November 17, 2005

November 17, 2005

Pahrump, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 153

 

Today was sunny and hot, temperature about 80° F. in the shade. Last night when I walked Bo at bedtime, it was really chilly, so I wore a warm jacket. Thinking it would still be cool first thing in the morning, when I woke up, and took Bo out, I put on the same jacket. Big mistake ! As soon as the sun rises in the desert, the temperature soars.

While I was showering this morning, Sharon phoned to advise that she had received the mail we have been awaiting from the Good Sam RV Club about our application for a campground host position. We have been referred for a campground host position with New Mexico State Parks. Oh, goody ... I'll phone them tomorrow.

Today was mostly a day for chores and errands. After regular morning routines and chores, I went to the park office to see if any sites were available. When we came in last night, there was a note on the office window that said the park was full. There was a site available for us this morning, but we would have to wait a short time for it. I did today's preventive maintenance, then we took Bo for an obedience training walk. By the time we were done, a site was ready for us. We got the trailer ready for travel, and moved to our assigned site. We got everything opened up, set up, connected, drained the holding tanks, refilled the fresh water, etc.. I did a few small maintenance jobs. I found a small hornet's nest behind the fridge exterior vent door and removed it. I wonder if it's been there since West Hawk Lake ? I installed the Nevada decal on the map on the outside of the trailer that shows where we've been. It's the first decal I've been able to put on since Saskatchewan in May.

I discovered a problem with the reinstallation of the stairs, when the flooring was replaced in the trailer, leading from the living area up into the bathroom area. As a result of trying to rectify that, I broke the quarter round moulding where the first stair meets the riser of the second stair. I need to drill, and reinstall 3 screws into the back of the stairs, from inside a storage compartment, in a space that's almost impossible to get a drill, and my upper body, into. I need to buy a section of quarter round, cut it, file a couple of grooves in it, stain it, and install it. It looks like one of those little jobs that's going to be difficult, and take a lot of time.

We had lunch, then set off into the small city of Pahrump for shopping and errands. As we were leaving Pair-A-Dice, we noticed a rig with Alberta license plates in the boondock area. We recognized it as Gerry and Sally Banks. We stopped and chatted with them for quite awhile. We had met them at the Chapter 44 rally in Mesa, Arizona last March, and bumped into them again in Quartzsite, Arizona. It's an interesting part of this lifestyle that people we've made friends with in one place, we occasionally meet again in different places.

Gee, for such a small city, Pahrump sure does have a lot of casinos. And brothels ! Apparently a lot of the hooker trade is migrating west from Las Vegas to here. First stop was, of course, as always, Wal-Mart. Oh, boy. We're back in the United States. Most of the Wal-Marts are "Super Centres", open 24 hours, and with a full line, huge grocery store within. One stop shopping, literally. The only thing we couldn't buy at Wal-Mart was the quarter round moulding I needed. From Wal-Mart, we went to Ace Hardware. Wouldn't you know it ? Quarter round is available in 3 sizes < sigh >. I didn't bring a sample of the broken moulding with me, and I couldn't tell the correct size just by looking.

We drove back to Pair-A-Dice. We put away today's purchases. I did today's accounting. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday driving across the Mojave Desert. There is Wi-Fi here, so I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail while Joanne prepared supper. My main purpose in going online was to do some research on New Mexico State Parks, but I got sidetracked by e-mail. We had supper, then watched Survivor and The Apprentice. Afterwards, I got back online and did some research on New Mexico State Parks. By the time I finished that, and today's journal entry, it is already after 11:00 P.M., and Teddy is complaining that his bedtime meal is late. Who needs a clock ? I have a cat who meows loudly, demanding to be fed, precisely every 8:00 A.M., 1:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M., and 11:00 P.M. !

I have just returned from walking Bo. Once again, he is spooked by the all the coyotes yipping and howling right outside the fence that rings the RV park.

DSK