale and Sue Vice and Julie and Don Klein.  Dale and Sue have been gone from the park since late Spring, so we wanted to welcome them back.  After dinner we drove home and finally relaxed and watched a little TV before going to bed.

Tuesday, October 10^th, I went to an 11:00 dentist appointment.  It took a couple of hours because I had to have a cavity filled in addition to my cleaning.  I got home about 1:00 and spent the rest of the afternoon doing chores.  At 4:00 we went to happy hour at the clubhouse, then came home, had dinner and spent the rest of the night watching TV.  Wednesday I was out of the trailer early because I had been called to serve on a review board regarding a citizen’s complaint to the Sheriff’s Office.  Last year I applied for, and got training, to be appointed to the Citizen review Commission.  This is only the second time I have been called to be on a panel.  There are ten or twelve members of the Commission and each review panel is three members of the Commission selected by random draw.  The panel started about 8:30 and we were done by 10:00 as it was a pretty straightforward and simple complaint.  After the panel I went home and had lunch.  Jackie went and played Pokeno at 1:00 and Len came over for guitar practice.  We were done by 3:00, went to happy hour at 4:00.  After happy hour we went home, had dinner and then watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, October 12^th, we went to the clubhouse at 1:00 for the monthly meeting of the Silver Seekers club.  The Silver Seekers are kind of the social arm of the Co-op, generally in charge of activities and events at the park.  After the meeting we went to the nail salon.  I got my nails trimmed and Jackie got a full pedi.  While she was doing that I ran some errands and went to Walmart.  After we got home we put stuff away, then went to the clubhouse for happy hour.  After happy hour we went home and did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner, then relaxed with the TV until bedtime.  Friday Jackie had a 10:00 meeting in clubhouse with some of the ladies planning a dinner for later in the month.  At 4:00 or so we drove up to the Wine Ridge RV Park, where, prior to getting our lot at the Escapees, we used to stay anytime we came to Pahrump.  We were going to visit a couple that we had mentored at a Monaco International Rally in 2022.  Monaco International always provided mentors for any MI members attending their first MI rally.  It turned out that they were here because one of their FMCA chapters, the Vegas Blackjacks, was having a rally at Wine Ridge.  In addition, Paul Cunningham and his wife Doris, who is a member of our Escapees Co-op, were also members of the chapter and would be there.  We had a very nice light dinner and visit with some old and current friends.  We were back home by about 6:30 and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Saturday, October 14^th, we just relaxed and did some chores until about 2:30 when we left to go to the Elks Lodge for a dinner.  We picked up our friend Ginny on the way.  There were six of us from the park at the table.  The dinner was in honor of the visit to the Lodge of the Elks State President for Nevada.  It is traditional for the State President to visit each of the Elks Lodges in his or her state over the course of their term.  The dinner was salad, beef stew in a bread bowl and desert.  It was fun and we had some good conversation amongst the Pairadice members, but it did run on a little long.  We got home about 8:00 and just watched some TV until bedtime.  Sunday was a stay at home day.  We went to the clubhouse at 2:00 for the monthly birthday and anniversary social and had some cake and ice cream.  After that we went home and I did some chores around the house until supper.  After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.

