May 10th to 12th - Pahrump NV

May 10th - Sun - to Pahrump NV
Turns out that Terry & the swap meet vendor were not communicating too well so the TV mounts were not what we wanted. The detour to meet him added about 30 miles to our trip today and sent us over the Hoover Dam which is a pretty way to go and the security check takes only a few minutes.
We are staying at Terrible’s Lakeside which is a very nice park with the sites around a little man-made lake. Lots of grass & trees.
I made a late lunch after we set up and then we went driving and hit a couple of casinos where I came out a few dollars ahead and Terry didn’t lose anything - what a change!! Back to the park where we went for a bike ride, a swim and took a peddle/paddle boat for a lap around the lake. The peddles are too close to the seat so it is not comfortable to go too far or too fast. Got out the BBQ for dinner. It was warm today but the neighbor’s rig and a tree provided late afternoon shade so it was lovely.

May 11th - Mon - Pahrump
To WalMart for a few groceries and Terry checked out the TVs again. Yet another casino and Terry hit a little lucky streak this time. He ended up with enough points on his card to get “2 for 1 buffet” for a late lunch. Back to the park for a cooling swim followed by a relaxing drink. Then walked to the on-site casino for a bit. You’d think we would be tired of casinos by now! True gamblers I guess.
Since we had a late lunch, I also made us a late dinner.

May 12th - Tues - Pahrump
Sightseeing in Death Valley today. We ate breakfast, headed out shortly after 8, filled up with diesel and over-rode Wanda’s instructions for miles. She wanted us to go many miles out of the way. We stopped for a short walk to the Zabriskie viewpoint where there is different scenery every way you look. At the park Headquarters & Visitor Center in Furnace Creek (-109 ft below sea level), we watched a short, narrated slide show and went through an interesting museum of the park history. We choose to go north to Scotty’s Castle rather than south to Badwater so we missed the lowest point (-282 ft) in North America. It is quite a long drive to Scotty’s castle - 58 miles from Furnace Creek. We arrived just in time for the noon 50 minute tour of the castle which was well worth the time & money. Very briefly - Scotty’s Castle was a vacation home owned by a wealthy man from Ohio named Al Johnson . William Scott was a con artist who ended up being a good friend of Al’s after conning him into investing in a non-existent gold mine. Al built his home over a long period of time, allowed Scotty (for various reasons) to call it “his” castle and supported Scotty with a lot of money over the years.
We did not find a place where we wanted to stop for lunch on the way back (came back on Hwy 95 rather than back through the park) so had a small snack with a cool drink when we returned. Then we walked to the casino to have the $9.99 baby back rib special. You get a whole, LARGE rack of ribs so we have plenty for dinner tomorrow night. If we had seen a plate before we ordered we would have split the dinner.
We were enjoying the perfect “sitting out” weather when a new neighbor walked by. He (Bob) joined us, then a couple (Jim & Sharon) from the other side of us came over (we had spoken with Jim earlier) and then Bob’s wife (Loretta) came out. Jim & Sharon are really new (1 week!!) full timers. Non-stop talking & a buddy burner made for a great evening.