Pahrump, etc...

We have been here a little over 2 weeks now. And what a 2 weeks! It's great to have this chance to spend so much time with my brother and his girlfriend Charlie! Advice, do NOT go to Hoover Dam unless it is the dead of winter. A true, ridiculous, thought-provoking, trial. No one in their right mind would try to blow up the dam. Come on, think about what it would take. One interesting thing, Lake Mead is still about 25 feet low. A big, white, edging around the lake.

So, of course, we arrived when the heat wave from hell hit. The 1st night at dinner Sammy spilled red wine on Charlie's white skirt. The 2nd day I was exhausted, sick to my stomach, legs ached, I now know, all due to dehydration. The 3rd day Sammy fainted, and turned green....no, he turned green, then fainted! Scared us all, but, he had his episode too. We have acclimated now. Not to mention drinking gallons of water! I think his biorythms were down! You think?!The next thing, he spilled a gallon of Kool Aid all over the kitchen floor. We were in Walmart the second day, we left Cody in the van, over the loudspeakers in the store we hear, the owner of the red Volkswagen van with Florida plates, your dog is barking and needs to be tended to. Sammy and I are not together...so I drop everything and go out to get Cody. The manager saw me and said it was 110 outside and no place for a dog. All the windows were open and he had water, but separation anxiety had kicked in. We knew it was hot but! Sammy came out and we hurried to leave! As Sammy is backing out he backed into a truck in the parking lot, the guy came out of nowhere, saw us, but did nothing except start yelling, which caused a shouting match between the crazy person who just sat there while we backed up and did nothing and, us. A crowd was gathering...we could NOT get out of there fast enought. Not like we are low key or anything! He had one of those trucks that are raised up (so stupid) so we backed into his tire. You could tell the guy was not all there. But who was in that heat! I mean...it was 111! The next thing Sammy did was run a knife straight thru his hand. That was fun! Luckily my dear friend Pat, from the River, was visiting us. She is a nurse and had all the proper goodies on hand, stopped the bleeding, and fixed him right up. The first week we really felt like dogs. Barely moving, lolling about, fixated on the temperature. Oh! It's 10 am and 106! Wow! Oh! It's 2 pm and 114! Wow! Oh it's 8 pm and 80! Yay!! The nights really do cool off. Every night the sky is so clear, and full of a billion stars. The Milky Way is so distinct! When was the last time you saw the Milky Way? Another new experience... A dust storm! Covered the entire valley, couldn't see the street, which is 2 acres away. It was not a "Hidalgo" type sandstorm but we were impressed! My friend Pat and her grandson were here for a day! They were on their way from Mendocino County and going to Wyoming. We are not on the way! But, she thought so! What a wonderful friend! We had a great visit! Then Lesli arrived on the last leg of her journey! We have had a wonderful week with her. The heat wave has moved on and it is only 110, max, each day. In fact, when it is 100, or 102 you think it is quite pleasant! Our brains must be baked! We took Lesli up to the date farm at China Ranch. It's about 40 miles from here, actually in California. You drive thru the most amazing canyon to get there. It's desert, desert, desert, all of a sudden the canyon. High, high walls on both sides, we were actually driving in a wash. Then! An honest to god oasis! Just like in the movies! Date palms, trees, and an eensy creek. The creek is part of a river that begins in the Owens Valley, goes underground for miles and miles, emerges there as a creek and goes back underground. Lesli and Gabe explored the creek and woods surrounding it. Cool in the shade! Crawdads in the creek! No eek events! Our next day trip was to Mt. Charleston. You can see the peak from here but you have to drive thru the desert for about 75 miles around the mountains you can see from here to get up there. We were anxious to see some trees and be UP! Mt. Charleston is 11,500 or so feet high. We could only drive up to 8,500'. Beautiful, very tall, Ponderosa Pines. The water coming out of the faucet was cold! Heaven! We had lunch at the Mt. Charleston Lodge. I am quite sure the mafia used it as a meeting place. It is technically in Las Vegas and it just has that "feel." 2 story ceilings held up by tree trunks! Quite elegant and lovely. We passed Creech Air Force base on the way. Six, 737, airplanes fly out of there every day, transporting workers from Las Vegas to Area 51. They bring them back in the evening. Your tax dollars at work!!

The next day Lesli & Gabe went hiking in the desert behind the house. Mind you, while there may be houses once in a great while, it is DESERT! They found lots of wondrous things. Deep holes ground into the rock where the ancients ground their corn, or whatever. Perfectly round. Then flat places where you can see that they ground other things. A weird raised tunnel looking thing that "something" lives in. About 3" high, 3 inches across. Who knows? So, the next day Gabe insists that they go again, and I am to go too! I must say this journey has reminded me, on occasion, of how old I actually am! No right minded, 65 year old woman, should go hiking in the desert, especially allowing her 12 yr old dog to go too. Yep! it turned into an event! I did mention that 6 pm might be a little early...but no! So off we go. I got to see the special things, it's getting hotter, my legs are beginning to trudge, Cody is acting strange...Lesli and Gabe are climbing the rock mountain with Samantha, the long haired Chihuaha, keeping pace with them. Cody begins to wander off, will not come when I call, my voice is echoing off the rock mountain, the wind is blowing, maybe he doesn't hear me? I clap my hands, a signal he knows, nothing. I have sense enough to be in the shade of the mountain, I do have on a hat! But, and this really pisses me off, I can't climb to the top. What do you mean I'm older and no longer a gazelle!! And the damn dog won't come, appears to be disoriented. I finally figure out he is walking around the bottom of the mountain looking for the easy way up! And he found it! So he goes to the top. Meanwhile Lesli & Gabe have come down. And the dog is up and it's hot, hot, hot. the water we have brought has turned hot. No leash for the dog. Gabe goes back up to get Cody. I find a long piece of levi material that someone has sewn together, and left just for us, a leash!! Lesli starts back up to give it to Gabe to leash Cody. Cody is whining because it is so steep to come down, and his hips are groaning. Gabe is trying to coax him, I have visions of a tumble down. Jeez!! Thankfully, Lesli had brought her cell phone! I can tell you now, I was not going to walk back with a limping, disoriented, panting, dog (that would be Cody, not me!). I called my brother to rescue us. Hear the music? He loaded us all up and we were saved! Hiking in the desert is really not a great idea! But it was an adventure! That night there was a party at Charlie & Chris' bar! We showered, got dressed and off we went! Great band, lots of bikers, good food, a merry time was had by all!! No eek event there! It was great to see my brother, Chris, and Charlie bouncing around behind the bar! It was so tempting to go back there and help. The crowd was really eclectic. They handle everyone so well!! You can tell they love it, and the people love them!
Lesli is leaving today. We will miss having her here! We have had a wonderful week! - Perky