Monday, October 16^th, we had a meeting in the clubhouse of the Board of Directors of the park.  This was jus a planning meeting and it went for about an hour.  After the meeting we did a Walmart run.  After we got back we went to happy hour, then came home for a while.  We decided to go out to dinner and we left about 5:30 and went to the Pour House so Jackie could have some Indian food, lamb tika, and I had a pizza.  After dinner we went home and watched TV until bedtime.  I did my first tour of security for the month.  Tuesday was a stay at home day.  I did some chores out in the shed and Jackie worked around the house.  At 4:00 we went to happy hour, then went back to the clubhouse at 6:00 for a “Meet the Candidates” night where the six people running for the Board of Directors of the park had a chance to make their case for election.  It is kind of a done deal since there will be five vacancies on the Board in November, all but one will be elected and the sixth one is an alternate for any other openings that come up.  After the meet the candidates I did my hour of security patrol, then we watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, October 18^th, Jackie went to play Pokeno at 1:00 and my friend Len came over about the same time and we jammed on guitars for a while.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then left early and went to get haircuts for the both of us.  After we got home we had dinner and I did my last tour of security duty for the month.  When I was done with that we watched TV and went to bed.  Thursday I was up early and in the clubhouse a little after 8:00.  Today is the monthly meeting of the Board of Directors for the Co-op and I will be running the Zoom access for the meeting.  The meeting went well and afterwards I cleaned up and put away all the equipment and went back to the trailer.  A little after noon Jackie left to go to the Artesian Cellars restaurant for a ladies lunch.  I stayed home and did some chores around the place.  After Jackie got home we went to happy hour, then came home and spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Friday, October 20^th, we left the coach about 12:30 or so and went out to Mom’s for lunch.  After lunch we ran a bunch of errands, Secret Sister so Jackie could put some clothes in on consignment, The UPS store for an Amazon return, Walmart, and a couple of other little errands.  After we were finished with all our errands we went home.  We went to happy hour at 5:00, then went home and watched TV until bedtime.  Saturday Jackie had a 3:00 mani appointment.  While she was doing that I ran a couple of errands.  After the mani we went back home and went to happy hour.  After happy hour we went home, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, October 22^nd, happy birthday to my brother David, who lives in Virginia Beach.  Today was mostly a stay at home day.  We spent time packing for our trip to Laughlin with the park’s camping group.  We will be staying four nights in the hotel since we don’t have a traveling unit anymore.  My son Roy came into the park in the afternoon for a brief visit.  He is working in Death Valley at Stovepipe Wells, but is working on his Nevada residency and needed to bring his motor home in to town to get it registered in Nevada.  We visited for a while and went out for dinner at Irene’s Casino.  After dinner he went back to this rig and we watched TV.

Monday, October 23^rd, we had the car packed and ready to go about 11:00 and closed up the trailer and headed South towards Laughlin.  It is about 150 miles or so.  We stopped at In and Out in Vegas for lunch before continuing south.  We got to the Riverside Hotel and RV Park about 2:30 and got checked into our room.  We then went up to the campground and spent happy hour with the group.  There are 19 people at this outing, with us and one other person staying in the hotel.  After happy hour we went back to the Riverside and spent a few hours gaming in the casino.  We didn’t have much luck, but had a good time.  Tuesday we slept in and went over to the campground at 1:00 for Pokeno.  We had a fun time with the group and stayed for happy hour after the games were over.  After happy hour we went back to the casino and gamed for a while before going up to bed.

Wednesday we went to Sam’s Club across the river in Bullhead City, Arizona, and then had lunch at Taco Bell.  After that we explored Bullhead a little and went to the Goodwill just to have something to do.  We also explored Laughlin, the actual town, a little before going to the campground for happy hour.  After happy hour the entire group went back to the Riverside Resort and went to the Prime Rib Room, an upscale restaurant in the resort.  We had great prime rib dinner.  After dinner we gamed in the casino until we got tired and then went up to the room and to bed.  Thursday we were back over at the campground about 1:00 for the official meeting of the camping club and some drawings for prizes. The only thing we won is a gift certificate for Subway and a bottle of vodka. After the meeting we stayed for happy hour again and then the entire group drove to Vito’s Pizza in Bullhead City for dinner.  They have a pizza buffet which was OK.  We did have a good time with the group as we were all at one table.  After dinner we drove back and stopped at the Golden Nugget Casino for a bit, then back to the Riverside.  We gamed some and then went up to bed. 

Friday, October 27^th, we checked out of the hotel at 11:00 and started back towards Pahrump.  We stopped for lunch in Searchlight and got home by about 3:30.  We got the car unpacked and spent the rest of the evening relaxing with the TV.  Saturday was a stay at home day.  We did a few chores but mostly just relaxed.  Jackie did go to the clubhouse for a bit in the afternoon to watch and learn a new card game.  I went to happy hour at 4:00, Jackie was tired and wanted to stay home.  We did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner and then watched TV until bedtime.  Saturday was also pretty much a stay at home and do chores day.  We did go out for a little bit to do some errands.  After that it was 4:00 happy hour and then TV until bedtime.

