How suite it is....

Sunday morning Oct 5th, we are scheduled to attend a timeshare presentation for the Pahrump Winery and RV Resort, a part of the Western Horizon RV resorts. We were scheduled for 9 a.m. but I am not usually awake that time of the morning, so we got there at 9:30 a.m.

It was a hysterical event. I always answer honestly every question asked, but because our lifestyle is not very average these high pressure presentations designed for the average fulltime employee just make no sense for us.

Here are a few of the questions and answers at our timeshare presentation.

So you are interested in learning more about becoming a member of our resorts? No, actually we here for the free promotional things you offered.

On an average how much do you spend annually on your vacations in a year? Not counting groceries and gas about $500

What kind of RV resorts or hotels do you usually stay in when you travel? We usually stay in Wal-mart or Casino Parking lots. Sometimes, we get free suites because of my poker playing, but Caren would rather stay in the RV, then a hotel room.

Then when he heard we had stayed at Slab City, he realized we were not going to buy his $12,000 camping membership.

We got our free gifts and headed for Vegas to meet two of Caren’s sister and their husbands.

What were our free gifts? Beside the 5 day, 4 night stay at the resort we received a $25 gift certificate and a case of wine from their private stock at Pahrump Winery. Life is good.

We met up with Lindy and Ed, and three of their girls, at the Gold Coast Casino. We ate at the dinner buffet together and then Patti and Tracy joined us for a little fun at the slot machines.

Sure enough I had a reservation for a free room at the Rio Suites, (regular rate $300) and we ended up walking up to the desk and canceling it so we could sleep in the RV in the parking lot, because Caren preferred her own bed and the RV more then one of the nicest suites in Vegas.

Shotgun Wedding in Vegas

Ok, to be honest there was no shotgun. My nephew Brandon loved Richelle, very much, and would have married her with or without gunplay involved. Now, Richelle does work for the F.B.I. in Vegas, so I can assure you that some of the guests were “packing”. But, we all made it through the wedding, and the reception, with no one getting shot or even getting arrested. And knowing my in-laws there were probably odds listed in Vegas of either event occurring before the event was through. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

Caren and I got up Saturday morning in beautiful downtown Pahrump and left for Vegas. Of course, not without an emergency stop at the Super Wal-Mart, to buy the hair dryer that was left back at the house in San Diego.

With dry and curly hair we, (I mean Caren has the hair) proceeded through the beautiful Red Rock Canyon area, on to Northwest Las Vegas, where the wedding was scheduled outdoors at a country club. Richelle’s family lives in Vegas, so they were there.

Brandon had us from San Diego and Cousin’s, Uncles, and Aunts from Oregon as well as his dad from Santa Monica and brother from Vegas

I was disappointed that the wedding official wasn’t an Elvis impersonator, but it turns out, he was a minister who was also a stand-up comedian, so the show went on. The guests laughed and the couple got hitched in a beautiful setting.

Then there was a reception for all, at the bride’s family home nearby. They are Armenian, so it was the closest thing to the movie “my big fat greek wedding”, I have ever been too. Actually, the family is great, we loved them, they are lovely people. And the food was wonderful, plenteous, and awesome.

I asked permission for Coco to attend with us, and the father of the bride said “of course, and that he didn’t trust anyone without a dog”. So Coco came and enjoyed the reception with us.

After a few hours, we were the last ones hanging around, and it looked like the hosts wanted people to go home now. But, hey, we’re family now! So, I didn’t think that applied to us. But, Caren assured me it did, so we hit the road back to Pahrump for our final night at the Pahrump Winery and RV resort.

The next log will be about our hysterical timeshare presentation at Pahrump Winery and RV Resort.

Another 6 months another Trip......

Well six months have passed since my last post. I may comment on that "gap" later, but these next few posts will be for our friends that like to follow us on our trips.

October 1st, 2008
Wednesday, October 1st was the final day for Caren’s employment at Paradise Valley Hospital’s Behavioral Health program in Chula Vista. She went out to “happy hour“ with some co-worker’s after work, and then came home and cried. She had been there 6 years and knew she was ready to go, and try a new adventure, but leaving all her friends was still very hard.

We spent some time in the evening with our good friends Gary and Jane Goodell and then hugged each other and said something like w.t.f. are we doing… lol

Thursday at home was spent loading the RV for our three week vacation. We put much thought into the plan of what to take and what to leave. We would have hot desert weather and then cold Northern California mountain weather. And when we returned from Sacramento it would be by Plane, leaving our RV in Sacramento.

We left about 2:30 from San Diego, North on Interstate 15, and I suspected we would hit really bad traffic up around L.A. but somehow we hit a “miracle window” in the commute traffic and never had heavy traffic.

The nice thing about RV traveling with no schedule is wherever you are, there you are.

I had four areas of traffic I was concerned about and planned potential shopping mall time for Caren and serious RV nap time for me. Temecula came and went with no slow down. Corona was a breeze. The approach to I10 and highland was not a problem. No traffic appeared in the Victorville area. So, no mall, no nap for me. (grin)

By this time Caren was napping in the back and I was ready to fill up the gas tank near Barstow before we hit the desert. So we stopped, took a dinner break, filled up with gas, and turned on the TV, just in time to watch the VP debates.

After the debates we turned east across the desert to Baker, and then a left turn took us through Death Valley after sunset.

Another turn east to cross over some very dry mountains to Pahrump, where I had a 5 day certificate for a free RV stay at the Pahrump Winery and RV Resort.

Friday was a stress-detox day for Caren while I put in some serious hot tub and pool time for the day, with periodic walks in the desert with CoCo. Keeping our eyes open for rattlesnakes.

That evening was TV in the RV, and pasta and salad for dinner, under the dark skies and many stars above Pahrump, Nevada.

Tomorrow, on to Vegas to the Wedding of our nephew Brandon.