Water Rock

Pahrump is the English bastardization of the Shoshone Pah-Rimpi which means Water Rock.  The area is blessed with abundant artesian wells which made it a paradise for Indian settlement but also for the subsequent invasion of white men and women who established large ranches on which they grew alfalfa and cotton or raised livestock.  Today it is a thriving community of over 25,000 people complete with retail strip malls and casinos. 

Escapees is an RV club which provides discounts at hundreds of RV Parks across the country.  They also own a number of Parks where members can stay at greatly discounted rates and which are also open to non-members.  The Pair-a-Dice RV Park  in Pahrump is a co-op which meant that members owned the site lots and had either an RV or Park trailer (similar to a mobile home but smaller) on them, and most members lived there fulltime.  Escapee owned parks also have lots of amenities like a large building for group dining events, fully stocked craft rooms, libraries, game rooms and other features depending on the size of the community building.  Without fail, the Escapee members are some of the friendliest people Jay and Chris meet in their travels and the residents at Pair-a-Dice were the most cordial and cooperative so far.  Of course, Chris’ herb garden never fails to attract numerous curious inquiries and becomes the ice breaker for many introductions.

Red and Sonny at the Pair-a-Dice RV Park with Mount St. Charles in the background.

Jay pulled Sonny into the Park in mid-February 2012, and the new arrivals made themselves right at home participating in some of the daily, planned events and making new friends almost every day.  Chris took advantage of the spacious craft room, complete with three sewing machines, and made some long needed repairs to clothing.  She’d also been contemplating making some form of protection for her herbs and used the self-healing cutting mats and long, spacious work tables to make mini greenhouses for each pot that made them look like baby Conestoga wagons.  She even decided that she needed a hobby to get her away from the hours she normally spent sitting at the computer and decided to give crocheting a try.  The assortment of crochet hooks, scrap balls of yarn and books with instructions at her disposal, along with guidance from ladies who frequented the room for other crafts, gave her a good start on a practice square of simple hooking techniques.  With a new grandson on the way she thought the craft might come in handy for some baby items.

Jay spent most of his time working on Sonny.  The constant winds and dust of the desert southwest wreak havoc on the finishes of resident vehicles.  Over time, Big Red and Sonny took on a beige tone rather than bright red and white and Jay can tolerate the film for just a short while before he drops all other projects and moves the task of cleaning the truck and “the house” to the top of the list.  He even made time to read a couple of books that he’d had from the year before – a very rare pleasure on his part.

The McKays live on the other side of town and the two couples got together for some day-trips and mini reunions.  John and Linda gave them the grand tour of Pahrump, complete with the newly constructed Federal  prison that was supposed to bring many construction jobs to the area but didn’t because it was completely created from modular sections built in a far away location.  Pahrump is also home to an elite, private car club, which included pricey garage condos and its own road racing track.  It was something Jay and Chris would never have thought existed in such a remote location.  Another surprise was The Chicken Ranch.  For those familiar with Texas history and movies of the 80s, you may know about The Chicken Ranch from the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  When prostitution was outlawed in Texas, The Chicken Ranch moved to Nevada where the oldest profession is legal.   Visitors as well as patrons are welcome and you can even buy a tee shirt.  Chris just took pictures of the building and the sign.

Another day’s excursion was to the small towns of Beatty and Rhyolite and Death ValleyNational Park.  The entire area was originally settled because of the rich mineral, gold and silver deposits. A small museum in Beatty featured artifacts from the boom time but also much more including antiquities from the railroad system that developed into a bull-frog like pattern to access the mines, scales for measuring silver and gold dust, household items such as a collection of beautifully preserved straight razors, clothing and even a copper still. 

Chris and Jay were particularly intrigued by a display of nuclear explosion photos, Geiger counters and a radiation suit.  John explained that the infamous Area 51 nuclear test site was just a few miles east of Beatty and how the radioactive fallout adversely affected the health and livelihoods of the residents living not that far to the east.  Many grew ill from cancers and other diseases uncommon in the area at the time and herds of  grazing livestock died bearing unusual blisters and sores on their hides.

Area 51 Nuclear Test photos and equipment.

Because of the boom and bust nature of precious metal towns, Nevada has its share of western ghost towns, one of which is Rhyolite just a few miles outside of Beatty.   With a population ranging between 3,500 and 5,000 residents in its 1907-1908 heyday, it boasted electric lights, water mains, telephones, newspapers, a hospital, schools and even an opera house and stock exchange.  When the ore quantities steadily declined, the town's population followed suit until it was practically zero by 1920.  All that remains today are hollow shells of some of the more prominently constructed masonry buildings, their glassless windows overlooking the brown, high desert plains beyond.

The ghost town of Rhyolite.

Chris and Jay had spent a day at Death Valley National Park a couple of weeks before, but the McKays took them through a section via the north entrance they had not yet visited and also stopped at the museum which contained a varied assortment of relics from the Valley's colorful past. 

