April 7 through 18th, Pahrump, NV

April 7, 2013 Sunday
Went to the All U Can Eat pancake and sausage breakfast this morning.  David stayed home as he is NOT a morning person, but I brought his back – after I spent a very nice 90 mins or so socializing with the folks at the clubhouse!
We went to Shoshone today, about 40 miles away and nothing got in our way!  We visited a very nice small museum, featuring a Mammoth Wing which was completed in 1998 to house mammoth remains found nearby.  The cemetery’s first person to be buried there was 4 year old Ralph Modine who died in a tragic fire.  There are about 55 people buried there, many in unmarked graves.  We visited the Flower Building which was built in 1939 by the Tecopa-Shoshone Woman’s Improvement Club.  The flowers on the outside were originally painted by a local artist, Ethel Rook Messer, but over time they faded in the dessert sun and have had to be repainted.  It is a very nice building! 
Of course we ate lunch at the Crowbar Café & Saloon – let me say that lunch was good, but the chips and salsa were OUTSTANDING!  They cut tortillas into 8ths and deep fried them – served HOT with very garlicky salsa…it was excellent!

The trip over and back revealed yet more amazing mountain formations.  You would think that living in the Rockies/Tetons/Yellowstone that we would not get excited about them, but these were very unusual and we did manage to take some pictures!  Also some very strange ‘flowers’ that I don’t think are really flowers but some strange kind of bush!

We got back to the MH about 2 and napped – and were sitting outside enjoying the marvelous weather when Jim and Sharon stopped and asked if we wanted to go to dinner with them – you bet!  Off we went to ‘Irene’s’ where we had an excellent NY strip steak, salad, baked potato, veggie and rolls for $11.99.  The steaks were about 1.5 inches thick and fabulous!  We chattered and ate and chattered some more, and before we realized it was time to go home. 

April 8, 2013 Pahrump
STORM – high winds, snow on Charleston Peak…we stayed home!  Cleaned the front drivers area of the MH – and then the rest.  Still have to clean carpets because I can’t find where I stored the carpet solution – but everything else is spotless! 
Went to social hour and chatted for over an hour – we’ve met several couples that are going to Escapades in Gillette…exchanged emails with the ‘row’ reps from Pair O Dice, and met a couple from Casper WY that are going…I’ll try to get their names later in the week!
April 9, 2013 Beatty, NV, Rhyolite Ghost Town and more

We got started pretty late this morning, but left Pahrump about 11, heading for Beatty and the Death Valley Nut and Candy Company!  We arrived and had lunch at the Sourdough Saloon where we had a very good meat lover’s pizza!  Crunchy crust, yummy toppings!  We drove around the town a bit, then headed out toward Rhyolite ruins.  You can read all about it at www.rhyolitesite.com We then visited the Goldwell Open Air Museum – very very eerie – you can read about this place at

www.goldwellmuseum.org.  We drove back to Pahrump and got here in time for social hour. 
Tonight for dinner was more clean out fridge – plus fresh veggies!

April 10th through 19th Pahrump NV
Much of this time was spent dodging the WIND – whew!  We did have some extremely nice days weather wise, and we went to Vegas twice.  First we went to Santa Fe Station Casino and met Monica Olivas and her boys for lunch. 
We went to China Date Ranch one day, very interesting and the date shakes were to die for!  I never dreamed of a date shake, but it sure was delicious!  We had lunch there first in a funky little yard – I had a tuna melt Panini and David had a cheeseburger.  It was good but spendy - $10 for sandwich and small bag of chips!  We had lunch with a wonderful couple who had spend 13 years in Saudi -  Arabia – she as a dental Hygienist and he as a civil engineer!  Fascinating couple!  They now live in a retirement community in Las Vegas!

Some pics

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The second time we went to Vegas we went to Bellagio and enjoyed the atrium – here are some pics that do NOT do it justice!

April 4 to 6, Pahrump, NV

April 4, 2013 Kingman AZ to Pahrump NV

We were on the road by 9 am and after filling up with gas at a Flying J (RANT – why do they make an RV Lane for RV’s that is so tight in the turn that if a car is parked there you can’t make it??? – and WHY do they have an RV gas pump that stops every $75??? Really???) we started our 150 mile trip.  It was pretty uneventful and we pulled into the Pair O Dice Escapees park a bit before noon.  

