Back in Las Vegas Again
/It always seems a major transition to be back in Las Vegas again. After being ‘on the road’ for the past five months, being in one place day after day takes some getting used to. On the one hand, it’s kind of pleasant to wake up in the same bed and the same room every morning and be in the same neighborhood for our morning walks. On the other hand, we wake up in the same bed and the same room every morning and we’re in the same neighborhood, walking around the same blocks on the same route. Wandering, for us, is preferable to being stationary, but being in one place does have its advantages. It just takes a while to get back in sync.
We have been neither idle nor bored. Blanche had to be unloaded, given a bath (inside and out) and all the gear and bikes stowed… a 2-day effort. A little bugaboo cropped up. There’s no room to park Blanche at our house and on-street parking is not allowed so we’d been renting an inexpensive parking place at the community golf club, a quick walk from home. When we stopped to pay for our new parking pass, we were informed that the golf club no longer allows parking in their lot. Darn! We scurried around looking for an RV storage or a secure lot in which to park the van. It took a bit of research and several calls before we finally found an acceptable place at a not-so-inexpensive, not-so-convenient lot. We visit her from time to time.
Once Blanche was squared away, we were in catch-up mode on yard and house chores. The front walk was nearly impassable with lantana sprawling over the sidewalk. The shrubs in the front yard were in desperate need of a haircut. Our Queen of the Night cactus had flowered profusely and left seed pods and debris everywhere. Pine needles were an inch thick and needed blowing and raking. The agave was threatening to overtake other front yard shrubs. And the backyard… what a wreck! The raised planter was overgrown. The rose bush had succumbed to the lantana which was everywhere. Weeds poked up through the desert-scaped stone. It took a couple of days to get some sort of order established and there’s still more to do. It also appears the sprinkler system has broken lines that are currently shut off but they need to be addressed soon. The sprinkler controller also needs an upgrade. We put it on the ‘to-do’ list.
Five months’ worth of mail was in piles on our bed. Thankfully, Mary sorts through the incoming mail every once in a while and alerts us to anything that needs immediate attention, but some things slip by. Fortunately, most everything can now be handled online and through automatic payments except odd issues which crop up from time to time. Going through the stacks was an entire evening’s project. Then, of course, once it was sorted, we actually needed to do something with it. We made lists.
HVAC filters needed changing for the new season. The dryer broke and needed repair. One of the toilets needs new innards. The igniter on the grill wasn’t working. My license needs renewing but getting an appointment at the DMV required an inordinate amount of patience (which, believe it or not, I lack). I finally secured one, but it’s still a week away. We had dental appointments scheduled. We both need new crowns. Ugh! A drawer in our bedroom dresser needed repair. David ordered new drawer slides to effect the repair, but the project fought him all the way, taking way more time than he expected. There are times when we feel a bit overwhelmed.
The most important thing we’ve done since we returned to Las Vegas is vote and preparation for voting took some time. Voting in the primaries last May, my mail-in vote was questioned due to my illegible signature (see, they do check them!). I received the notice too late to correct the problem (It was in that pile of mail on the bed). This election, we planned to do early voting in person which we did, but it took me a full day of research to check out candidate voting records, references, and positions for some of the folks on the ballot with whom we were unfamiliar.
David’s computer went AWOL soon after we returned and required a new hard drive. What should have been a straightforward plug’n’play clone project turned out to be a slow, convoluted process. It’s now chugging along again.
Okay… enough whinging. We’re caught up in the mundanity of daily life. On the positive side, now that the dryer has been repaired, I can do laundry any time I feel like it without having to spend wasted time and beaucoup bucks at a laundromat. My wardrobe options have expanded significantly. We can eat at home with healthier foods and grill out when we feel like it (The igniter has been fixed and the propane tank refilled). We’re in a familiar habitat. I can haunt all my favorite thrift stores and shop at my favorite grocery stores. We’ve gotten reacquainted with our neighbors and morning walk friends. We can sort through our own mail (and discard all those political flyers).
The coming months portend to be just as busy. David has lots of projects for Blanche that he plans to accomplish over the winter. He’ll talk more about them in one of his upcoming Blue Views. Several updates for the website are in the offing… that’s usually my bailiwick and it’s on the ever-growing list of to-dos.
We’re planning Thanksgiving at home… with a huge turkey feast and lots and lots of leftovers! I’ve made flight reservations to the East Coast for the Christmas holidays to spend time with Brennan & Hannah in Richmond and Lin and her family in Pawtucket. This year we’ll only be away for a couple of weeks. I plan to decorate for the holidays for a change, a tradition I love. We’ll be home to celebrate the ringing in of the New Year (assuming we can stay awake till midnight).
As for next year’s plans, we spend our morning walks and dinner chat discussing projects and travel possibilities. Another long walk in Europe maybe? Another road trip? to Alaska or perhaps Maritime Canada? Will we find time to complete biking the GART? We still have nearly a thousand miles to ride plus there are several other trails that have caught our attention over the past summer that might be fun to ride. The options are endless.