Death Valley's main claim to fame is the legendary twenty mule team wagons that, during the 1880s, hauled Borax from deep within the surrounding mountains, across 165 miles of the Mojave Desert to the nearest railroad spur in Mojave, CA.  Jay and Chris both remembered seeing the TV advertisements for Twenty Mule Team Borax in the 50s and 60s. 

The borax ore wagons were16 feet long by 6 feet deep, constructed of solid oak, weighed 7,800 pounds and carried almost 10 tons of borax ore.  They were among the largest ever pulled by draft animals. The ore wagons were the first of three devices the twenty mules hauled.  Hitched to  them was a second wagon which carried food and supplies for the long journey and bringing up the rear was a 1,200 gallon water tank providing water for the teamsters and mules.  When fully loaded, the total weight of the mule train was 73,200 pounds (36.6 tons) and stretched over 180 feet long.

These wagons are much more massive than they appear here in this photograph.  The rear wheels are 7 feet in diameter and the wagon beds are 16 feet long and 6 feet deep.

An interesting origin of a common saying began with the mule teams hauling the freight wearing bells and empty returning teams wearing none.  If a teamster became stuck or broke down and was assisted by another to get going again, he was obliged to give the assisting teamster his bells.  Thus the saying "I'll be there with bells on" was born, meaning I will make my own way without help from anyone. 

Photographing was the main objective of the travelers' previous visit to Death Valley and they were amazed at the diversity of landscape features in just one area, vast though it may be.  The valley stretches 110 miles  across the easternmost  border of southern California.  The northern section harbors 150 foot tall sand dunes and Racetrack Playa is home to mysterious sliding boulders weighing up to 700 pounds, that in wet times, slide across the mud flats leaving furrows which dry solid in contrast to the cracked tile-like patterns of the surrounding, sun-baked soil.  The central area of the Park holds barren, golden slopes sculpted by eons of wind and rain at Zabriskie Point that halt abruptly at the smooth, level, valley floor which gently slopes southeast to the brilliant, white, salt caked flats 282 feet below sea level. Unfortunately the one day Chris and Jay visited the Park did not allow enough time to explore the region fully and an extended stay was in their future to experience the diverse grandeur of flora, fauna and geology of the area.

The Badwater salt flats in Death Valley National Park.

Another flight crewman from the Cape May days, Rick Klinnert, and his wife Carol, paid an unexpected visit to the McKay's prompting a mini reunion.  One of Jay's great joys is reuniting with old friends that he has not seen in thirty-five years and in no time the sexes had splintered off; the boys telling sea stories and the girls sharing their wisdom on health, cooking and crafts.  Before the day was done, Rick had pulled out his machine gun that shot plastic BBs and after the guys had their fun with it, Jay coaxed Chris to give it a try.  Rick and John were surprisingly impressed with her natural killer instinct of a mama Grizzly and accuracy with the small varmint deterrent.

In July of 2011, Chris and Jay received a phone call that they were to become grandparents of a baby boy due in March of 2012.  How quickly the gestation period flew by and Peter Michael Paxton was born on March 13th  to Chris' son, Kevin and his wife Sarah.  Pete's due date had been the 20th and Chris had reservations on the 25th to fly home for a couple of weeks and help out the new parents after they'd had a chance to settle into their new routine.

Peter Michael Paxton at age three weeks.

Jay took the time to finish up the myriad  diverse projects that continuously loomed before him and Chris' days were filled with relieving Sarah of all household duties so that she could focus on the new, most important addition to her life.

On April 11th Jay was preparing to move Sonny back to Las Vegas when he spied movement on the ground out of the corner of his eye.  Further investigation revealed a small, Glassy snake hanging out in the shade of the RV.  The reptile lover that he is compelled Jay to take possession of the critter.  He scarfed him up, and headed back to get settled at the Nellis AFB RV Park in time to pick up Chris from the airport.  She was not as thrilled with the new pet as he but knew that she could tolerate the creature for his sake. 

The plan was to resupply the next day then drive to Bryce Canyon to begin their camp host duties on Friday the 13th.  However Mother Nature stepped in with a surprise snowstorm at Bryce, delaying their departure until the following Monday.  As always, everything happens for a reason and the down time enabled them to visit with some old and new friends at Nellis AFB and acquire some necessities they would not have otherwise thought of.

Expecting to see not only snow-covered peaks but also plains and possibly white patches of asphalt, they were somewhat pleasantly surprised that all that was covered were the peaks.  One doesn't want to be confronted with navigating over slippery, mountain roads whilst towing 16,000 lbs of trailer containing all of their essential possessions!!  They arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park without incident and celebrated by sharing a bottle of wine with their supervisor, and friend, from the year before, Kevin Evans and his wife, Cheryl.