Pahrump

is vastly different that Las Vegas. What it lack in glitz and glamor, it more than makes up for in other ways. The people there are way more friendly. The night sky offers an amazing view of the stars that you will never get in Vegas. Karen and I stood outside the other night and just took in the stars. It is akin to being in northern michigan, or any rural town in the USA I suppose. It also offers a small town atmosphere. It reminds me, to some extent, of what living in Carleton was like.

At around 30,000 people though, it is MUCH larger than Carleton which came in at about 2,500 people in 2000. When I first moved to Carleton it had only one lonely blinking Red light.

At 25,000 people, Brownstown was the closest in size to Pahrump among the places I have lived. Brownstown is a suburb. A suburb of Detroit to be exact. As such it is full of cookie cutter houses, condos, and apartments. Oh yeah, and trailer parks.
It is typical suburbia in every way. Although it may sound like I didn't like Brownstown, that could not be further from the truth.

Brownstown is my HOME, and always will be. I lived there for over 30 years. Most of my memories are from there. Of course I still refer to myself as being from Detroit for several reasons. There are many people in Michigan who have never heard of Brownstown for one. Plus, people are less likely to mess with you when you tell them you are from Detroit!....lol You call THAT a gun?????.....lol

Anyhow, Pahrump is a larger town that has still managed to retain its small town feeling. The lady at the party store informed us that bags of Ice from her store are available on the "honor system". 24/7 you can come and get ice even if the store is closed! Just leave the money for it, or stop by and pay for it later!!!! They even deliver it for FREE! You can't even get that in Carleton!!!

The big events in town are the rodes held down at the local park near the school. And being that it is only one hour from Death Valley, I will never lack for things to do! Once I finish the house that is, sometime around 2032 I expect.

If all else fails, the whore houses are only 20 miles away.

The buffets out here, as I said before, are pretty good. You do not get the selection you do in Vegas, but for $10 can you really complain? Well you could. After eating at the Sahara for $6, I felt ripped off!!

The buffets in Pahrump are best described as plain, yet with GOOD food. They even serve Hot Dogs! There was an old timer in the buffet that day. He knew the waitresses, the cooks, the bus boys. Seemingly everyone...but us! He was complaining to the manager about the onions that were cut up for the hot dogs. They were close in size to a VW bug. That is way too big. He and the manager were going back and forth about the size. Apparently the manager had never eaten onions on a hot dog.

Busy, Busy

We have been very busy lately. Over the last few weeks or months we have looked at houses for us and for Karen's sister. Everyday that we were both off has been spent in Pahrump either looking at houses, having house inspections, or hauling stuff to our storage unit in Pahrump. Hence, very little in the way of blogging.

We decided that, instead of hauling all of our stuff over one weekend, we would haul all of the stuff we never unpacked from our move to Vegas, out to Pahrump. It was all boxed up and ready to go!
I knew being lazy would pay off sooner or later!! We have made 6 or 7 trips out there now.












We have been window shopping at the Home Depot out there for some of the things we will need right away.

For one a washing machine.
I like the idea of a highly efficient washing machine. They are supposed to use way less electricity, water, and detergent. Although I'm not so concerned about the water usage, since it is basically free, I still like the idea of using less of it. Less electricity use is VERY good. Most high efficiency washers are front loaders, although we did see one that was a top loader. High efficiency top loader do not have agitators. There seem to be some downsides to high efficiency washers though. Namely they are known for having unusual odors because not all of the water is removed from them.


I want to minimize our electric use as much a s possible. I am planning on trying to rely on Swamp Coolers instead of Air Conditioning, if we can stand it. Pahrump offers ideal conditions for Swamp Coolers in that it is usually hot and dry! There is already one located on the roof of the house. I will likely buy an additional unit and see how we get along. We will have the A/C just in case though.

As I said before, this house does need some work so we also looked at:
Entry Doors
Entry Door Lock Sets
Screen Doors
Ladders
Blinds
and a few other odds and ends.

We appear to be set to close on May 7th. We are waiting to hear if the bank has any additional paperwork demands from us. I don't have anymore paperwork, so I hope they don't ask for much....lol

The finance company called and said the house appraised at $74,000 so being that we paid way less than that, we are all set in that department. I'm dreaming of re financing and getting a pool now.....just kidding.

On our trips out there we have been trying out the buffets at the local casinos.
They do not compare favorably to the ones in Las Vegas unless you include price in your calculations.
Buffets in Pahrump are less than 1/2 price compared to Vegas. The food is very good, but basic. Selection is typically very limited. But, when you add price into it, its a good deal. Many of the Pahrump casinos offer buy one get one during the week. Karen and I could go out to eat for under $10 including the tip!

The worst part of moving to Parump will be the daily commute to Vegas. There are two ways to get to Vegas. The southern route that is filled with construction and takes about an hour and forty mins for me, or the northern route that will be closer

to two hours. During the winter months, the southern route is occasionally closed or delayed due to snow.
The picture is from the northern route.

The benefits of the drive will be owning our own house. Owning a sizable chunk of land. Living in a small, slow paced town. I've only visited our house a few times and already know both the neighbors. After living in Las Vegas for near 2 years, I still don't know the neighbors names. That could just as well be my fault though.

Although Vegas and Pahrump are situated in desert valleys, Pahrump, unlike Vegas, sits on top of a huge under ground water reserve. Hence the large number of private well systems. The water, although not tasting like city water, DOES NOT taste like the sulfur well water I am used to. You can actually drink this water right out of the tap.

Thats all for now.

We came, we saw

and now we are leaving. Almost 2 years to the day, minus about 1 month hopefully, we will be leaving Las Vegas for more rustic environs. We will soon be the owners of over 1 acre of prime Pahrump realty. Well it will be an acre and it will be in Pahrump. Not to sure about the prime part.....lol. But it will be ours, and the banks.

An acre is more land than I know what to do with. I've never even owned a yard before.

Yup, one acre of prime Nevada dirt! It's all ours! Here you can see the tiny spec that is our 1600sqft house. At least it is not 2,600 miles away.

The view, with some strategic planting of shrubs, will be awesome!


Here is Karen's garage.



Here is my garage.


This is the front patio surrounded by a brick wall.


This is one of the trees in the patio area. It needs some trimming and TLC.


One of the side entrances to the patio.


The front of the house.

The house does need work, but what house doesn't? We are trying to think of a nome for the property, my dad suggested "Money Pit".