Coming Out of Spiritual Exile

About six or maybe seven weeks ago I made the decision to start attending church here.  It was something that I had been telling myself that I should do.  I had only been to one service since the one I was married at, and I was thinking then that it was just time to go online, locate a church, and drive to it one Sunday morning.

A review of the churches in the church body of which I am a member showed four or five sister congregations out here to choose from.  One is down in Henderson and two were on my side of Las Vegas.  I chose the one down in Summerlin, and came out of spiritual exile.

The rest of the day I was feeling really good about things for quite some time.  I have been going back since on most weekends when I am here in town.  I missed last Sunday due to a bug that I had the day before, but I made it today.

I really wish Sheila could have been there with me on those Sundays I've made it.  I know she would like this church, but the one we have back in Tucson is also right up there and I still regard that as my church.......even if I have to attend a different one while I'm exiled here in Nevada away from my home.

This morning was really great.  I met a couple that I knew at my then church in San Jose.  I hadn't seen them in nearly 30 years.  They have retired to Las Vegas, but make occasional visits to San Jose.  Sheila and I will be in San Jose for a vacation before too long, and who knows, we may run into them again.

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In some ways I identify with the Hebrew nation as described in the Old Testament.  They left Egypt, and went to go wandering in the desert for 40 years.  When that time was up, they left the desert to enter a land flowing with milk and honey.  Then after a collection of centuries, they were carried off into Babylonian captivity, and then returned after 70 years.

The story of the Exodus has fascinated me for a very long time, and I've had something of my own personal Exodus.  In my case I left a land flowing with milk and honey to enter a desert, but Arizona was something of a promised land to me.  I love Arizona and I miss being there.

However, I probably ought to be reading up again on their Babylonian captivity.  I feel sometimes like I am in my own counterpart to it here, having to be in Nevada so that I can stay in the workforce; not knowing how long this will last or if I will ever make it back to Tucson.

My employer is thinking of opening up another plantsite in Phoenix, and I've already put in for a transfer there, should they want Vegas people to go down.  My new boss said that I could go, but that he'd need me up here for two or three days a week.  I'm fine with that, as that if I'm working in Phoenix I could see Sheila every weekend.

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I've known Sheila for over two years now and she is still continuing to amaze me.  I go Downtown every second or third week here to get out of the house, and although the people-watching is even better there than what you can see at an airport, it would be better if she were there with me.

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As I've stated, I don't know how long my time here will last.  There may be a rationale for staying here, and moving out of Tucson.  I'm not sure that I like Las Vegas all that much, but Summerlin is nice and that's where my new church is.  I've heard lots of good things about Henderson, but that's too far away from my job for my liking.  I have made a couple of visits there, and really need to go there a few more times to get a better feel for it. 

I would have no issue retiring in Nevada, in and of itself.

I just don't think I want to retire in Las Vegas.

 

Over the Hump to Pahrump

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.