Sunday, October 29^th, we also stayed at home and did a few chores.  We went to the ice cream social at 2:00, then came back home a stayed in for the rest of the day and evening.  Monday was the first day of the park’s “homecoming week.”  This is usually the first week in November and ends on Saturday with the Annual Meeting of the Co-op.  They always schedule a bunch of social activities during homecoming week.  Today started with Len and I having a guitar practice session at 11:30 in preparation for the jam session on Tuesday.  At 2:00 there was an in-park poker run.  This is to get people out and about in the park and hopefully get to meet someone you don’t know well.  We both did the poker run and Jackie ended up with two pair, but got beat out by a bigger two pair hand.  I didn’t get anything.  We went to happy hour at 4:00 then came home and had dinner, then relaxed for the rest  of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, October 31^st, Happy Halloween.  Jackie went to get a manicure at 12:00 with a new manicurist that she found.  While she was gone I spent time taking my sound equipment over the clubhouse and setting up for the Halloween party tonight.  At 4:00 we went to the Pour House restaurant for the monthly park Dine-out.  There were only 10 people there, but we had a good time and some good food.  As usual Jackie had her Lamb Tika and I had pizza.  After the dine-out we headed back home, changed clothes and went to the clubhouse for the Halloween Party.  It was a lot of fun and there were probably 25 people there and half of them were in costume.  Some of them were really neat costumes.  The party lasted until about 8:00 with me playing music and handing out trophies to the costumed people.  After the party we went home and relaxed with the TV until it was time for bed.

This marks the end of October and time to put this episode online.  Until next time, be good and do good.  See ya soon.  

September in Pahrump and North to Alasksa

Hi, welcome back.  Our last episode concluded on Thursday, August 31^st, at our home in Pahrump.  Friday, the first day of September.  Summer is slowly coming to a close.  The 115 degree plus days of mid-August are gone, with most days in the low 100’s.  Friday was a stay-at-home day.  We had a bunch of Monsoon moisture come up into the high desert and we spent most of the day with on and off again rain.  Sometimes it was very hard rain.  Although we didn’t have any flooding around our park or even our site, there was flooding elsewhere in Pahrump.  In addition, Highway 160, the road over the hump to Las Vegas, closed because of flooding.  For the short-term Pahrump is cut off except to head North in Nevada.  What we call the “back way” out of Pahrump, through Shoshone, California south to Baker and Interstate 15, was closed a couple of weeks ago because of the Hilary flooding and is still closed, as is Death Valley.  I got a call from my son Roy, who is working at Death Valley, that they are being laid off for a while because the park is closed.  He may come and stay at the Escapees Park for a while.  I did have to go out in the rain for a little while for my first tour of security duty, but fortunately it had slowed down a bit during the time I was out.

Saturday, September 2^nd, we had another stay-at-home day.  The forecast called for a possibility of showers, but nothing came of it, and we had a cloudy but dry day.   I did some packing for our cruise next weekend and some chores.  We went to happy hour at 4:00, then had dinner and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.  Sunday, we had coffee and the paper in the morning.  We went to ice cream social at 2:00 and then left to do a quick Walmart run.  After shopping we headed back home, had dinner and then spent the night watching TV.

Monday, September 4^th, Happy Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer!  It was another stay-at-home day.  We had a BBQ and potluck in the clubhouse at 1:00.  We did some petite sirloin steak sandwiches and provided some crab salad for the potluck.  It was pretty well attended, at least a couple dozen or more in attendance.  By 2:30 we were done and went back to the trailer.  We spent the rest of the day doing chores and relaxing.  I am 95% packed and Jackie is getting there.  Tuesday was a stay at home, chores and packing day.  I did take the car to the Quonset hut to air up the tires and check the fluids.  All good, ready for a drive to Long Beach on Saturday.  We did go to happy hour, then came home and I made a pot of chili for dinner.  After dinner we watched TV and then went to bed.

