Last Saturday I drove over to the unincorporated Town of Pahrump, which is situated in Nye County, and about an hour or so from Las Vegas. I had been curious about it for some time as that it's been a candidate retirement location, and that a lower cost of living might be had there. I took something of a roundabout way to get there, as that I wanted to come in from the north, and leave by the south.
After taking care of the things here that I needed to take care of, I headed north on US95, passing thru Indian Springs and its nearby correctional facility as well as the entrance of Creech Air Force Base. I was headed for the junction of US95 and Nevada State Highway 160.
The junction arrived some 40 minutes later, and I found myself going down a road that I had never driven on before. The state highway was in good condition, even out in the middle of nowhere. I surmised that the revenues we get from legalized gambling was one good reason why our roads are good here as I rolled on down the blacktop with the expanse of the Mojave Desert around me. The sky was blue and clear, the scenery having a beauty all its own, and the mileage sign that I saw back at the junction was indicating 27 miles of this road before I was at my objective.
Coming into Pahrump from the north wasn't really all that impressive. I was prepared for that, as that a co-worker who I go on lunchtime walks with (and who is also new to Nevada) was telling me a few weeks ago about his drive there. It reminded me of Eloy, Arizona, which some folks regard as an armpit, though as far as armpits go neither Eloy or northern Pahrump have anything on Blythe or El Centro, which are two towns chasing after Bakersfield and Stockton for the prize of being the Armpit of California. Anyway, as I got closer to central Pahrump, it was looking a great deal more modern than what I had seen a few miles previous. There was an Albertson's, a Walmart, a strip mall that looked like it was less than a few years old, fireworks stores (several of them), gas stations, and the Pahrump Nugget Casino.
I checked out the Walmart, which was one of those that had a grocery section. I also visited the Albertson's, the Smith's supermarket, and the Pahrump Nugget Casino to purchase some gaming chips for the collections that Sheila and I both have going. I thought about driving into the People's Republic of California to check out Shoshone, but I didn't. I did drive down some residential streets and saw the new construction that Ron had been telling me about.
The real treat was the drive back to Vegas along NV160, which afforded me the opportunity to marvel at the scenery and rock formations that one encounters at the mountain pass that you drive over. Once back in Las Vegas, the traffic of course thickens up some, and there are always a few drivers out there who want to prove to everyone that they're much better drivers than Richard Petty or Kyle Busch. I wasn't panhandled in Pahrump, but when trying to buy gas here there was someone who insisted he was out of both gasoline and money and he needed a few dollars.........right.........like he just happened to run out of both upon arriving at the other side of the island?
Anyway, I am a better person now, having seen something as simple as this small town that I had never been to before until today.
I plan to go back before too long, and this time allocate some time for checking out Shoshone and possibly a little of Death Valley.
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