Immediately we were greeted by our friends, Larry & Claudia King, who had just moved to boondock because they were going to visit their kids in CA.  We got registered and we’re only 4 sites down from Jim and Sharon Guthrie, friend who used to be at Lone Star Corral! 

We were immediately invited to a BOOMERANG – first one of those for us, but it was fun and it looks like something we will be joining J  It is a BOF Escapee group that just gets together basically to eat and drink…both things we enjoy!  It was at 3 o’clock, we took a fruit tray and there was quite a bit of food, and lots of laughter!  Pictures were taken but not by us :(  At 4 we all went to the clubhouse for ‘Happy Hour’, and they have a cantina set up and sell wine for .75 per glass and beer for I think $1…that was nice – don’t have to cart my wine with me…hahaha!

After social hour we came home had a bowl of soup for dinner and just vegged out! 

April 5 – Friday

We went into Pahrump and drove around the town, looking at several RV parks.  We’re looking for someplace to put the MH for a month while we go into CA and go on our cruise.  We settled on the Moose Club who have water and electric hookups, and they have security so that is ok – the price is right, they ask for a donation :)

We also checked out Animal House, a new boarding/grooming business here.  Filled out all the paperwork and Cinder will be staying there while we are away.  It is very clean and the people are nice, I was comfortable leaving her there.

We came back to the park and went to a burger/dog feed.  Again, everyone was asked to bring a dish to share, and I made a bowl of macaroni salad.  It was $2 per person for burgers/dogs, and tons of other food to eat.  There was Karaoke, line dancing, door prizes, etc…lots of fun!

April 6, 2013 Saturday Pahrump

This morning we had nothing going on, I went and did laundry so that is done for a while, then we got ready to go visit Shoshone, CA to see what was there.  Got in the car and it would not start!!!  So, David thought it was flooded, so we waited a half hour and still wouldn’t start.  Well, by then it is 11 on a Saturday morning…Good Sam ERS to the rescue.  They sent a tow truck and hauled it into the Chevy dealer – our friend Jim drove us in about 15 mins later.  When we went in the guy just started laughing, cause he got in and it started right up!!!  Can you believe it?  They ran it through the diagnostics and everything checked out – he thinks that perhaps it is the starter, but they started it multiple times and it performed like a champ…sheesh!  So, after paying for the diagnostics (ouch) we left and visited the Pahrump Winery, where I tasted 7 different wines for FREE and bought 2 bottles :)  We came back to the MH and just checked out for a couple hours…and then…

We went to a potato bake!  It was $2 per person, everyone brought toppings and a dish to share and it was marvelous! The potatoes were huge, the toppings were plenty - bacon, butter, sour cream, ranch dressing, several cheeses, taco meat, chili, and nothing ran out - and the dishes to share were great - lots of salads, veggies and cakes! On my potato was butter, cheese, bacon, ranch...and a huge spinach mandarin orange salad...yummy!

After the food there was music, line dancing, regular dancing, winners of Silent Auction announced, winners of raffles announced, a ‘leg and boots’ contest was held and it was hysterical – there was smoothest leg, hairiest leg, most crippled leg (two knee replacements), blue boots, skinniest legs, red boots, longest legs, smallest feet…and I can’t remember the rest.  They formed a conga line and danced between the tables and we just cracked up…the ladies were flirting with their skirts and the guy that got smoothest leg had on hose!  What a hoot!

We are now back at the MH, happily tired!  What a great life this is :)

April 1 and 2 ABQ to Holbrook AZ

April 1, 2013 April Fools Day

Last night at about 11:15 there was a pounding on our door – Cinder immediately started her deep barking and growling – David opened the door (NEVER AGAIN) and there was a guy asking for $30…Cinder by this time was foaming at the mouth, David was holding her back and the dude was backing up!  Needless to say, I was pretty uncomfortable the rest of the night.  I so love my Cinder!