Wednesday, September 6^th, Jackie went to play Pokeno in the clubhouse at 1:00 and Len came over for guitar practice.  After Jackie got home, we went to the hair salon for haircuts.  I just got a trim and clean up, Jackie got a full cut.  After that we headed home, had dinner and then watched TV for the rest of the night.  Thursday, we went out after lunch and went to the nail salon.  I got my toenails trimmed and Jackie got a full mani/pedi.  While she was doing that I went out and ran a couple of last-minute errands, gassed up the car, got some cash, that kind of thing.  We are close to being ready to leave Pahrump on Saturday morning.  After we got home, we went to happy hour, then came home, had dinner and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Friday, September 8^th, our last day before the cruise.  We spent the day just finalizing our packing and getting ready to leave tomorrow for our cruise.  Saturday morning, we were up early, about 6:30, so that we could be on the road by 9:00 or so, heading to Long Beach, California.  We packed our suitcases in the car and were on the road heading west by about 9:30.  The trip was fairly easy, although a bit long.  Being a Saturday morning, the traffic wasn’t too heavy until we got into the heart of Los Angelese, the last 30 miles or so to the hotel in Long Beach.  We got into the hotel about 4:00, which was check in time.  We checked into our room, got the car parked and our luggage in the room.  We then met with the rest of our group, Jim and Linda Sullivan, and Charlene and Joyce.  We had a couple of cocktails in the lobby bar, had some snacks for dinner, then went to our separate rooms.  We got a good night’s sleep.

Sunday, September 10^th, we were in the lobby with our luggage ready to go at 10:00.  We have a package with the hotel that lets us leave our car parked in their lot while we are on the cruise.  Our check in time for getting on the ship was 11:30 and we were in a taxi, also provided by the hotel, by 11:00 headed for the ship.  The taxi dropped us off at the luggage drop off for the ship, we checked our bags and headed for check in with the ship.  It went pretty easy, much more so that it did back in February when we did the Panama Canal cruise.  We were onboard the ship, the Carnival Miricle, by 12:30.  We couldn’t get into our cabin until after 1:30, so we did the lifeboat station check, then got a bite to eat in the buffet.  When we got to the cabin

at 1:30 most of our bags were in the room, so we started unpacking.  There didn’t seem to be as much storage space in this cabin as we had in previous voyages this year, but we made do.  After we got unpacked, we spent a little time checking out some of the ship.  We met the rest of our group at about 6:00 for dinner in the dining room.  While we were eating the ship sailed out of Long Beach harbor and we were on our way North to Alaska.  After dinner we checked out the casino, had a drink or two and at 9:00 went to the welcome aboard show in the theater.  The ship has a great company of entertainers, singers and dancers for the big shows, and they put on a nice show.  After the show we went back to the casino for a bit, had a drink and went to bed about 10:00 because we were beat.

Monday, September 11^th, Patriots Day.  Most everyone on the ship was dressed in patriotic clothing today.  We went to a memorial gathering in the main atrium which included a moment of silence.  A little later in the afternoon there was a Military salute ceremony in the theater which was very moving.  The rest of the afternoon we wandered the ship, checking out games and having some cocktails.  We had dinner with our group at around 6:00, then after dinner attended another show, this time a female singer headliner.  After the show we went to the comedy show then headed off to bed at about 11:00.  The seas were pretty calm and we had a good night’s sleep.  Tuesday was our

second day at sea.  We slept in because we could and there wasn’t anything on the morning schedule we really wanted to do.  We got coffee from room service and just relaxed until lunch time.  At 11:30 we went to a cooking demonstration in the Steak House, which is on the top deck of the ship.  They cooked several really nice dishes and gave everyone the recipes to take home.  After the demonstration we did a few games and went to karaoke at 3:30.  The don’t have a huge song selection, but I got a couple of songs in.  Dinner again at 6:00 with the gang, then another show in the theater, another show by the house dancers and singers.  Tonight was a formal night so we got dressed up and even had some pictures taken.  After the show we went to the comedy club again, which is in a very bizarre looking room called “Mad Hatters Ball” and is decorated like a bad Alice in Wonderland dream.  The comedians are pretty funny though.  After the show we went off to bed.

