Obligatory Winter Post (01-23-23)

 Pretty much every winter now, I first decide I am not going to write a blog post, then I change my mind, and then the post becomes HUGE because I try to fit everything I want to say in one post.  This year is no exception.  I am writing it sooner though, because we are actually on the road now, exploring. 

Once we arrived home after our White Rim Road trip in late October,  several things happened. Liz and Randy arrived soon after us, so you would think the partying would have begun.  Well, it did, for a short while.

In early November Paul and I left for California to help friends Kirk and Karen celebrate their new cabin with an Open House.

Its always a fun time with Paul’s fraternity brothers, but when we got back home a few days later, we both tested positive for Covid. 

Of course we isolated ourselves, and Liz and Randy were kind enough to drop meals off to us on the back deck, saving us from having to cook.

Once we were recovered, we took two trips to El Paso to see Paul’s mom.  She had doctor/dentist appointments and we prefer to be there for those.  We weren’t missing much in Havasu- the weather was so cold and windy, we never heated the pool after coming home from our summer trip, and we never got a chance to take out the boat.

We were very happy that we were recovered  in time for Thanksgiving. Paul’s brother and his wife came in their RV, and brought their grandson for the weekend.  I think he had a great time being the only kid around all of us adults.

It always makes us happy when our Jess comes to visit, and this time she brought her boyfriend, so it was double nice!

Adults Only entertainment included a trip to our favorite country bar- in fact we actually went there a couple of times before Christmas.

We decided to skip the Christmas Boat Parade this year, but we did walk around the London Bridge, to enjoy the Christmas lights.

December brought more illness- first Liz and Randy were sick, and then Paul was sick again.  It wasn’t Covid this time, but it lasted quite a while.  So, we were back to isolating for a while. The weather was still very cold and windy for the most part, so there wasn’t much to do anyway.

With the empty “cold and flu” shelves in the stores, we knew we weren’t the only sick ones in town.

Everyone was finally healthy just in time for Christmas. And the weather improved too- for a couple of days anyway.

It was actually warm enough to eat outside on Christmas- a nice perk. By this time our Canadian friends Brad and Marilyn had arrived, and Jess was back again.

New Years brought the Californians, and we had quite the party!

Once things got quiet again, we made an executive decision- it was time for a road trip!  Lake Havasu is a lot of fun, but we are tired of the wind and the cold so the 4 of us decided to leave.

The one thing we never get tired of though, is the sunsets!

It's That Time of Year (03/28/22)

 

What time of year is it, you ask?   It’s that time when Paul and I start to do some summer planning, and I realize I have blog posts that need to be written. 

So, here we are. I was actually pleasantly surprised when I opened the program that I had actually already written most of a post about the holidays. And here it is:

The Holidays

It wouldn’t be Christmas in Havasu without the annual boat parade- it has now become a tradition for us to head down to the water, armed with hotdogs and potato salad, to await the boats.  

This year the parade is almost twice the size it usually is, and it seemed EVERYONE was talking about being there, so we got there early and played cards while we waited for dark.

The London Bridge is sporting new lights this year- and is absolutely gorgeous with its ever changing display.

We kept ourselves busy as we waited for Christmas. We had a designated date night, with all 4 of us heading out to dinner, dressed up just a little bit more than usual. 

 

We had happy hour at sunset...

...and watched the hummingbirds on the feeders, just inches from us. I will say though that this picture was made possible by the fact that I found out I can use my Apple watch as a remote for the camera on my Iphone.

We even learned how to make the official "Olive Garden Salad"!

We also did things like drain the pool, clean it, and fill it back up again.  That’s not the fun stuff though.

Paul and I hiked to Pilot Rock, a trail that leads to the lake, and found a great spot for boat camping.

Soon enough our holiday guests arrived. We haven’t seen our friends Brad and Marilyn in two years, because they are Canadian.  As a bonus, they brought a friend with them this year-always a great time!

It was still a little quieter for Christmas than it usually is, even though our daughter Jess made an appearance.  We changed it up a bit this year and made tamales on Christmas Eve. Jess was happy to help.

New Years was a bit livelier, with Paul’s fraternity brothers and their wives arriving from California.

 With Omicron alive and well, we had unusual party favors, but were definitely more relaxed with all negative results.

And then, it was 2022. 

What’s that joke?

“That moment when you realize that 2022 is pronounced 2020 too.”

Let’s hope not.

Winter 2019-2020 (06-30-20)

Well, I thought I was all done blogging, but now that we are traveling for the summer, I think I changed my mind. We will see how long it lasts.  My reasoning? Well, partly because I am more interested in writing when we are doing fun things, and partly because at least 7 times in the last week, Paul and I have asked each other things like....where we we when we ate those scallops that time?....did we hike that trail when we were here last time?......What year did we go to----?  And the answer could always be found in....you guessed it...my blog.
So, with that being said, here is a synopsis of what our winter was like...

Winter in Havasu is, thankfully for us, filled with family, friends, and fun.

  

The holidays were their usual crazy time, with Rvers in the yard and guests in the house.

We never know who is going to be around, but we are always happy when the crowd includes our daughter Jess.

Our friends are always up for a good time, so when the weather is nice, outdoor activities include games on the back deck, Teryx rides in the desert, and campfires in the back yard.

When the weather turns lousy, the fun moves indoors with dance parties, Guesstures, the annual Yankee Swap, and of course Farkle.

Of course, no holiday would be complete without the official weighing of the carrot cake!


















The festivities don’t end with the holidays- January brings the Balloon Fest, and more friends-

Whenever the weather permits, we make the trek to our favorite restaurant, El Paraiso, preferably in the Mustang, with the top down, but it isn’t always warm enough for that

February we hosted our annual WinterBlast party for the Fireworks festival.

As usual, we didn’t stay home the entire winter- we took a few trips for various reasons.

  In November we took an impromptu trip in the camper to meet up with Mike and Julie in Tucson for the Celtic Festival....

And were lucky enough to be there for another gorgeous Arizona sunset.

In December we headed to El Paso to check on Paul’s mom ( I finally remembered to get a picture!)...

















... and stopped in Phoenix on the way home for my cousin Linda’s Sweet 16 (60) birthday bash weekend.  Everyone dressed up as they would have when they were 16. Paul wore his Eagle Scout uniform (yes, it still fits) and I wore corduroys and a plaid flannel shirt. The birthday girl was dressed up as Homecoming Queen.













Well, that sums up the Party aspect of the PPP, but we also have the Project portion as well.


Large and small, we had lots of projects.  The biggest was probably the solar panels we had put on the roof. Paul has been waiting for the price of solar to be worth doing, and now we finally have the entire RV garage roof covered with panels.  He has fun checking our output every day.










Work wise, leveling the side of the yard was probably the hardest…We had literally tons of dirt brought in so that we could level the side near the fence.

 This makes it much nicer for parking our stuff over there.

Some of the projects mostly involved us just writing checks….those would include the new rain gutters along the back ( and some in the front) and the new shade, so that we can “close off” more of the back deck.

And, some of the projects could have been accomplished by just writing a check, but Paul chose to keep himself busy by doing things like making his own corn hole game….