This morning I took the car to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed and they determined my serpentine belt had cracks in it – so replaced that – got out of there just under $120 so I guess that’s better than having it break and smash the engine :(

I picked David up and we went and got him a suit that fits for the cruise.  I’m not overjoyed with it, but it works…we then found the other Moose Club here in ABQ, but I remembered there was a PA park on the west end of town…we drove out to Enchanted Trails RV Park, liked what we saw and got a site.  We then drove to Sandia Casino where we had a marvelous lunch and didn’t put any money in the slots at all…not one little nickel! 

We then went back to the MH, hooked up and headed out of ABQ on I-40, and were set up here in the park by 3:30.  We are running the AC and had cereal for dinner.

April 2, 2013 Holbrook AZ

We got up and hit the road by 8:30 this morning.  Drove about 100 miles and stopped for gas and breakfast – fried egg sandwich for David, Scrambled egg sandwich for me :)  When we crossed into AZ we stopped at the visitor center, and since we had ‘lost’ an hour talked about driving on to Winslow instead of stopping at Holbrook.  However, shortly after noon the wind started howling, and several gusts about took us off the road, so we decided we would stop which is what we did.  This is the Root 66 RV Park and they are a Passport America, so full hook-ups for $16.50 per night.  Can’t kick at that!

They have petrified wood here for sale for $2 a pound – some of these chunks would easily go 1000 pounds!  I saw a piece I’d love to have on my site at LSC, but don’t want to carry the weight!  We are only about 15 miles from the National Petrified Wood Park – but we did that our last trip through here so no need to go again – besides, I don’t want to un-hook the car.  What, me lazy??? Nah, just good sense :)

I have double cheese quesadilla hamburger helper cooking and I made a salad – it will be soup for dinner I think!

Denver, Albuquerque March 29 through 31st

Day 4, March 29, 2013 Denver
We got up and were on the road at 8 am for the 445 mile trip to Denver.  We stopped at Charlie’s Bakery and Café in Las Vegas, NM and had a simply marvelous breakfast!  David had a chorizo/egg/green chili skillet and I had a ‘Stuffy’ which is a sopapilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, chorizo, onions and papitas on the side – I got my green chili on the side too ‘cause it is SO spicy!  Here are a couple pics of our breakfast

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We got to Denver and checked into our hotel about 4 pm.  David had talked to our friends Jim and Joan Meyers and said we’d have dinner with them – well needless to say after driving 8 hours I was NOT going back out into that traffic!  We called and asked them for a rain check for the next day.  Then we placed a call to Kathy & Ron Bernard whom we knew were only about 5 miles away, and she suggested we meet for dinner at Chili’s – about a mile from us.  That is what we did!

It was so wonderful to see them both, although Ron is looking pretty haggard right now, having had surgery about 3 weeks ago and is not recovering as fast as he would like.  If you have time for a prayer, please say one for our friend Ron, and his wife Kathy.  We followed them back to their campground and chatted for about 2 hours, then Ron was noticeably tired and so were we!  Off to the hotel we went, with a stop at Target to replace things I forgot to pack…hairbrush, David’s toothbrush, underwear, I do NOT know where my head was when I was packing, but it sure wasn’t where it should be!!!  Sheesh!

Saturday morning we got up around 8 – I went to the ‘free’ Brightside breakfast ate and brought David back oatmeal and yogurt.  We putzed around and then we stopped at Best Buy on our way over to Ron & Kathy’s…got there a little after 11 and chattered until time for lunch.  Ron thought he could eat something from Noodles & Co so that is where we went – I had the Japanese Udon noodles w/chicken – wow, very tasty, David had stroganoff that he was not real thrilled with.  We chattered and ate and chattered some more, then we went back to their home again.  After several more hours of chattering we said goodbye to these wonderful friends, whom we hope to see at National in Sturgis in June!

We then headed over to 104th Ave to a place called Cinzetti’s…which is a simply marvelous Italian buffet, with literally everything Italian, from salad to desserts – simply to die for!  We met Jim and Joan there and we chattered for more than 2 hours as we slowly made our way through far too much food!  The food and the company was exceptional! 
We got back to the hotel about 7:30, walked Cinder and crashed.