Wednesday, September 13^th, our third and last day at sea northbound before we start making port calls.  We slept in again, then had a late breakfast in the buffet.  We spent the day just relaxing at various areas of the ship.  We went to karaoke again the afternoon, got to sing a song and listen to some others sing.  We had dinner with the group again around 6:00.  Most of the time it is all six of us for dinner and we have had some pretty good food.  Charlene did get seasick the second day out and missed a couple of dinners.  There was another solo singer in the theater tonight who put on a really good show, singing show songs.  He was an old Broadway show entertainer.  After the show we went to the comedy club again, then off to bed.  Thursday, we made our first port call in Sitka, Alaska.  Unfortunately, the forecast called for rain and Mother Nature didn’t disappoint, it was raining cats and dogs.  We bundled up in our rain gear after breakfast and got off the ship just long enough to visit one of the restaurants on the pier and have lunch, check out some of the shops on the pier, buy a couple of shirts and we were back on the ship.  The actual town of Sitka was a couple miles down the road by bus and we didn’t have any need to go to town in the pouring rain.  We have been to Sitka in the past.  We went back on the ship and just spent the day with various activities.  We had dinner with the group then spent some time in the casino.  I managed to win a couple hundred dollars playing let it ride, which was nice.  Other than that, we had very little luck in the casino on this trip.  Tonight, because of the storm, we had a pretty rough ride, although it didn’t bother either Jackie or I very much.  We still slept pretty well despite the rocking and rolling.  Since we have an aft facing cabin we get a little more motion than some of the other people, but it was OK. 

Friday, September 15^th, we arrived in Juneau, Alaska, the Capital city, in the morning.  The weather had cleared up, although it was a bit chilly.  We got off the ship after breakfast and walked around town for quite a while.  We had lunch at the Red Dog Saloon, the same place we had lunch back in 2007 when we came here on our first Alaska cruise.  I had to buy another tee shirt because I wore my last one out.  After lunch we spent a couple of hours shopping in the downtown area and we even managed to get a geocache on the pier before reboarding the ship.  We had a nice dinner with most of our group, then just relaxed around the ship.  We didn’t sail until about 10:00,

so we didn’t get to go to the casino at all today.  Saturday, we arrived early in the morning in Skagway, Alaska.  This is the one port stop where we actually remember the town well because we actually spent four days here in 2009 when we drove the motor home up with the caravan through Alaska.  It was the heart of the 1890’s gold rush in Alaska and has quite a history.  The whole group had lunch together in one of the brew house restaurants, then we all went to the Elks Lodge for a cocktail.  It was a little rainy, but fairly light, not like it was in Sitka.  We did some shopping and touring and then headed back to the ship.  We had dinner with the group, then spent the evening just relaxing around the ship.  The ship sailed about 7:00 and we had another night of rough weather that put a couple of our groups back on their heels again. There were no theater shows tonight.

Sunday, September 17^th,  we arrived on another cold, rainy morning to a place called Icy Point Strait.  It is a newer, private port of call on the inside passage owned by a tribe of Indians who have put in docking facilities and some shops, as well as what is touted as the longest zip line in the country.  At the turn of the century the area was the site of a salmon cannery owned by the Indians.  Since it was raining again, we didn’t go into the little Indian village of Hoonah, but rather just went ashore, shopped in the old cannery which has been turned into a small shopping mall, then got back on the ship.  The only activity besides food and shopping was the zip line, and it was closed due to the weather.  After we got back on the ship we just

relaxed until we sailed again, about 7:00.  We had dinner with our group, then went to a show in the theater.  It was the usual “Love and Marriage” show that every cruise line does at least once each cruise.  It was pretty entertaining.  We went to the late comedy show, then went to bed.  Monday was the day we were supposed to be cruising the Tracy Arm Fjord, which is where a lot of the cruise ships are going to see glaciers and ice bergs and close in scenery since the National Park Service is limiting the number of ships and passengers going into Glacier Bay National Park, which is where we cruised back in 2007.  However, shortly after entering the fjord, which is narrow and winding, the captain announced that the fog was too thick and we would not be able to cruise the fjord.  One highlight of the cruise was cancelled.  Oh, well, better safe than shipwrecked.  We spent the rest of the day cruising south.  We played some in the casino, went to karaoke, had some drinks and relaxed.  We ended up doing some laundry, which went late, so we had dinner on our own in the dining room.  It was supposed to be a formal night, but we didn’t bother getting all dressed up as we were alone and it was rough seas.  After wandering the ship we went to bed.

