May 30, 2014 Verdi, NV

Last night it was cool again.  Perfect for sleeping  I got up at 7:30 and fixed the coffee and caught up on computer stuff.  Gerri took advantage of the good sleeping weather and slept in until nearly 10.

I got out the ladder and cleaning supplies and cleaned the bugs off the windshield and front of the coach.  I didn't bother with the rest of the coach which now has a film of dust.  I did get out the duster and knocked the dust of the Jeep.  To me one of the great mysteries of life is why dust settles on cars but doesn't blow off again when you drive down the highway at 60 mph.  I would guess if that was the only mystery of life I didn't understand then I would rule the world.

We drove into south Reno later in the morning and went to a Verizon store.  Our MiFi unit hasn't been working as well as we think it should.  In the RV Park the service comes and goes.  Last year that wasn't the case.  The unit we have is 3g and 5 years old.  We have not traded up to the 4g because it would mean giving up the unlimited data service that we have enjoyed.  I had also been talking to our neighbors and they use their smart phone as a hotspot.  One of my questions to Verizon was does Gerri's phone have that capability and if so how do we use it.  The tech at Verizon showed us how to activate the 4g hotspot feature and our usage which had been only a fraction of the 4g data limit of 2 megs available on our current plan.  Regarding the MiFi, he told us that the 4g network is now larger than the 3g network and is being phased out.  Although he didn't say it directly I got the impression that Verizon is taking steps to force all the unlimited accounts into other more costly plans.  He also gave us some information on how to apply upgrades to the old MiFi unit that might improve the performance. Later back at the coach I tried what he said and it didn't work.  We may go back with the unit and have the tech try.

On the way back to the coach in Verdi we stopped at Cabela's and looked around.  We ended up only buying a t-shirt for me.  They had some new style shirts with Reno on them.  Recently most of the stores only sell shirts with Cabela's and not the city.

Back at the coach we tried the 4g instructions with Gerri's phone and internet reception was greatly improved.  The problem is we have to watch the usage or we may go over the limit and incur additional charges.  Like I said the advice on updating the MiFi didn't work.  While at the Verizon store I also asked about upgrading my phone to an iPhone.  It would cost very little and I would share the data time with Gerri or we could buy another plan with more time.  Considering the improvement using 4g over 3g we may just bite the bullet and give up the unlimited data and go with the new 4g Jetpack.  We would have to track usage while traveling and just bear the additional costs if we go over our limit.  We both enjoy having the internet and it would just become part of our travel expenses.  We could try cutting down in other areas.  In case you didn't get it that last statement was a joke.  I don't believe we have ever cut back on any spending.

In the evening we went to Kathleen's.  Today was her birthday and there were other people over for a birthday celebration.  We had grilled tri-tip, corn on the cob, macaroni salad, smashed potatoes, baked beans, watermelon and 2 kinds of cake.  One was carrot and the other one german chocolate.  Of course the high point of the evening was the expressions of love and appreciation from family and friends.

Birthday girl Kathleen

We returned to the coach by 9:30 and were in bed by 11.  Another good day.

Thursday May 29, 2014 Verdi, NV

It got cool enough in the early morning that covers were needed.  Great sleeping weather.  It was 60 in the bedroom when I got up.  It wasn't cold enough to turn on a heater.

I fixed the coffee and while we were drinking that we caught up on computer time and talked about Gerri's visit with Kathleen and the girls last night.

I don't know if I have written about it before, but we have several friends here in the Reno area.  One of those friends, Don Damitz, was active in the community when I was the Downtown Area Captain.  Don lived in the Meadows Village area behind the Stratosphere Tower.  Also known as the Naked City. The area was overrun with prostitution, drugs and gang activity.  Don was a great help in our police planning and activities.  We became fast friends.  Don was confined to a wheelchair, he had lost a leg and wasn't a candidate for a prosthesis. His only family is a nephew and his wife who live in Susanville, CA.  When we returned from our cruise at the end of April I was unable to get him on the phone.  I finally called the manager of the apartment complex where he lived.  I was told that Don was at St. Mary's Medical Center and had been for over a month.  After several calls to St. Mary's they finally located him in the long term care unit. They tried connecting my call but there was no answer. Yesterday I had called St. Mary's to make sure he was still there.  I asked if I could be connected to his room and was told that it was difficult for Don to communicate.  We went to the hospital.  As it turns out Don had originally been being treated for an ulcerated pressure sore and had a stroke this past Sunday. Don has an advanced medical directive, Do Not Resuscitate, so the hospital isn't doing any heroic type treatment.  Don seemed to recognize us but was only able to squeeze my hand and make a few noises.  Since we are leaving the area next week I left our contact information with with the charge nurse and she left a message to have Don's cousin, Gary Tofoya, asking him to call me.  Gary drives a truck for a water company and his run is from Susanville to Reno several times a week.