Sunday, March 31, 2013
Happy Easter!  We were on the road by 7:40 am, having had a bite of breakfast.  We got out of Denver in great time and stopped at McDonald’s in Las Vegas (Bakery Café was closed), then on down the road I picked up my Ice Tea – the lid popped off, David said “I got it” I let go and he dropped it – OMG we had sweet tea and ice cubes everywhere!  He was grabbing ice cubes and pitching them out the window, we used every bit of napkins that we had, and still not enough. 

We arrived here in ABQ about 3 pm – and I have gotten stuff unpacked, but now I have to go clean out the car…sticky sticky sticky!

We got ready and went to the Route 66 Diner here in ABQ and got our Buttermilk pie fix - we're now home and ready to crash for the night!

Day 2 & 3 Lakewood, NM and Albuquerque, NM

Day 2

Fort Stockton, TX to Lakewood, NM

We arrived at 'The Ranch' a wonderful Escapees park about 11 am, because we left at 8 am before the wind kicked up too bad! 

We had stopped at some little pull out in the road and I made breakfast - eggs, bacon, toast, juice - I love cooking along the road :)

We had a great social hour with those nice folks, and cheese, summer sausage and crackers for dinner! 

Day 3
We made it from ‘The Ranch’ in Lakewood, NM to Albuquerque, NM about 2:30 today.  We checked in at the Moose Club on Skyline Drive with 20 amp service, and the price is right “Free”!  We chatted with the good folks there for a bit, then we took off to Octopussy Car Wash, where they completely cleaned our very dirty buggy!  It really needed a good cleaning, especially an underbody wash since we were in the salt in VA & PA and we wanted to get that done! 
Loved driving around ABQ a bit – we’ve spent quite a bit of time in this city since the kids were stationed here, so we drove around and checked out some of our favs…
We stopped at a Smith’s grocery store and I found a great bargain on fresh strawberries, so I got enough produce for some wonderful salads for dinner – I had some leftover steak that I used, as well as some peas, cukes, tomatoes, red onions and raspberry balsamic vinaigrette to top it off.  YUM!
Took Cinder for a nice walk and we’re now buttoned up for the night!  Oh yeah, I packed our bag for our trip to Denver tomorrow too! 

March 26, 2013 - Day 1

Left LSC after telling everyone goodbye, got on the road at 9…had a very uneventful travel day! 

We stopped not too long after we got on I-10 and had a bowl of cereal, then went until time to use the facilities – we stopped and got a tank of gas (just shy of $200), then we stopped again for a quick walk break and had some string cheese and peanut butter crackers!  We arrived at Fort Stockton about 4 pm, and I got an early dinner ready – we had tuna noodle casserole and stir fry veggies – I have LOTS of veggies that would not fit in the freezer, so we will be eating veggies the next couple days!

Our plans are to spend tomorrow night at The Ranch in Lakewood, NM, then head to ABQ, arriving there Thursday night.  We will get up Fri morning and drive to Denver to visit with Ron and Kathy Bernard, dear friends of ours.  Ron is battling cancer right now and could sure use your prayers folks.  We will stay in Denver Fri and Sat nights, then Sunday it will be back to ABQ to start our sojourn to CA on either Monday or Tuesday.  We do love ABQ, having spent some time there when the kids were there, and we might need a day to just ‘catch up’.  I’ll let ya know!

March 24, 2013–Time to get out of D’Hanis

 

Well here it is the end of March already, and we have had a great winter season here at LSC in D’Hanis, TX.  We’ve done much but mostly the same things as last year.  One notable exception, we went to Washington DC to attend our daughter, Dawn’s Retirement after 21 years in the military.  We also helped them move into a new house, and visited with many friends – some old and some new!  It was marvelous getting re-acquainted with the Ashworths, the Lepleys, Yolanda and many more friends that we have met through the years with Dawn & Daryl.  Of course we spent some wonderful quality time with the grandkids too! 

Here are some pictures that don’t do justice to the entire event!

		Dawn’s Retirement VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

		More Retirement VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After the retirement ceremony they chartered a night time trolley tour of the Washington memorials and monuments – wow, what a difference from daylight!  Our trolley driver was ZUMA and he was a hoot.  Here are some pictures of that!

		Trolley tour VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL