Friday, March 16, 2018

Pahrump in March

We've been in Pahrump since February 21st, and have been going back and forth seeing friends.  It's been great to be here catching up with everyone.

We took a trip over to Death Valley - boy has Furnace Creek changed!  The campground now has full hookups, and they've torn down the old General Store and restaurant - and they're building a huge new resort.  It's lost its charm. 

We drove over to Las Vegas to see Angie and Vic  (they were here for vacation), Connie and Dick, Joan and Chuck, Claudia and Chuck (we golfed with them!), and Sally and Lyle (who were also here on vacation!).   Tonight we're going to see Jack and Jo and Gloria and Mel.  Such fun seeing everyone!

We head back to Hart Ranch next Wednesday.  They had 4" of snow today, so I sure hope the weather gets better before we get up there!!!

Picnic in Death Valley

Golfing at Dragon Ridge with Claudia and Chuck

Golfing at Dragon Ridge

Display at the Bellagio Atrium

Out to dinner with the newlyweds!

Fun on Fremont Street!

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Arizona and Nevada - Spring 2018

Well, we've landed in Pahrump, and have had quite the trip so far!

We left Georgia on January 27th, and got out of Neil and Pam's driveway just fine.  We had an uneventful trip to Montgomery, until we took the exit for our RV park.  As we stopped for the light, a fellow drove up next to us and asked if we had lost a tire.  Nope, not us, we said.  When we pulled into the RV park, indeed, we had lost A WHEEL!!!!.  The wheel came off - Mike hadn't tightened the lug nuts after checking the brakes in Georgia.  Thank God it didn't hit anyone when it came off.

Thankfully, a very nice man at the RV park offered to go back and find it for us - and he did in a ditch right at the exit.  Thank God!  That was one of our brand new tires!  The wheel was ruined - the holes for the lug nuts had "wallered" out.  And since it was Saturday, we'd have to wait until Monday to figure out how to get it fixed!

On Monday, we found a new wheel (and new lug nuts, and a new hub), got the new tire put on the new wheel, and on Tuesday we were on our way!   Thank God Mike is handy and could fix this himself.  It would have cost a fortune to have someone else do this!!


This is how the missing wheel and damage looked when we arrived at the RV park


Mike installing the new wheel
We made it to Biloxi on Tuesday - no problems other than worrying about the wheel the whole trip, and Mike tightening lug nuts every time we stopped!!  On Wednesday, our trip to Sulphur, LA was interrupted with a 4 hour delay on I-10 as they cleared a wreck on a bridge just over the Louisiana border. Yikes!   The rest of the trip was uneventful; even Ft. Stockton, TX was warm, and we landed in Casa Grande.  Warm and sunny - YEAH! 

Getting parked in the site in Casa Grande was quite butt-puckering.  They put us in an old section of the park with narrow streets, and we forgot that we have the sliding hitch.  Several of our neighbors moved their trucks so we could get parked; thank goodness they were home!  We did remember the sliding hitch when we left and it was no problem!

We stayed a week in Avi - we love that area.  It's so nice to see the Mojave mountains again. I had forgotten how much I love the Mojave desert!   We took a trip to Oatman on a very windy and cold day - just to get out.  Mike golfed at the golf course a couple of times - it was a nice stay.

The burros in Oatman beg for food from the tourists

The babies have stickers on their foreheads so the tourists won't feed them; they choke too easily

Now we've landed in Pahrump.  It was a very cold ride for Mike yesterday (we only loaded the Spyder) - it got down to 30 as we went over the hump from Las Vegas.  We couldn't get in at the Winery RV park, but we're at the Pahrump Station where we used to stay with Chuck and Claudia, and Chuck and Joan when we would all come over for a getaway.  We can't believe how full they are!!   We're here for a month - and have a great site with a view of Mt. Charleston when the red-neck patio is open.

Cheers!  So glad to have landed for a month!!