After our visit with Don we had lunch at the Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant.  This is where we were having lunch in March when I passed out and ended up in St. Mary's having a pacemaker implanted. You know that if a horse throws you, you have to cowboy up and ride him again.  We were able to finish our meal without incident.  We probably won't be back, the food wasn't all that good.

After returning to the coach I went out geocaching.  Leaving Gerri to her computer and a possible nap. I found two, didn't find one and passed on hunting one.  The area I was caching in isn't far from the RV Park but it is across the Interstate and on the opposite side of the Truckee River, so it is a drive of several miles.  The one cache I didn't find was on an island formed by the Truckee River on one side and a large irrigation canal on the other.  There was a footbridge across the irrigation canal and ground zero for the cache was at a gate control.  Like I said I didn't find it.  What I didn't know was that the next closest cache was on the island about a quarter mile upstream.  I found that out after walking another quarter mile in the opposite direction to get back to the Jeep.

Along the banks of the Truckee River were several large expensively landscaped homes.  They were built very near the river level.  I don't think they would survive a 3 to 4 foot rise of the river.  Oh well, that's not my problem and they have beautiful surroundings while it lasts.

Our evening plans were to go to Kathleen's for the evening and have pizza.  We did that arriving about five.  Sean arrived in Reno on a flight from Seattle at 2:30.  He will live with Kathleen for an indefinite period due to some problems between him and his father in Seattle.  After having our fill of pizza we played a game of Phase 10.  Gerri won.  After that Kathleen, Sean, Shannon and I took a walk with their dog Todd. Before the walk I had told Sean I would play World of Warcraft with him.  He had set up the game on two computers. One upstairs and one down.  He gave up on my clumsy play after about 20 minutes and wanted to play on his own.  That worked out pretty well because it was 9 and time to go home.

We weren't back at the coach long before Gerri was in bed with her Sudoku book and then to sleep.  I think it was a little before 10:30 when I called it a night.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 Verdi, NV

Gerri got up at 6 and I followed her at 6:30.  I made the coffee and we drank it while catching up on e-mail, etc.  The wind is still with us but not as strong, there are a lot of Mare's tail clouds in the sky. We had our coffee and lounged around until 9:40.  I planned to get the propane tank filled before leaving the RV park.  The office didn't open until 10.  After filling the tank we were headed north on US 95.

We wound around Walker Lake.  Although we didn't hit a swarm of gnats like on one trip through here, we did see a lot of red algae floating on the surface of the lake. Starting at the north end of the lake there is a lot of agricultural activity with green fields.  Away from the water it is still sparse desert vegetation.  There is a long stretch of nothing between Schurz and Fallon.  Once we got near Fallon the agriculture started again with large fields of alfalfa and  fields being worked.  There are wind rows of giant cottonwoods between most of the fields.

Gerri wanted to stop at the Walmart in Fallon but I was in the wrong lane and passed the entrance.  We stopped at a Walmart in Fernley instead.  We also stopped at the Wadsworth rest stop to look for a cache I had DNFed in March.  Apparently it had been archived because it didn't come up on Gerri's phone or the computer.  From here to Reno the highway travels along the Truckee river so there are several small towns with fields and of course some industry along the river banks.

We continued on on I-80 to the Gold Ranch RV Resort and were set up by about 2.  We got space 57, which is where we parked last year.  As it happens it was also right next to the Schnieders who I had met caching in Hawthorne.

As I was setting up they were headed out to do some caches.  Later I loaded four nearby caches in the GPS and went out to hunt them.  I found one and didn't see a way to get to the others.

After supper Gerri went to Kathleen's to help, or at least watch Maddie prepare Borst for an International Potluck on Thursday night for a social studies class. She got home at about 9 as I was getting ready to shower.  She did some things on the computer and went to the bed with her Sudoku book.  I went to bed and tried to sleep but couldn't.  I got up and checked on the computer and watched a couple episodes of Gunsmoke before returning to bed.  It was cool enough to use a cover to sleep comfortably.

Tuesday May 27, 2014 Hawthorne, NV

The motor home has been pretty much unused since the first week of December.  It did make a short trip to Quartzsite to have Kevin Mallory finish some work on the coach.  New batteries and he finished installing the Silverleaf system, new backup camera and radio.  I also had the leveling system repaired at Apache RV Service and all new tires put on by Redburn Tire Company.

While loading up for this trip I found that the front TV wouldn't turn on.  I have found out that the on/off switches on Samsung TV are notorious for this fault.  We replaced one last year with the same problem.

We were loaded up and ready to roll at 9 AM.  We went south to NV SR160 and the west to Pahrump, picking up US95 north of Johnny.  Since we got an early start we nixed stopping at Tonopah.  It was a good thing both parks we could see from the highway were full.  We also passed the one RV Park in Mina, opting to go on to Hawthorne.  We arrived at the Whiskey Flats RV Park at about 3:30 pm having driven 322 miles.

Recently I was criticized for not describing the scenery more.  Well, you know what it looks like around Las Vegas.  Well most of the trip was the same just think of more mountains and plant life that gets smaller and further apart as we approached Tonopah and didn't get any more plentiful on arrival in Hawthorne.  That is the scenery and plant life we saw.  There are occasionally large sand dunes and cinder  cones between Johnny and Goldfield.  Many people think this drive is boring.  I love the desert and the mountains and the interesting communities along the way.  My imagination runs wild to think what the places must have been like during their heydays.

After getting parked and set up. I only hooked up power, we relaxed for awhile.  A stiff wind was blowing from the west off the mountains.  Mt. Grant which is a little northwest of the RV park still has a little snow near the summit.  Mt. Grant is the highest peak in Mineral County, NV at 11280 feet.  Some public facilities in Hawthorne are named after the peak.

About five I looked up a nearby geocache and tried to load it on my GPS with no luck so I went for it armed with Gerri's phone.  The cache was a little over a tenth of a mile away.  It was still windy but it had cooled off considerably.  I wasn't able to find the cache because in the sun I couldn't read the screen off Gerri's phone.  I even tried standing in the shade and sheltering the phone with my hat.  I returned to the coach.

We had a supper made up with our leftover Spaghetti ala Nora and salad.

After supper I got the geocache to load onto my GPS and walked over to the area.  After I crossed the highway, I heard voices.  There were other cachers at the cache.  After introductions we walked to two more nearby caches.  When we returned to the park it turns out they were parked across the street from us.  They are also going to the same RV park in Verdi that we are headed for in the morning.  They will be there three days before heading home to Grass Valley, CA.

The rest of the evening was taken up by TV, computer time and Sudoku puzzles.  The rest of the evening?  I'm talking 9:45 here folks.  We were in bed early.  There was a lot of noise outside, the wind was blowing stronger with more gusting.  By then the coach had cooled off and the AC units had shut down for the night.  After a day in the sun and driving it sometimes takes quite awhile to cool down, especially the rear where the engine has heated the rear bedroom.

Tuesday April 29, 2014 Las Vegas, NV

We love cruising, especially the long cruises.  There are two days that aren't enjoyable as the rest, embarkation and debarkation.  We had to vacate or room by 8 AM but our shuttle group didn't meet until 11:15.  Once in Port at San Pedro we had Verizon MiFi service and Gerri tried to check in for our flight home only to find it had been cancelled.  Gerri had to call Southwest and we were booked on a flight at 4:10 PM, only 35 minutes later than our original flight.

Even though some of the debarkation information said there was no room service, we ordered and got coffee in our room.  Without rushing much we got the rest of our things packed and the room checked to make sure we didn't supply any items for the crew's next yard sale.  We sat in the Piazza most of the time and then decided to go our shuttle meting point early.  They ships crew had called our group early and we got there just in time to go out to the shuttles.  The shuttle loading and drive to LAX went smoothly.  We were unceremoniously dumped at our gate.  There was a long unorganized line.  Gerri checked in as I stayed with our luggage.  Once we had boarding passes things sped up and we soon found ourselves at our departure gate with only 5 hours to spare.  Gerri found power outlets and was hooked up to the world again.

I had awakened this morning with a sore throat and cough that turned into a full blown cold as the day progressed.

The flight arrived in Las Vegas on time and we only had a short wait before sister-in-law Wendy picked us up.

I made a first pass through the stack of mail, eliminating about half of it as obvious junk mail.

Once I went to bed on Tuesday night I was useless with my cold symptoms.  We only have until the end of the month to get ready for our Alaska caravan.  When I recover it will have to be double drill and half canteen to fit everything in.

What a great trip this was, much of it it wasn't new to us.  We stopped at four Hawaiian ports as opposed to two on our last south seas cruise.  We had also been to the other two island before, just not on a cruise.  We also have a month long trip to Lahaina, Maui later this year.  We went to one other country on this trip, Western Samoa.

I managed to do a cache in all the ports of call except Apia, Western Samoa.  We  found a total of 21 caches on the cruise and met several other cachers either at caches or at on board shout outs.  My furthest west cache moved by a few miles and I got a DNF off my list in Bora Bora.

See you on the road to Alaska.