Tuesday, September 19^th, we arrived in the morning to the port of Ketchikan, which is the last Alaskan port on the cruise.  The weather was cool and slightly rainy, so we got off the ship and walked around town for a while.  We ate at an out of the way local restaurant called The New York Café, and had some really good food.  Afterwards we shopped for an hour or so before heading back to the ship.  We had dinner with the group at 6:00, then went to a show again in the theater.  We skipped the late-night comedy as we were tired, so we went to bed about 10:00.  Wednesday morning we arrived in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, which is a new substitute Canadian port for the Alaska cruise ships.  By law they have to stop in a Canadian port before returning to the states, and in the past that was Victoria Island.  However, there are now so many ships on the Alaska tours that they have had to find alternative ports.  Prince Rupert was a tiny little town, and we didn’t even get off the ship.  I was starting to feel like I had gotten a cold, and I was coughing and not feeling 100 percent. We sailed early, about 4:00, and just relaxed for a while.  We had dinner in the dining room with our group, then just went back to the room and relaxed.  Both of us were starting to get sick with what seemed like the flu or a cold.  We went to bed early.

Thursday, September 21^st, was the first of the three sea days as we headed South back to Long Beach.  Neither one of us really felt good all day, but we did get dressed and go to dinner with the group.  We made an effort because we had been invited by the dining room Matri de to come to a special Al Fresco dining experience on the Lido Deck, under the night skies.  That part of the pool deck has a retractable cover, so it was quite comfortable.  The six of us had our own table and the food was the best we had on the entire cruise.  We had a really good time.  After dinner we went to a really great 80’s music show put on in the theater.  After the show we went to the cabin and went to bed.  Friday was another day at sea, but we were both really sick.  We didn’t leave the room except for brief periods all day.  Today was supposed to be the last formal night, and we had made reservations in the steak house for a special dinner, but we were too sick and the seas were really rough and we didn’t want to be at the very top of the ship in choppy seas.  We just got room service and stayed in.  Saturday was the last sea day and it was much the same as yesterday.  Jackie did get dressed and go to High Tea with the girls while I did a little gambling, but we both wore down pretty fast.  We did have a last dinner with our group in the dining room, packed our bags after dinner and put them out in the hall, and went to bed.

Sunday, September 24^th, we arrived in Long Beach harbor early and had to be out of our rooms by 8:30.  We were not feeling too well, but we got packed up and out of the room on time.  By 10:00 we were off the ship but ran into a problem catching a cab to get from the port back to the hotel where the car was.  We finally got back to the car and were on the road headed back to Pahrump about 11:30.  We made one stop for gas and lunch and made it back to Pahrump about 5:30 in the evening.  We got the suitcases out of the car and in the living room,,and then went to bed, sick and exhausted.  Monday I was starting to feel a little better, but we decided to go to the urgent care just to check to be sure we didn’t’ have Covid or RSV, which I suspected it might be.  They checked our lungs and said they were clear.  They tested us for RSV, and it was negative.  They didn’t have any Covid tests, but a friend of ours at the park had some spares and we tested when we got home and were negative for Covid too.  Just a bad cold I guess.  We did get some prescriptions for steroids and antibiotics to help us get better.  Tuesday was more of the same, I was able to do some laundry and get some chores done, Jackie was still pretty sick and not able to do much.

Wednesday, September 27^th, I continued to improve, Jackie was still pretty sick.  She was able to get her stuff unpacked and we were pretty much catching up on the chores from the trip.  We have not been going out at all, other than on necessary short errands, and not going to happy hour just to keep from being around other people while we have been sick.  Thursday I was pretty much 100 percent better, Jackie was starting to feel a little better.  At least we are both sleeping OK now, so we are getting our rest.

Friday, September 29^th, we were both making improvement.  I was able to get most of my office work and other pending chores completed today.  We actually went to happy hour at 4:00 for the first time since we got back from the cruise.  After happy hour we had dinner, then relaxed with the TV for the rest of the night.  Saturday, the last day of September.  Jackie had planned on going to a sip and paint gathering in the clubhouse this afternoon at 5:00, so we went out about 1:00 for a late lunch.  We went to El Jefe Mexican restaurant and had a nice meal, our first Mexican food in a couple of weeks.  After lunch we went back to the park, and I did a few chores out in the shed.  As 5:00 approached, Jackie said she was having a bit of a relapse and didn’t feel like going to the painting class.  We ended up spending the rest of the night with the TV and then going to bed.

It is now a month since our last publishing, so it is time to close out this month’s chapter.  Until next time, be kind.