We left just before 8:00 in the morning, and had a wet but otherwise uneventful 6 1/2 hour, 337 mile trip to Pahrump, Nevada. The rain was never more than a drizzle, but it made our start kind of messy. (We tracked wet sand all over the rig just before we left.)
This was probably the farthest in distance and the longest in time move we have ever made, having chosen to be on an Interstate all the way to Las Vegas to avoid being in the boonies for many miles on such a bleak day, but it was not difficult. Our only fuel stop was in Primm, Nevada, at Whiskey Pete's. It's right on the California/Nevada border. It was interesting to see how much traffic there was on I-15 leaving Nevada (at the border, three lanes became two) bumper to bumper, stop and go, until it finally spread out several miles into California.
We arrived at our RV park---the Preferred RV Resort, at which we are members and at which we plan to stay for the entire month---at 2:30 and slid right into a nice spot very near where we stayed last year.
Setting up in the rain was easy but cold (43 degrees) and damp, and we quickly decided that Chili would be a great thing to have for dinner. Fortunately, we had the fixings in house and Becky whipped it up in time for an early dinner.
Ramsey and Kelsey are familiar with this place and enjoyed exploring it for all the wonderful new smells that exist here. It was altogether a nice way to start our Pahrump adventure.
Monday, we had an almost free lunch at the China Wok buffet. Technically, it was free because we were willing to sit through a pitch for a medevac service that caters to oldsters. Actually, it was not free because we signed up for the service. But the food was good.
I finally started reading a book on Monday. I've been out of practice lately. This one ("The Quickie") is a James Patterson thriller I got from Bev Newhouse. We'll see how long it takes me to finish it.
Our Monday night redbox movie was Whiplash, the film for which J. K .Simmons just won a best supporting actor Oscar. It's a terrific movie, with great music, and Simmons did a masterful job---as really a lead actor, not a supporting actor. If he had not previously appeared primarily on TV, he probably would have been a best actor nominee, in which case he probably would not have won.
We woke on Tuesday to a 37 degree temperature. I had not expected it to be so cold, but we have the right clothes anyway. I think we'll survive the last three weeks of winter. The snow-capped mountains between Pahrump and Las Vegas were gorgeous!
I was assigned shopping duty for a change, and I mastered Wal-Mart and Albertson's after a while. At one point on the way to Pahrump, we received a dashboard warning that our coolant level was low. On Tuesday, I bought some coolant to add and when I opened the hood I discovered that the radiator cap was missing. The most obvious possible reason was that the last time I had the truck Jiffy-Lubed the mechanic forgot to put the cap back on after checking the fluid level. I bought a new one at the nearby O'Reilly Auto Parts and the problem was solved.
We had a brief heavy wind and light rain experience in the afternoon, which caused me to hop in the truck and rescue Becky and the dogs who were out on a walk when it came up.
The Tuesday redbox movie was Foxcatcher. It was eerie and not as good as I had expected. But Steve Carell did an excellent job as the creepy John DuPont.
Wednesday was back to normal---a few chores and a little dog walking. And some reading. We are planning a run with a U-Haul trailer to Pasadena (and then on to Williams) in a couple of weeks to pick up some stuff from Bill's house and to empty our rig of extraneous things.
We went to the local U-Haul franchisee to discuss things and Becky had a who-do-you-know session with the owner, who had spent a lot of time in the San Gabriel Valley area.
The Wednesday redbox movie was St. Vincent with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. It was a very sweet film. Murray is a better actor than most people give him credit for.
I had a busy Thursday, dropping Becky off at a pickleball venue,
making the reservation for a U-Haul trailer, having one of our propane tanks refilled, having blood drawn at a nearly-impossible-to-find Labcorp facility, stopping at a Humana office to ask a question about my Part D insurance, picking Becky up, visiting an RV show at a local casino parking lot, fixing the wheel assembly that had ripped out of our bed, walking Ramsey and Kelsey a few times, and watching the Thursday night redbox movie, The Drop, with James Gandolfini (which was pretty good).
Friday was a lot simpler: Mostly reading and dog-walking while Becky played pickleball. The Friday night redbox movie was The Judge. Not bad, well-produced, good courtroom stuff.
Saturday morning, while Becky played pickleball, I finished The Quickie. Typical James Patterson; very complicated. We had sushi for lunch at Ohjah Japanese Steak House. It was delicious. The Saturday redbox movie was Calvary, a fascinating Irish film.
Thus ended our first week in Pahrump.
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